Romanians among nations in Europe driving the least kilometers annually

According to a new study by car data company carVertical, Romanians are among the nations in Europe driving the least kilometers annually.

The annual mileage of vehicles driving on Romanian roads is relatively low – 20,338 km - placing the country 17th out of 27 surveyed European states.

Vehicles in neighboring Hungary (19,357 km) and Serbia (20,028 km) travel even less, while those in Bulgaria a bit more (20,999 km). Latvians travel the least in Europe annually – 17,420 km.

However, the lowest mileage was recorded in cars imported from the US – 16,941 km. Although the mileage of American cars is the lowest among all surveyed countries, most vehicles imported from the US are heavily damaged.

Among the vehicles checked by carVertical, those driving in the Netherlands had the highest average annual mileage – 29,851 km, followed by cars from Spain (29,017 km), Denmark (27,346 km), Belgium (24,308 km), and France (23,775 km).

After 3-4 years, cars from these countries will already have around 100,000 kilometers on the odometer, which may prompt their owners to sell them and choose a new vehicle.

Many cars imported into Romania from the West have high mileage, which dishonest sellers can adjust to increase the vehicle’s value artificially.

“Higher mileage usually means the car will be worth less, so drivers often try to sell such vehicles before they depreciate significantly. A considerable number of several-year-old cars with high mileage come to Romania from Western Europe. Importing cars from other European countries is quite cheap and simple, so the fact of import doesn’t significantly increase the final price of a used car,” says Matas Buzelis, a used car market expert at carVertical.

When choosing a used car, drivers should be extremely cautious about vehicles with low mileage at an attractive price. The likelihood of buying a car with clocked mileage significantly increases when purchasing a vehicle imported from abroad. Since countries don’t exchange car data, dishonest individuals actively exploit this loophole. As a result, many cars with falsified mileage – often more than once – enter Romania from foreign countries.

(Photo source: Cateyeperspective | Dreamstime.com)