"If You Don't Snap Out of It, You're a HoGaeNg" Used Car Market, Will Consumer Complaints Disappear?

Used Car Market Complaints... "Opaque and Chaotic"
2 Million Won Cargo Truck Sold for 7 Million Won... Forced Vehicle Sales Lead to Extreme Choices
"Consumers' Right to Know and Stable Market Formation Urgently Needed"

Used car market in Korea. Photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] "It is true that the used car market is unfriendly and problematic."

News has emerged that a YouTuber who creates content to help victims of false used car listings was found collapsed and bleeding. Some speculated that this might have been a retaliatory crime by used car market insiders dissatisfied with the YouTuber, but the investigation revealed that it occurred during an altercation with an acquaintance.

However, this incident has reignited negative public opinion about the used car market. Currently, the used car market is rife with fraudulent activities such as false listings, and even coercive sales through threats are frequent. It is said that if one is not careful in the used car market, becoming a "hogang (虎客)" (a derogatory term for a naive customer easily exploited) is only a matter of time. In fact, one victim wrote a suicide note and took their own life.

According to research, while the used car market itself continues to grow, consumer dissatisfaction remains high. According to the 10th Service Industry Survey by Statistics Korea, the sales revenue of used car dealerships surged from 7.9669 trillion won in 2016 to 12.4217 trillion won in 2018. The number of used car dealerships also increased from 5,829 in 2016 to 6,361 in 2018.

However, consumers criticize the used car market for its lack of transparency. Kim, a man in his 30s working at a company, said, "Isn't it common for cars to be forcibly sold or consumers deceived in the used car market?" He added, "I hope the perpetrators are caught and severely punished."

Another office worker in his 40s, Park, criticized, "Because public opinion about the used car market is so negative, there seem to be some efforts to improve it, but the perception of the market itself is still very bad."

As citizens expressed, according to a November 2019 survey by the Korea Economic Research Institute, 76.4% of used car consumers responded that the used car market is "somewhat or very opaque and chaotic." The survey was conducted over three days with 1,000 adult men and women nationwide, with a 95% confidence level and a sampling error of ±3.1%.

Also, in November last year, the Federation of Korean Industries commissioned Mono Research, a market research firm, to conduct a survey of opinions among people in their 20s and 30s. More than half (53.6%) supported domestic automakers participating in the used car sales market, while only 9.1% opposed.

When consumers who responded that the used car sales market is opaque, chaotic, and outdated were asked the reasons, they answered in order: distrust in price estimation (31.3%), false or bait listings (31.1%), damages due to odometer tampering and accident history (25.3%). Following these were concerns about after-sales service (6.2%) and inadequate regulations and lax supervision related to used car sales businesses (6.1%).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Reflecting the negative results of the used car market survey, recently a victim of forced used car sales made an extreme choice. On February 24, a man in his 60s, Mr. A, was found dead in a village in Jecheon, Chungbuk.

In a suicide note he wrote himself, he described being scammed while trying to buy a used car. He was dragged around for eight hours by a malicious used car sales group and was forced to buy a 2 million won cargo truck for 7 million won. This is why calls for improvement in the used car market are growing.

Consumers emphasized transaction transparency in the used car market. In December last year, the Consumer Sovereignty Citizens' Meeting issued a statement saying, "The used car market in our country is so opaque and outdated that further growth is impossible. Especially with the rapid changes in the automotive market environment, it is difficult to maintain the current state," and stressed, "It is urgent to create a stable market that guarantees consumers' right to know and right to choose through expanding transaction transparency."

They continued, "False and bait listings, discrepancies in performance condition inspections, excessive brokerage fees, and other consumer damage cases are still rampant in the domestic used car market," and criticized, "There is even a reality where used car dealers disguise mediated used car transactions as direct transactions to evade taxes and shift responsibility to consumers after the sale, leading to secondary damages."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.