The initiative to establish a used car price guide steps up a notch: A Calcalist inquiry reveals that the Zelicha Committee will recommend that the government introduce an obligatory requirement to the public to report the value of used car sales at the post office at the time of the transaction.
The report will carry the signatures of both seller and buyer. The aim of the initiative is to gather data on used car prices on the market and release a monthly report on average used car prices.
A source close to the Zelicha Committee says that thanks to the initiative, the public will be able to know the monthly sale rates and demand of each model.
The publication of the average sale prices on the market aims to help buyers establish the baseline price of the used car model they wish to buy, with which they can than calculate the price of the specific car they are interested in according to mechanical condition, bodywork integrity and wear and tear.
Sources with knowledge of the committee's work say that the idea is still rudimentary and that the committee is aware of the legal aspects of the public's right to privacy.
One solution may be to report the price range in which the deal falls rather than exact prices.
Another issue is the implementation of the monitoring process – only two years ago the Ministry of Transportation introduced a requirement to report annual accrued mileage to prevent deceit; however, the implementation thereof was held up due to the restrictions of the licensing office computer system.
On Sunday, Calcalist reported that the Zelicha Committee is considering recommending that the government publish a used car price guide. The automobile market was surprised to hear about the report, as it had grown accustomed to the long standing guide published by Yitzhak Levi, which has become the benchmark price list on the Israeli automobile market.
In an interview with Calcalist, Yitzhak Levi welcomed the initiative: "Why not? I always said I'm all for competition. It's a free market and once in a few years some competitor or another pops up (such as the Yad2 online list), and I welcome such initiatives although I still do not understand how the prices are to be established."
In response to Calcalist's inquiry as to what he plans to do in the event that there are considerable disparities, Levi responded: "If there are disparities – we'll deal with them."
One element of the automobile market that might be hit by the price monitoring are the leasing companies which use their car fleets as a financing leverage with which to raise funds (bonds), meaning that the fall in value of their automobiles might smudge their balance sheets.
The leasing companies said in response that at this stage, it is too early to comment on the initiative.