Car buyback services: should they exist?

Modern-day Russia is impressive when it comes to the conditions for buying a new car. There's now a great banking credit system in place that lets almost anyone get a new car. And yet the domestic secondhand market isn't dying — it still offers a huge range of cars. What's more, companies have appeared that offer to buy used cars from any owner. Is this kind of market development really necessary?

The credit system was supposed to not just shake the secondhand car market but wipe it out entirely. New opportunities were supposed to push people away from buying used cars, on the grounds that they lack proper quality, but that never happened. It's not fair to say the credit system is working badly today. It's not the only thing helping numerous customers buy a car — manufacturers themselves constantly run special promotions to widen their customer base. But the Russian population is characterised by fairly low income, and that's exactly what leads to such dire consequences. The average person is almost entirely convinced they won't be able to keep up loan payments on time, since that would be too heavy a blow to the family budget. Because of that, they turn the loan down and head for the secondhand car market instead.

It's fair to say that car buyback services should exist. Every car owner should have a real chance to sell their property without spending their free time on it. What's more, going back to the "old" car markets would be a clear mistake, since they used to be hotbeds of fraud that law enforcement couldn't get a handle on. Even so, the appearance of these companies has significantly simplified the situation, so people have grown more confident about buying used cars. So if car buyback services disappear again, all that will follow is a raft of difficulties, and quite possibly a return to the old, messy state of the market. Even the credit system will never manage to "kill off" the secondhand market, because it's simply essential to the Russian population. People need to have a choice, since not everyone is willing to take out a car loan, and that makes these companies' services the best solution — good for sellers and buyers alike.