Transparency Index 2026: which country has Europe’s cleanest odometers

Every year, carVertical digs through the vehicle history reports we've generated to see how honest Europe's used car market really is. We call it the Transparency Index, and this year's edition, covering 23 countries, gives us a pretty clear picture of where buyers can trust the odometer and where they really shouldn't.

Here's the short version: two things matter more than anything else, how many cars are imported, and how often odometers get tampered with. Get those two right, and a country lands near the top of the index, even if other numbers aren't perfect.

Key takeaways

• Across all 23 markets, the average used car checked was about 10 years old, had roughly 70,600 km rolled back when mileage was faked, and had a 47% chance of carrying a damage record.
• Odometer fraud rose by 6% compared with last year, across the markets studied.
• Switzerland holds 3rd place despite one of the highest damage rates in the Index, because only 1.5% of its cars are clocked and just 27% are imported.
• The United Kingdom takes 1st place again, with only 2.4% of cars imported (the lowest in Europe) and the smallest average odometer rollback in the study.
• Finland has the lowest damage rate of all 23 countries, at 19.2%, and its rollback figures improved noticeably from last year.
• Bulgaria has the highest clocked-car rate in the study, at 10.4%.
• Poland has the highest damage rate in Europe, at 62.9% of cars checked.
• Sweden has the highest average damage value of any country, over €11,000.
• Estonia has one of the highest import rates in Europe, with nearly 80% of vehicles checked coming from abroad.

The big picture

Across all 23 markets, the average used car checked this year was about 10 years old, had roughly 70,600 km rolled back when mileage was faked, and had a coin flip's chance, 47%, of carrying some kind of damage record. Odometer fraud itself, the share of cars with a clocked reading, rose by 6% compared with last year.

Countries where imports and mileage fraud are low tend to rank near the top almost regardless of anything else. Damage records matter too, but they're a much weaker predictor of where a country lands. Switzerland proves the point best. Its damaged car rate is one of the highest in the Index, yet it still holds 3rd place, because only 1.5% of its cars are clocked and just 27% are imported, both among the lowest in Europe.

Who's leading the pack

The United Kingdom takes the top spot again, and it's not close. Just 2.4% of cars checked there were imported, the lowest in Europe by a wide margin, and the average odometer rollback, when it did happen, was also the smallest anywhere in the study.

Germany and Switzerland round out the top three, followed by Finland and France. What these five have in common is consistency: none of them stand out as the absolute best in every single category, but none of them have a glaring weak spot either. Finland deserves a special mention this year, its damage rate of 19.2% is the lowest of all 23 countries, and its odometer rollback figures came down noticeably compared to last year.

Who's struggling

At the other end of the table, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Latvia make up the bottom three. All three share a familiar combination: heavy reliance on imported cars and some of the highest odometer fraud rates in the index. Bulgaria's clocked car rate, 10.4%, is the highest of any country we studied.

Poland tells a slightly different story. It doesn't rank at the very bottom, but it does carry the dubious honor of the highest damage rate in Europe, 62.9% of cars checked there had a damage record. Romania sits nearby too, with damage rates that have barely moved in a year, even as some of its other numbers improved.

Check the percentage of damaged used cars in each country in this interactive map:

A few numbers worth remembering

Some figures from this year's study are worth keeping in your back pocket for the next used car conversation at a family dinner. Sweden has the highest average damage value of any country, over €11,000, even though its damage rate itself isn't unusual. Estonia relies more heavily on imported cars than almost anywhere else, nearly 80% of vehicles checked there came from abroad. And Hungary, despite ranking in the lower half overall, actually has the lowest average damage value in the index.

See in a map the average used car age in each country:

Why this matters

None of this is about naming and shaming. It's about giving buyers, wherever they are shopping, a clearer sense of what to watch out for. A car imported from three countries away with an odometer that's been touched is a very different risk than a locally bought car with a clean history, and the data backs that up year after year.

We'll keep tracking these numbers every year, and we're always happy to see the countries that keep improving. If you want to see how your own country stacks up in detail, the full Transparency Index is available on our website.