motorcheck.ie

Unwelcomed

motorcheck.ie

Sensible questions :

1) How do they collect their data ?
2) Why the information they can reach is not public ?
3) € 30 average price is based on what "expenses" ?
4) Who is the owner(s) or partners ?
5) Is their method of collecting data compliant with Data Protection Act ?

Whining questions :

1) Why buying a second hand car in Ireland is like walking on a mine field ?
2) Should it be this much of a stress buying a roadworthy second hand car that will bring me to my work ?
3) Should join the "don't be stupid bring it from UK" train ?
4) Why every car dealer i shake hands with gives me shivers as i am a dying survivor in a dessert being followed by vultures circling over my head ?
5) WHEN THIS FEVERISH GREED OF IRISH WILL END ?

-Chris-

Have you emailed Motorcheck.ie with your sensible questions, or do you expect us to make up answers for you based on what we think their expenses etc. are??

As for the whining questions, how many of these are actually serious?
1) Buying a second hand car in virtually every country is like walking in a mine field - it's a major purchase (thousands of Euro) on a pre-used, and possibly abused, depreciating asset.
2) It's as much stress as you let it be. Buying a car is relatively easy imho as long as you're patient and thorough.
3) The UK second hand market is just as much of a mine field if you're not prepared to do your homework.
4) No one can answer this question but you, but if you don't trust them just walk away.
5) What are you talking about?

ironclaw

Unwelcomed wrote: »

Sensible questions :

1) How do they collect their data ?
2) Why the information they can reach is not public ?
3) € 30 average price is based on what "expenses" ?
4) Who is the owner(s) or partners ?
5) Is their method of collecting data compliant with Data Protection Act ?

Pretty sure they pay the tax office etc for the data on a per request basis. Its the same system that car dealers have access to. Its not public as every Tom, Dick and Harry could easily look up a fancy car and probably gleam enough data to find the address / buyer for underhand purposes. The €30 is probably enough to keep all but the most cunning away from the data.

The price is probably a composite of the cost of the search plus profit. It is a business after all.

As regards Data Protection, it probably falls under the same as the Tax Office and other public institutions. They are merely a Google for the info. They don't personally build or maintain the database.

Seth Brundle

Unwelcomed wrote: »

motorcheck.ie

Sensible questions :

1) How do they collect their data ?
2) Why the information they can reach is not public ?
3) € 30 average price is based on what "expenses" ?
4) Who is the owner(s) or partners ?
5) Is their method of collecting data compliant with Data Protection Act ?

As already mentioned, you should ask them and not third parties.
However, they aren't really sensible questions! Still:
1) I would imagine something like XML requests to different data providers.
2) Thats' not their decision but one for the agencies that provide motorcheck with the data.
3) Web hosting, administration, data requests, wages, insurance, security, etc. Very little is for free these days!
4) Ask them but I fail to see why its important to you!
5) Given that a large portion of their data comes from the Government, I would imagine the rules are quite strict in this regard.

Unwelcomed wrote: »

Whining questions :

1) Why buying a second hand car in Ireland is like walking on a mine field ?
2) Should it be this much of a stress buying a roadworthy second hand car that will bring me to my work ?
3) Should join the "don't be stupid bring it from UK" train ?
4) Why every car dealer i shake hands with gives me shivers as i am a dying survivor in a dessert being followed by vultures circling over my head ?
5) WHEN THIS FEVERISH GREED OF IRISH WILL END ?

1) Its the same everywhere (and much the same when buying new). Because you are spending a lot of money on something.
2) What has this to do with motorcheck.ie? Anyhow, I bought a used car last August (a 2003 BMW 525i). I had spent several months looking for it and knew what to look for in the model. I checked the car out thoroughly and was happy with it. It's odometer crossed the 30,000km mark last week and there hasn't been an issue in the 13,000km I have done in that period. It was an easy experience.
3)Is that a question?
4)What has this to do with motorcheck.ie?
5)What has this to do with motorcheck.ie? Are you suggesting that the small fee charged by motorcheck (or its competitors) is greedy? Given what they may save you if they can warn you of a dodgy purchase, I see it as good value compared to many of the many other ways people spend their money!


Is it just that for whatever reason, you have some form of grudge?

Unwelcomed

Been looking around for a car for a while and eventually decided to go for a 2006 Astra Estate 1.3 , Black.Didn't mind to be ripped €35 for some "information" on the car.So i entered the registration number and purchased a report for the vehicle form motorcheck.ie.Got 2 "STOP" (Red) Warning about the finance outstanding and odometer readings.

So i called the garage and told them about the report , they told me to call back a day later that they will investigate the issues as well.

Also called motorcheck.ie to hear what they have to say about it.They also told me to wait for a few hours and they would call me back.

Next day i called the garage first and they said there is no finance outstanding on the car and they own the car , also they would give me a receipt with all official stuff on it.They couldn't find out any discrepancies on odometer readings and they would extend the 3 months warranty to 6 months should i feel uneasy with the purchase.Fair enough i told them i am gona call back if i am interested.

Right after i called motorcheck.ie and i was told that i received an "updated" version of the report on the vehicle.When i went and checked the mail i saw a new link for new report.
The warning signs about the finance and odometer reading were disappeared.

Magically a 50K Miles difference were gone and car was clean as a virgin!Almost!
Ofcourse i didn't buy the car.And in my opinion the entire motorcheck.ie is a sham.Wouldn't be surprised to hear that they called the garage before they updated (fixed) the report and called me back.In a country where banks,lenders,maindealers singing in the rain hand in hand as history proved !(anyone remember the price fixing scandal of main car importers a few years back?)

Back to good old ways of bringing a mechanic with me.Don't waste your money on this website.Probably the 3 responses above are from employees of the "Syndicate" anyway.

Have a good day and "very much good luck" not getting ripped off while buying a second hand car in Ireland (Rip Off lic !)

P.S. What's with all the "ask them not us!" attitude ? Is this a forum where people share their opinions or , i don't know ... what ? It was just a way of asking the questions in public to find out what you thin of motorcheck.ie and i stated my opinion about the web site.
Weird.

Nonoperational

Some real borderline libelous stuff in that post. I've had no problems with motorcheck. It is possible the report was amended because they followed up on the report and had evidence there was a mistake in the original.

There's no big conspiracy by the way but if it keeps you happy you keep thinking there is...

Absurdum

the guy who runs it posts here sometimes, I'm sure he'll be happy to respond to your questions

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/member.php?u=311131

Anan1

Unwelcomed wrote: »

Right after i called motorcheck.ie and i was told that i received an "updated" version of the report on the vehicle.When i went and checked the mail i saw a new link for new report.
The warning signs about the finance and odometer reading were disappeared.

Magically a 50K Miles difference were gone and car was clean as a virgin!Almost!
Ofcourse i didn't buy the car.And in my opinion the entire motorcheck.ie is a sham.Wouldn't be surprised to hear that they called the garage before they updated (fixed) the report and called me back.In a country where banks,lenders,maindealers singing in the rain hand in hand as history proved !(anyone remember the price fixing scandal of main car importers a few years back?)

Car checks compare all enquiries for mileage checks. For example, if I run a check on a car with a recorded mileage of 50k miles and erroneously enter a figure of 150k miles then you will get a 'mileage discrepancy' warning when you run a check on the same car the following day.

-Chris-

Wow, fantastic response after 3+ months. Good to see you still have that chip on your shoulder.

a) Always bring someone knowledgeable with you, an online check is no substitute for an experienced "live" evaluation

b) What explanation did Motorcheck give you for the discrepancy between the two reports? I presume after you spent €35 with them that they were willing to discuss the issue with you.

c) Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions about your questions when we asked them back in April. Also, thanks for taking my questions at face value and not implying that I'm somehow in cahoots with Motorcheck and am just questioning you as I have a vested interest in their operations and I can't be trusted.

Nah, scratch point c. I think you've already made your mind up on that one... :rolleyes:

VolvoMan

Regarding Motorcheck, the OP makes a very good point. Why isn't the information they provide available to the public?

Unwelcomed

-Chris- wrote: »

Wow, fantastic response after 3+ months. Good to see you still have that chip on your shoulder.

a) Always bring someone knowledgeable with you, an online check is no substitute for an experienced "live" evaluation

b) What explanation did Motorcheck give you for the discrepancy between the two reports? I presume after you spent €35 with them that they were willing to discuss the issue with you.

c) Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions about your questions when we asked them back in April. Also, thanks for taking my questions at face value and not implying that I'm somehow in cahoots with Motorcheck and am just questioning you as I have a vested interest in their operations and I can't be trusted.

Nah, scratch point c. I think you've already made your mind up on that one... :rolleyes:

wow... why so cheeky ? you are a moderator of these forums , isn't your job to sort out posts into correct categories and warn users if they cross the line in terms of civility and terms and conditions ? what happened to being objective ? well yeah , your credibility is really questionable , especially after your last response.

Unwelcomed

Unwelcomed wrote: »

wow... why so cheeky ? you are a moderator of these forums , ......

No bold print so he wasn't speaking as mod, was just being helpful really.

Bigus

Unwelcomed wrote: »

wow... why so cheeky ? you are a moderator of these forums , isn't your job to sort out posts into correct categories and warn users if they cross the line in terms of civility and terms and conditions ? what happened to being objective ? well yeah , your credibility is really questionable , especially after your last response.

you are really living up to your user name and with 4 posts to your name

-Chris-

Unwelcomed wrote: »

wow... why so cheeky ? you are a moderator of these forums , isn't your job to sort out posts into correct categories and warn users if they cross the line in terms of civility and terms and conditions ? what happened to being objective ? well yeah , your credibility is really questionable , especially after your last response.

Is this in the wrong category? Have any posts here breached the Charter? If not, then there's no need for moderator intervention.

I'm posting in a personal capacity and feel within my rights to be miffed at your insinuations.

Your credibility is also suspect considering your obvious bias, low number of posts and reluctance to answer any reasonable questions put to you... :rolleyes:

Bigus

most discrepancies on motorcheck are a result of miles and km's being mixed up.