Kredo Mobility was launched in 2024 as a subscription service that allows SA car dealers to screen potential customers for creditworthiness, and aims to help prevent fraud.
The service has been expanded to help identify second-hand vehicles that have been repaired after being written off by insurance companies, protecting consumers from unwittingly buying potentially unsafe cars. It helps address the problem of previously written-off vehicles finding their way to salvage yards, being repaired and sold back into the system to unsuspecting individuals or used car dealers who are not aware of the vehicle’s history.
Kredo Mobility has signed an agreement with one of SA’s largest vehicle auction houses, granting it access to 26 years of accident and salvage data. This data set includes not just the damage location or date, but also images of the vehicle at the time of the incident.
“It is not a silver bullet. However, it is a significant step forward,” said Kredo CEO Kriben Reddy.
“When you can actually see what a car looks like after an accident, you are no longer guessing. It gives dealers and buyers a real chance to judge the damage for themselves. If someone wants to buy the car anyway, that is their choice. But nobody should have to make that decision in the dark.”
Reddy said that when a vehicle is salvaged, it will often be kept listed as Code 2 (used vehicle) because it fetches a better resale price, even if the damage technically qualifies it as Code 3 (rebuilt vehicle).
“It leads to many written-off cars ending up misclassified and back on the market with little to no disclosure. A buyer might drive off in what looks like a clean used car, unaware it was in a major crash months earlier.”
Reddy said that while the repaired vehicle might pass a basic roadworthy inspection, it could have hidden structural issues, especially if it was repaired by a less reputable provider. Dealers, too, are vulnerable. Without access to reliable, detailed accident history data, they risk reputational damage and legal exposure, he said.
“We know this data does not cover the whole market as it comes from one source. But it is a big step forward, especially in a space where visibility has been almost nonexistent. Our goal is to bring this kind of transparency to more suppliers over time, so everyone in the market can make better decisions,” he said.
The service is available only as a subscription service to dealers but buyers can request a dealer pull a salvage data report on their behalf.
A comprehensive vehicle salvage database does not exist in SA, where an estimated 100,000 vehicles are written off annually by insurers.
In 2023 the SA Insurance Association (Saia) launched a VIN-Lookup website to allow motorists and stakeholders to see the history of a particular vehicle. The free database only applies to the estimated 30% of vehicles in SA that are insured and provides a list of Code 3 (rebuilt) and code 4 (scrap — permanently demolished vehicles) but does not include Code 2 cars previously written off by insurers. Saia said it would not make this information public as it would compromise dealers who buy these vehicles and safely undertake repairs to the manufacturer’s specifications.
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