Buying a used vehicle

Of the 60,000 or so vehicles that are stolen each year in Australia, around one-third are never recovered. A large number of these vehicles are stripped for parts or given new identifiers and placed back on the market to be sold to unsuspecting buyers.

If you buy a car from a private buyer which is later found to be stolen you risk losing both the vehicle and the money you paid for it. This can also be the case if you purchase a car that is still under finance.

To be completely safe you should buy through a licensed dealer. This means you are protected by law against loss of the vehicle if it is later found to be stolen, written-off or financially encumbered. However, if you do decide to buy privately, you can minimise the risk by following a few simple steps.

Click here for simple steps to follow when purchasing a used vehicle and where to call to check if a used vehicle is legitimate.

You can also find out the relative risk of your car being stolen by using our Theft Risk Rating. This searchable theft index shows which passenger and light commercial vehicles less than 15 years old are most commonly stolen.  Please note that the theft risk rating is solely based on theft rates and does not take into account security features of individual vehicles.