How to check the real mileage of a car in Romania

Winding back the odometer is still the most common fraud in the Romanian used-car market, and it is a profitable one: a hundred thousand kilometres removed can move the asking price by a couple of thousand euros. The useful part is that for any car with a Romanian service history the truth is written down. Every periodic technical inspection records the odometer reading into the Romanian Auto Register database, and those readings cannot be edited afterwards by the seller.

What the RAR certificate shows

Using the 17-character VIN from the registration document or the corner of the windscreen, the official RAR Auto-Pass certificate lists the mileage recorded at every Romanian technical inspection, the inspections and activities registered with RAR and, where they exist, damages reported by insurers. If the car showed 250,000 km at an inspection two years ago and the dashboard says 140,000 today, the negotiation is over before it starts.

What it does not show

The RAR database sees Romania. A car imported from Germany, France or Belgium last year has its entire earlier life outside that database, and that is usually where the interesting parts are. For imported cars the answer is an international VIN report, which queries damage records, odometer readings and theft registers across several countries. Given what a car costs, it is the cheapest insurance available.

Reading the numbers properly

The last reading matters less than the shape of the curve. A normally used car accumulates something between 10,000 and 20,000 km a year, fairly steadily. Any drop between two inspections is direct proof of tampering. A flat period can mean the car genuinely sat unused, or that somebody adjusted the odometer before the inspection. With reported damage, look at how often and where, rather than at whether damage exists at all: one repaired bumper is a Tuesday in traffic, three structural repairs are a history.

Where to get the report and what it costs

Since December 2024 the old free RAR history app has been replaced by the official RAR Auto-Pass certificate, payable by card on the institution's own platform, which is in Romanian throughout. Through acte-rapide.ro you order the same official certificate in English for 89 RON, with delivery by email in about 10 minutes. For an imported car, the full VIN report at 129 RON adds the international damage and mileage databases that the Romanian certificate cannot cover.

The checks that cost nothing

Wear on the steering wheel, the pedals and the driver's seat should match the number on the dashboard. A steering wheel polished smooth on a car claiming 120,000 km tells its own story. So does a service book with stamps missing in exactly the years that are also missing from the recorded history. And if the seller cannot produce the VIN before you drive out to see the car, you have saved yourself the trip.

Finding the VIN before you drive anywhere

The seventeen characters are printed on the registration document and stamped on the car itself, usually visible at the base of the windscreen on the driver's side and repeated on a plate inside the door frame. Ask for a photo of the document in the messages, before you agree to meet. It costs the seller nothing, and one who will not send it is telling you something useful for free. When you do see the car, check that the number on the body matches the one on the paperwork, because a mismatch is a different and much bigger problem than a wound-back odometer.

What the certificate cannot see

It records what was reported. Servicing at an independent garage outside the authorised network leaves no trace, and damage repaired privately and never claimed on insurance leaves none either. A nearly new car that has been through a single inspection has almost no curve to read, so the report will look clean whatever the truth is. Treat a clean certificate as the absence of bad news rather than as proof of a good car, and keep the mechanical inspection on your list.

Putting the number where it counts

If the mileage matters to the price, write it into the sale contract next to the VIN, in figures, and keep the report you ordered. A seller confident about the car will sign that line without discussion. One who starts explaining why the number should not be in writing has just answered your question. If the reading later turns out to be false, having it stated in the contract is the difference between a legal claim and a story you tell friends.

When to order it

Before any money changes hands, including the deposit everyone treats as informal. Deposits are hard to get back, and the moment you have paid one your negotiating position is gone. The check takes minutes and costs less than the fuel you will burn driving out to see the car, so run it while the advert is still just an advert.

Sellers order it too

If you are selling an honest car, the report works in your favour. A buyer who arrives having already seen a consistent history argues about the price less, and a certificate mentioned in the advert filters out people who were never going to buy anyway. It is also the practical answer when the buyer is in another county and cannot inspect the car before deciding to travel.

The other half of the check

Mileage is only one of the two ways a used car can cost you money. The other is legal: a car pledged to a bank or still owned by a leasing company carries that debt with it to the new owner. We wrote separately about how to check the pledge register, and it takes about a minute.

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