Car-Pass: what it is and when it's mandatory

Car-Pass is a cornerstone of honest second-hand sales in Belgium. Anyone trading vehicles professionally will inevitably deal with it. Here's what Car-Pass exactly is, how mileage registration works and what obligations you have as a seller.

What is Car-Pass?

Car-Pass is an official document showing a vehicle's complete registered mileage history. It is managed by a Belgian non-profit set up by the automotive sector, under the law against odometer fraud. The system has been operational since 2006 and has drastically reduced mileage fraud in Belgium.

Every time a vehicle visits an approved professional, for maintenance, repair, technical inspection or a tyre change, the mileage is recorded in a central database. These successive records together form the mileage history shown on the Car-Pass.

When is Car-Pass mandatory?

When a professional seller (garage, car dealer) sells a used passenger car or light commercial vehicle to a private individual, the seller is legally required to hand over a valid Car-Pass. Key points:

• The Car-Pass is free for the buyer;
• at the time of sale the document may be at most one month old;
• it is part of the vehicle handover, together with the other on-board documents.

This lets the buyer objectively verify the mileage and be sure the odometer wasn't rolled back.

What if there's no valid Car-Pass?

If the Car-Pass is missing for a sale where it's required, the seller is on weak legal ground: the buyer can have the sale annulled and sanctions may follow. For a professional dealer, watertight mileage tracking is therefore not only a legal duty but also a matter of trust and reputation.

How AutoValet helps you

In a busy dealership, tracking mileages and documents per vehicle quickly becomes a source of errors. AutoValet integrates Car-Pass directly into each vehicle's digital workflow:

• Automatic mileage tracking per vehicle, linked to the vehicle record;
• Car-Pass check as a built-in step in the sales process, so nothing is forgotten;
• an immutable audit trail (Car Log) of who recorded what and when, useful in disputes.

That way you're compliant on every transaction, without manual lookups.

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. The exact and current rules are available on the official website car-pass.be.

Further reading: Peppol e-invoicing for car dealers.