The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, will today launch a new online used car history check, which is aimed at stamping out the practice of "clocking" as well as providing used car buyers with a full background check on their new purchase.
The system has been developed by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) in conjunction with Experian, a UK company that already provides a similar service in Britain, to provide the motor trade with access to used car histories.
It is expected that eventually the online facility will be open to public users.
SIMI project manager Emma Byrne says that while the service is currently only available to motor industry subscribers, its value for used car buyers is obvious.
"Motorists and car buyers will benefit from the reassurance that the used vehicle they are purchasing has had a full vehicle history check. Buyers will be able to know if there is outstanding finance on the vehicle, importation information, the number of previous owners as well as NCT and tax information."
A major concern for car dealers and buyers, especially those who buy imported cars, is the incidence of clocking - reducing a car's odometer read-out to increase its value - and it is hoped that the new system will help tackle this problem.
The online facility prompts dealers to enter a car's odometer reading every time they enter a registration, which, say the system's developers, will ensure an accurate mileage database of Irish cars is built up.
The developers are convinced the creation of a national mileage database will have an immediate impact on the number of cars being clocked.
"When a garage comes across a car with a lower mileage than appears on the system, then it would raise questions about the car," explains Byrne. "People who clock cars will be less likely to do so when they are aware that this information is now available."
The practice of clocking imported cars is also promised to be curtailed. Because the SIMI system is linked into the British national car mileage database, even when a car that has been imported and registered as Irish is checked, its UK mileage history will be available for inspection.
Car buyers will know if a car's history has been certified, as dealers will now display a car history check certificate in the windscreen of vehicles that have undergone a full history check. "The advice we can give is ask for this certificate when you are purchasing a vehicle," says Byrne. "Car History Check is designed to assist professionals in the industry to check and give reassurances, so for the time being this service will be confined to the motor business."
While dealers will be required to pay a subscription for the service, this is not expected to result in higher used car prices. "It is not envisaged that car buyers will incur any added costs," explains Byrne. "Should they request a specific certificate for their purchase then some dealers may charge for this, but this is a matter for each individual dealer. "
Already several hundred dealers have signed up for the service and it is expected that most of the country's used car dealers will subscribe over the coming months.