Vehicle ownership costs and mileage fraud concerns in Europe

Vehicle owners face significant hidden costs beyond fuel consumption. For a driver traveling 15,000 kilometers annually with a fuel consumption of 7 liters per 100 kilometers, fuel alone can cost approximately 189,000 dinars. Total annual expenses, including registration, insurance, maintenance, tires, and parking, can reach between 290,000 and 390,000 dinars, translating to a monthly impact of 24,000 to 32,500 dinars. Additional costs such as depreciation, credit installments, and leasing are not included in these estimates.

In the used car market, mileage manipulation remains a concern for European buyers. A study by carVertical involving over 7,800 respondents across 18 European countries found that 75.8 percent of buyers do not know how to report a vehicle with tampered mileage. Furthermore, 87.3 percent of respondents do not believe they could recover financial losses resulting from such fraud. Approximately 30.3 percent of participants have personally purchased a vehicle with rolled-back mileage or know someone who has. In Croatia, mileage manipulation was identified in 2.21 percent of vehicles checked between September 2024 and August 2025, placing the country 11th on the carVertical Transparency Index.