Half of Hungary's inspected used cars show prior damage, study reveals

An analysis by carVertical of vehicles inspected on Hungarian roads found that 57.3% of used cars had a history of damage. While 90.7% of those damaged cars sustained relatively minor repairs—costing less than 20% of the vehicle’s market value—1.8% recorded damage equal to or exceeding 50% of the car’s worth, often amounting to several thousand euros for mid‑range models and tens of thousands for premium brands.

The report highlights a common practice: cars damaged in one country are cheaply repaired, re‑registered, and exported to other markets, sometimes without full disclosure of their accident history. This can lead to unsafe vehicles being sold to unwitting buyers, the use of low‑quality parts, and the illegal dismantling of cars that should be de‑registered as end‑of‑life vehicles. The cross‑border trade of total‑loss vehicles, especially from Western to Eastern Europe, operates in a regulatory grey zone, contributing to an estimated 3.5 million “missing” cars in the EU.

The findings raise consumer‑protection concerns and point to a need for tighter oversight of vehicle history reporting and cross‑national vehicle trading practices.