Glossary
Car-Pass (Belgium)
Belgium's mandatory pre-sale mileage certificate. Required at every used-car transaction since 2006; one of the most rollback-resistant systems in the EU.
Definition
Car-Pass is a Belgian government-backed certificate issued by an independent non-profit that aggregates mileage readings from every authorised garage, inspection station, and insurer in Belgium. Since 2006, no used car can be legally sold in Belgium without a current Car-Pass, and the seller is liable to the buyer if the certificate's mileage trail later proves inaccurate. The system catches rollback because mileage is read independently at multiple points throughout the year — every service visit, every inspection, every insurance claim — and a single inconsistent reading flags the car. Car-Pass has driven measured odometer fraud in Belgium down sharply since its introduction. The data does not transfer when a Belgian car is exported, which is part of why used Belgian exports occasionally appear in other markets with newly tidy mileage histories.
Why it matters when buying a used car
A Belgian-plated car with a clean multi-year Car-Pass is one of the highest-trust mileage histories in Europe. A Belgian car without a current Car-Pass is a red flag — the certificate is legally mandatory at sale.
Often confused with
MOT
The UK's annual roadworthiness test, mandatory for cars over three years old. Records mileage and any defects on a public-access history.
Mileage rollback
Tampering with a vehicle's odometer to display a lower mileage than the car has actually covered. A criminal offence in every EU country.
HU
Germany's biennial roadworthiness inspection. TÜV is the largest of several authorised inspection bodies; HU (Hauptuntersuchung) is the formal name of the test.