A cheap car? Even a ⅓ price reduction won't convince 80% of Poles to buy a car with an undocumented history
Transparency note: This press release was originally published in Polish. The text has been machine translated. You can find the original press release here.
An attractive price isn't enough when the seller refuses to document the car's history. According to the latest CARFAX study, only 22% of Poles would consider such a purchase with a reduction of more than 10% from the market price, and 78% would definitely reject such an offer. The greatest willingness to take risks is seen among 18- to 24-year-olds – 61% would not buy a car without a documented history, even if the price were reduced. Among respondents over 55, this figure reaches 89%.
As many as 78% of Poles would not buy a used car at any price if the seller refused to provide documented information about its history. Only 12% would decide to buy if the vehicle's price was 10-20% below the market price, and 10% if the discount exceeded 30%. This data comes from the latest representative study commissioned by CARFAX, a company providing used car history reports from reliable and certified sources.
Young people are more easily tempted by price, older people don't want to take risks
The willingness to take a risk in exchange for a favorable price decreases with age. 61% of respondents aged 18 to 24 would refrain from purchasing a car without a documented history, regardless of its price. At the same time, 39% would opt for such a car if it were more than 10% cheaper than the market price. Among respondents aged 25-34, 70% expressed caution. Only 29% would be willing to take a risk on a lower price. Respondents aged 35 to 44 have a similar attitude – 71% would not buy a car without confirmed information about its history, while 29% would be tempted by a discount.
Among those aged 45-54, the percentage declaring they would not buy increases to 75%. Twenty-five percent of respondents would take the risk with a discount. Respondents aged 55 and over are the most cautious. A full 89% of them would not buy a car without a documented history, regardless of the price – a staggering 28 percentage points more than among the youngest group. Only 18% would consider buying at a lower price.
From a market perspective, we clearly see that younger drivers are more likely to lack experience or have a smaller budget, which leads them to seek out supposed "bargains." Unfortunately, miracles don't happen in the automotive industry. An attractive price for a vehicle with a hidden history is often a sign of serious problems, such as hidden structural defects from collisions or manipulated mileage. – says Robert Lewandowski, Business Development Manager at CARFAX Polska. – Older, more experienced buyers are well aware that the initial savings on purchase will quickly disappear at the garage. As vehicle history verification experts, we always emphasize: missing documentation is rarely a coincidence, and more often than not, the deliberate act of a dishonest seller attempting to conceal the car's history.
In the countryside, a price reduction is more tempting than in a big city
There's also a clear correlation between the size of one's home and buyers' caution – the larger the town, the more likely it is that a lack of confirmed information about a car's history completely negates an offer. Seventy-six percent of rural residents and 75 percent of respondents from towns with up to 20,000 residents would refrain from purchasing a car regardless of the price. Among those from towns with populations between 20,000 and 99,000, this figure rises to 79 percent, and 80 percent from towns with populations between 100,000 and 500,000. Those least susceptible to price incentives are those from cities with populations over 500,000 – 83 percent would not buy a car without a documented history, regardless of the price.
Among rural residents, significantly more people would be willing to take the risk of purchasing a car without a documented history at a price 10-20 percent lower than the market average (14 percent of respondents) than at a discount exceeding 30 percent (10 percent of respondents).
The results of our study confirm a trend we've been observing for some time: consumer awareness increases with the size of an urban center. Residents of large urban areas have easier access to authorized service stations and professional advisory services on a daily basis, which naturally translates into greater caution. Meanwhile, in smaller towns and rural areas, buyers are still more likely to rely on the opinion of a mechanic they know or simply trust the salesperson's assurances – says Robert Lewandowski, Business Development Manager of CARFAX Polska. – It's important to remember, however, that even the best specialist can't "eyeball" whether, for example, a car imported from abroad has been involved in a serious accident in another country or whether it's listed in foreign registers as stolen. Access to reliable, integrated cross-border data is currently the only effective way to avoid costly mistakes, regardless of where you buy your car.
The survey was conducted at the turn of June and July 2026 using the CAWI method on a representative group of two thousand Poles.