Selling or trading-in a car? How much can users expect to get for it? Wanting to buy a used car? How much should they offer for it? Going to a car auction? How will users know when they are bidding too much for a specific vehicle?
How confident are users that the car, bakkie or motorbike they fancy hasn’t been stolen, been in a serious accident, had its odometer turned back or have any of the myriad of other potential pitfalls of buying pre-owned associated with it? Now, following the launch of TransUnion’s new Car Value app, all that information is available, instantly, on a smartphone, anywhere and anytime.
According to George Palmer, director: Business Development at TransUnion Auto Information Solutions, the new app has been developed specifically to meet the needs of South African consumers.
“It is similar to the Dealer Guide app TransUnion released last year, but with some significant consumer-friendly features, including the ability to accept once-off payments,” he explains.
For the first time, consumers are able to access TransUnion’s vast database and obtain values and other key identification and verification information for specific vehicles – rather than just generic makes and models – virtually at the push of a button.
TransUnion is better known throughout the motor industry as the publisher of the authoritative Auto Dealers Guide – the car value “bible” trusted by the motor industry for the past 50 years.
All consumers need to do is download the free Car Value app to their smartphone, register once and use their credit card to purchase a valuation report from R10.00; or a verification report – which includes a valuation report – from R140.00.
Car value and verification report credits can also be purchased in multiples of five. Credits are then stored on the system, to be redeemed as required.
Once registered, consumers simply enter the vehicle’s registration number, or VIN (vehicle identification number), to receive the Car Value report with the vehicle’s current retail value.
Key vehicle indicators are also included in the Car Value report. Based on the specific vehicle’s pedigree, the indicators are colour coded (red, amber or green) alerts relating to the vehicle’s odometer reading and accident history.
If either are flagged red or amber, the consumer can then make a judgement call on whether to continue with the transaction, ask more questions or – with a single action – order a full Verification Report for the vehicle.
The Verification Report, which will be displayed on the mobile device and can be e-mailed to consumer as well, will contain confirmation of the vehicle’s main identifiers (registration, VIN and engine numbers) and make, model, variant, colour and year of manufacture; as well as its financial and accident claim history; police interest; IVID status; mileage and microdot history.
The TransUnion Car Value app is available for downloading to virtually all smartphones, including those using the Windows operating system, such as the Nokia Lumia, as well as Apple, Android and most Blackberry devices. To download the app, go to a smartphone’s app store and search for “Car Value”.
