FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What it does, what it does not, and what each term means — short answers.
- What is a pre-purchase insight?
- A pre-purchase insight is everything already knowable about a used car, pulled into a single risk picture before you buy it: the documented chronic faults of its engine, its insurance-recorded damage history, and the paint and replacement status of every body panel — all in plain language. Here is what you get out of it: you understand the paperwork in your hand, you know what that particular engine is notorious for, and you walk up to the seller with the right questions ready. It is not a diagnosis and it never touches the car. It is the preparation that makes the negotiation and the physical inspection go better — and that is exactly what Vetto hands you.
- Does Vetto replace a physical vehicle inspection?
- This is not a vehicle expertise report and does not replace a TSE-certified inspection service. Putting a car on a lift, measuring paint thickness with a gauge, listening to the engine — only a TSE TS 13805 certified centre can do those. Vetto is the step before that one: you arrive already knowing what that engine family is known for, which panels are bolted and which are welded, and what to look for in the records you are holding. So you turn up as a customer with specific questions instead of a vague "could you have a look". If something serious surfaces, Vetto sends you straight to a physical inspection. The two are not rivals; they are two steps in order.
- What is a TRAMER damage query and how do you run one?
- A TRAMER damage query reads a car's insurance-reported accident and damage history from its licence plate alone; the records sit with Turkey's Insurance Information and Monitoring Centre. It runs over SMS: you text "HASAR 34ABC123" to the short code 5664, and 275 TRY lands on your mobile bill. The Insurance Information Centre sets that fee and Vetto takes no share of it. Vetto prepares the message for you and turns the reply into something you can actually read — you see what a line saying "heavy damage" means for the car standing in front of you. Worth knowing: a clean record means nothing was reported to an insurer, which is not the same as nothing having happened.
- What is a chronic fault, and how do you find out if a car has one?
- A chronic fault is not bad luck on one car — it is a structural defect that repeats across an entire engine or gearbox family and shows up predictably with mileage. You cannot find it from the model name; you find it from the ENGINE CODE, because the same model carries completely different engines depending on year and trim. Take the BMW N47 diesel: its timing chain sits at the rear of the engine, between engine and gearbox. Past 100,000 km it starts to stretch, and replacing it means dropping the engine — many times the bill for the same job on a front-chain engine. Vetto identifies your car's engine code and shows you what that engine tends to cost you and at what mileage, before the money leaves your pocket. Every entry is backed by a source.
- What is the difference between a bolted and a welded panel?
- A bolted panel is screwed to the body and can be taken off and put back; a welded panel is joined to the body, so replacing it means cutting the old one out and welding a new one in. That difference turns straight into negotiating room. The hood, trunk lid, doors and FRONT fenders are bolted — "replaced" there usually means something on the scale of a car-park knock and says little about the car's skeleton. The roof, rocker panel, REAR quarter panel and pillars are welded, and none of them get replaced without a serious impact. So when a record says "replaced", your first question is always: which panel, bolted or welded? The same word covers both and they are not the same event — Vetto tells you which one you are looking at, panel by panel.
- Is Vetto free?
- Vetto is free right now. The chronic-fault knowledge base, the panel breakdown, the negotiation scripts, the nearby inspection centres — you use all of it at no cost. The only thing you pay for is the TRAMER damage query: its 275 TRY fee is set by the Insurance Information Centre, billed by your mobile operator, and none of it reaches Vetto. So there is nothing you pay us, and what you pay TRAMER buys you the car's official damage history before you commit to it. It also tells you which car is worth spending a full physical inspection fee on.