Nine ways to avoid online car scams

With online car sales at record levels, consumers have been warned to stay safe and be wary of scams when buying a car over the internet.

Crimestoppers, An Garda Síochána, and online classified websites Carzone and DoneDeal have launched a campaign giving consumers practical advice to follow when they’re buying or selling cars and commercial vehicles online.

Last year, more than 300m searches were carried out on Irish car websites by people interested in buying a vehicle. Almost 125,000 new cars were sold in Ireland last year, an increase of 30% on 2014 with further increases expected this year.