Dubizzle, the biggest secondhand motors marketplace in the UAE has partnered with road safety portal RoadSafetyUAE in a move to drive awareness in used car safety and offer knowledge and tools to make purchasing decisions.

The move follows a poll conducted on dubizzle, which revealed that 81.5 per cent of respondents who had an unpleasant experience when purchasing a secondhand car attributed this to underlying issues the owner did not tell them about, despite 73.5 per cent of total respondents requesting the vehicle history ahead of purchase.

The poll showed that 19.1 per cent of respondents did not request the vehicle history, and a further 7.4 per cent were unaware of what it is. Surprisingly, a quarter (24.9 per cent) of respondents stated that they would purchase a car without seeing the vehicle history.

“Buying a secondhand car boils down to trust. Sellers must be transparent about the condition of a car, and buyers need to be more aware of what to look out for. Platforms like dubizzle driving transparency in the UAE market have a range of tools and services to help with the decision-making process ahead of purchasing. Having a car physically checked is very important to identify potential problems and eliminate them to ensure a car is safe before taking it onto the roads,” said Thomas Edelmann, founder & managing director, RoadSafetyUAE.

Out of the survey respondents, 78.1 per cent claimed that they would consider buying a secondhand car; however, 23.7 per cent stated that they do not know what to look for to establish if it is in a good condition.

Jean-Pierre Mondalek, general manager of Motors at dubizzle said: “Opting for a verified secondhand car on dubizzle saves the hassle of hidden issues for buyers, as the car goes through a thorough 90-point check through Expat Wheels before being listed for sale and a further 240-point check prior to sale.

“This way, buyers can rest assured that the car is road safe and they should not face any issues in relation to underlying problems. Our partnership with CarReport also allows buyers to request the full vehicle history for cars of interest listed by sellers ahead of making the investment in a physical inspection prior to purchase.”

For unverified cars, dubizzle encourages users to ensure that a physical check is conducted ahead of purchasing, to ensure the safety of the vehicle. 28.6 per cent of respondents do not know how to check the tires of a car to ensure that they are in a safe condition, which according to dubizzle’s partner Expat Wheels, is a common reason for failing the Tasjeel test when registering the car.

In addition to this, over a third (34.3 per cent) stated that they would not ask the owner of the car about the red triangle in the boot of the car if it is missing, although this is also a requirement when registering the car.

With 4,788 road accidents in the UAE in 2016, and the number of road deaths increasing by 7.4 per cent from 2015 to 2016 per the Ministry of Interior, road safety awareness is increasingly becoming a key topic. – TradeArabia News Service