A South African vehicle verification start-up says it identifies odometer fraud on a daily basis, on cars marketed as financeable with full service histories.

FirstCheck, which sells vehicle history reports to consumers, says 70% of the vehicles run through its platform show recorded damage or irregularities.

That figure describes its own customers rather than the market: people who pay for a history check are often already suspicious about a particular car. Co-founder Andrew Travers says a significant share of what it finds involves mileage rollbacks that constitute fraud under South African law.

“If you sell a vehicle with an undisclosed mileage alteration, it’s fraud,” he says.

FirstCheck works by using a vehicle’s 17-digit VIN, or vehicle identification number, to cross-reference information from multiple databases, including insurance accident records, police records and vehicle manufacturers. The platform also pulls live vehicle valuations and market listings to show what a vehicle is worth. This allows buyers and sellers to check a vehicle’s history, mileage, accident record, ownership details and market value before committing to a purchase.

FirstCheck shared several cases with TechCentral. A 2010 Hyundai iX35 was presented at 98 000km despite a structural insurance claim recorded at 268 518km in April 2026, a discrepancy of more than 170 000km. A Toyota Hilux showed seven recorded accidents and a rollback of about 243 000km.

Double standard

Co-founder David Thomas says the mechanics of odometer fraud vary by vehicle age. On older models, a locksmith with the right equipment can alter a digital cluster reading. On newer vehicles, Thomas said, the engine control unit records actual wheel distance independently of the display. “The display can be changed,” he says. “The ECU can never be changed.”

A Johannesburg buyer recently bought a 2022 Ford EcoSport from a dealership that did not disclose an insurance claim recorded at 192 092km, covering front, roof, rear and undercarriage damage. The vehicle showed 65 730km at purchase. A FirstCheck report also found undisclosed finance still active on the car, along with what the company says was a fake extended warranty and a fabricated service record.

Consumer journalist Wendy Knowler tells TechCentral the double standard in how dealerships handle vehicle information is a persistent and well-documented problem.

Read: WeBuyCars to sell its AI inspection platform to rivals

“If you go to sell them a car or trade one in, they will very easily be able to tell you all the problems with it,” Knowler says. “When you go to buy a car from a dealership, they suddenly know nothing. If you later learn that the car has had a haircut, which is industry speak for the odometer turned back, they will say, well, we didn’t know. They should know and they could know.”

Knowler pointed to a supreme court of appeal judgment handed down on 10 December 2025, in which the court found that a bank financing a used vehicle acts as both credit provider and supplier, because it retains ownership until the final instalment is paid. In Van Niekerk v FirstRand Bank, the court ordered the bank to repay R170 023 to a buyer whose Ford Ranger turned out to have latent defects.

FirstCheck's David Thomas — FirstCheck’s David Thomas

Knowler expected the ruling to push banks into requiring verified vehicle histories before approving used-car finance. Eight months on, she says little has changed.

“I keep getting cases where the buyer discovers some undisclosed dark part of the car and the bank is still not interested,” she says. “Buyers, do it for yourself.”

Pricing and context

FirstCheck reports range from R49 for a basic check to R149 for a full history report covering accident claims, mileage history, police checks, finance status and live market valuations endorsed by the Automobile Association of South Africa. The platform integrates with the police database, so a vehicle reported stolen on a given day will appear flagged on a report pulled the same day.

WeBuyCars said in May it plans to offer its in-house inspection platform, Inspectify, to the broader market within six to 12 months, reflecting growing demand for independent vehicle history data beyond standard roadworthy assessments. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media