Checking Previous Owners

tinofapples

Is there a government department you can contact that will tell you previous owners of a car ?

I've almost purchased a 97 car but there isn't a service history so I'd like to see if I could find out a few things about the car.

Someone told me the Gardai could tell you if the car was ever involved in a serious accident , is this bulls**** ?

mike65

This is an area which used not to be a problem, the old tax "log book"
listed all previous owners plus thier address so you could easily track them down if need be, but the current single sheet document has no such facility. I'm not aware of any way of finding out a previous owner if the car is post 1993. The guards might be able to tell you if a vehicle was invloved in a crash but only if it was reported in the first place and if it was in thier operational area, I doubt there is a central database you could access to.

Mike.

ando

if you know any gards, ask them to get info for you. Be nice to them, as their not allowed give info out. When I was buying a focus last year, I had the deposit down on the car and got my sister (gard) to check out the licence plate. Turns out it was used in a robbery in Blanchardstown + reposessed by Ford for non-payments + drove away from Petrol station without paying + Tax out of date 1 year :eek: Needless to say, I did'nt buy the car

gurramok

Is it a common problem with garages where dodgy cars with dodgy service history's are on sale ?
Reason i ask is that i'm thinking of getting a 2nd hand car from a well-known garage but i guess its pot luck if i can't get service history on the car ?

flyz

The Garda can only tell you if the car was in a serious accident if it happened in the last 12 months. They weren't storing records before that.

Get a mechanic to look over it, he will be able to tell you if there's been any rework done to the car.

My Dad bought a car last year and it wasn't until he took the car to the garage a few months later that he found out the car had been in a serious accident a few years back.

tinofapples

I had a mechanic friend look at the car and he said it looks fine , to be honest if the car goes good for me I couldn't give a flying f*** what it's history is .