WeBuyCars plans to provide buyers with mechanical test reports and has stressed the importance of the used vehicle industry getting full access to the insurance industry’s database of accident damaged vehicles to protect consumers.

The company says it discloses everything it can, but there is ‘obviously a misunderstanding’ among consumers about what a Dekra report is.

Director Janson Ponting has also stressed the importance and need for the used vehicle industry and consumers to have public access to the full accident damage database of insurers listing vehicles that were involved in accidents and declared uneconomical to repair and written off.

This follows several Moneyweb reports regarding consumer complaints about vehicles acquired from WeBuyCars, and the accuracy of the Dekra reports for some of these vehicles, including the lack of information about vehicles that had previously been involved in an accident.

Ponting said the database of vehicles that were declared uneconomical to repair and written off is something that would be of great value to the used vehicle industry and consumers, but they do not have access to this database to check all the repairs that have been done to these vehicles. 

He said this data is available, but it is not being shared with the industry or consumers.

The SA Insurance Association in 2023 launched the first phase of its free public access Vehicle Salvage Database, which will help prevent consumers from unknowingly buying written-off vehicles and at inflated prices.

Full Moneyweb report