What's the news?
The number of used vehicles offered for sale across Ireland that still have outstanding finance owing on them has increased, according to vehicle data expert Cartell.ie - up to 14.3 per cent for the six months to the end of December 2017.
That's an increase on the 12.5 per cent figure reported by Cartell.ie in July 2017, and 11.5 per cent for the same number this time last year. It's also the highest percentage of used cars on sale with finance outstanding reported since January 2010.
Cartell.ie took a sample of 5,906 vehicles offered for sale and checked via its website in 2017, which also revealed that the overall levels of car finance have increased 24.3 per cent in the 12 months since January 2017, and 51 per cent in 18 months since June 2016, when the rate of outstanding finance recorded was 9.5 per cent.
Anything else?
John Byrne, legal and public relations manager for Cartell.ie, said: "In terms of the overall picture, 14.3 per cent of all vehicles checked with Cartell.ie so far in 2017 have finance outstanding. This is up from 11.5 per cent in January and 9.5 per cent in June 2016. These are very significant jumps. To give you some idea where we are coming from, the level of finance outstanding was 7 per cent in December 2014, meaning the rate has doubled in three years. A buyer is advised to check a vehicle for outstanding finance as the finance house owns the vehicle until the last payment has been made - the bottom line is that you can lose the vehicle."