[REVISION HISTORY]

Turkey second-hand vehicle market regulations and fraud

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What changed

2026-10-12 08:35 UTC → 2026-10-13 12:24 UTC · added ~~removed~~

The Turkish second-hand vehicle market is characterized by specific legal obligations and emerging security risks. Under current regulations, sellers remain responsible for any legal or financial liabilities incurred before the notary sale, even if penalties like traffic fines or bridge tolls appear in the system after the transfer is complete. New regulations effective January 1, 2026, introduce a transfer fee of 2 per mille (0.2%) on vehicle sales, with a minimum fee of 1,000 TL. Buyers are advised to account for this fee, along with insurance and maintenance, as advertised prices do not include these costs. Legal professionals continue to warn of sophisticated fraud schemes where scammers impersonate doctors, lawyers, or notary employees to build trust. These individuals often claim to be in different cities to avoid in-person meetings and pressure victims into sending money under the guise of a ‘secure deposit,’ ‘guarantee,’ or ‘blockage’ to finalize a sale. In a significant legal development, the 11th Criminal Chamber of Turkey's Supreme Court (Yargıtay) issued a landmark ruling regarding fraudulent mileage tampering. Overturning previous dismissals that suggested buyers were responsible for verifying vehicle history, the Court ruled that the argument “the buyer could have queried the records” does not absolve a seller of fraudulent actions. The Court emphasized that such cases require thorough investigations, including retrieving inspection records and determining the vehicle's true market value to assess whether discrepancies could have been detected through simple inspection. In a related crackdown, authorities in Ankara launched a multi-province operation targeting the ‘change’ system. This criminal method involves using chemical liquids to alter engine and chassis numbers, effectively transferring the identities of heavily damaged or scrapped vehicles to other cars to deceive buyers.

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