EXPERIAN has marked the fifth anniversary of its automotive and global information solutions firm and has revealed shocking statistics showing why it believes used car data checks are vital to protect residual values.

In the past five years, Experian has carried out more than 15 million checks of vehicle histories, through its Car Data Check service.

They uncovered 42,000 vehicles that had previously been written off, 16,000 high-risk vehicles, more than 9,000 stolen vehicles and 45,000 with outstanding finance. It also stopped more than 15,000 buyers taking on an insurance write-off, more than 43,000 people from buying a car with outstanding finance and stopped customers from buying more than £2.5 million of stolen vehicles.

The firm was congratulated on its achievement by Alan Pulham, director of the Retail Motor Industry's National Franchised Dealers' Association.

Rob Whalley, managing director of the Automotive division at Experian, said: 'In the five years since our launch, the Car Data Check service has become a central part of 30 manufacturer-approved used car programmes and, with access to more than 75 million records, is now the preferred choice among franchised motor dealers.'