He talks to the Budapest Business Journal about the issues buyers run into, the patterns he sees from sellers, and his key recommendations for prospective buyers.
Professionally trained as an automotive mechatronics technician with a background in risk assessment and compliance, and personal experience living in England as a Hungarian expat, Christopher Csizmár founded CarSherpa to help expats in Hungary navigate the seemingly overwhelming and high-stakes automotive market.
“I lived the expat life myself in England. I bought two cars there, dealt with dealers and private sellers, figured out bills and contracts in a country that wasn’t mine. I had no language barrier and it was still disorienting. I remember wishing I had someone local I could trust to just handle it with me. That’s exactly the person I’m trying to be for my clients here,” explains Csizmár, an anti-money laundering analyst at Interactive Brokers and founder of CarSherpa.
After moving back to Hungary, Csizmár gained a reputation with his international colleagues as the informal subject matter expert when it came to auto purchases.
“I never advertised it; it just happened. I’d join colleagues at viewings, give my honest read on the car and the seller, help translate and decode the paperwork,” he recalls.
“But I kept seeing the same pattern repeat itself. Mileage manipulation that the buyer had no way of detecting. Accident damage hidden under a fresh respray. Sellers who were perfectly friendly in person but had structured everything so the buyer had no real picture of what they were purchasing. And on the other side, someone newly arrived in the country, under time pressure, unfamiliar with the market, with nobody independent to turn to. That combination produces bad outcomes over and over again,” Csizmár recalls.
Although the expert notes that the centralization of the Hungarian second-hand car market on Használtautó.hu is “helpful,” he comments that the “catch is that it’s entirely in Hungarian. Arranging a viewing means calling the seller in Hungarian. Negotiating happens in Hungarian. The official paperwork, the registration document, the ownership title, the transfer process at the government office, all of it is in Hungarian with no English option.”
Between dishonest sellers, uninformed buyers, and significant language barriers, expats could easily fall into common pitfalls during the vehicle purchasing process.
“The single biggest mistake is trusting the listing at face value,” Csizmár warns. That said, it is important to pay attention to certain aspects of a listing, because it can reveal valuable information about both the car and the seller.
“The quality of the photos, where the car was photographed, whether the seller bothered to shoot the interior and the engine bay, whether they photographed imperfections or hid them. The description matters too. Too short, too generic, or suspiciously detailed in all the wrong places, each tells its own story about the seller and how the car was kept,” he explains.
“The second mistake is skipping the independent inspection. Many buyers look the car over themselves or bring a friend who likes cars. Neither replaces a paint depth gauge, which is how you find a respray covering accident damage, or a full diagnostic scan, which reads the car’s own computers. What you can’t see with the naked eye in a thirty-minute viewing is exactly where the expensive problems hide,” Csizmár warns.
To avoid these problems, Csizmár advises that buyers should stay vigilant when searching for their next vehicle.
“Don’t ignore it when a seller resists an independent inspection. Don’t treat a dealer’s own assessment as independent verification, because it isn’t. Don’t pay a deposit before the car has been inspected. And don’t assume a stamped service book means a healthy car. Records can be embellished or outright falsified, but the condition of the oil, the brakes, the belts and the underbody will tell you the truth regardless of what the paperwork claims,” he says.
Csizmár also emphasizes the importance of thorough research before the purchase.
“Start by learning to read listings, and take your time with it. Run a free Vehicle Service Platform [Jármű Szolgáltatási Platform or JSZP] history check on any Hungarian registered vehicle before even arranging a viewing. It takes minutes and can rule a car out before you’ve wasted an afternoon.”
The JSZP is a free, official online Hungarian portal accessible through an Ügyfélkapu profile. It was established in January 2019, and allows users to track a vehicle’s entire lifecycle using central register data. The platform was designed to help buyers and dealers avoid fraudulent, stolen, or odometer-manipulated vehicles, providing vehicle information based on a car’s Hungarian license plate number. Users can view reports or graphs detailing a vehicle’s technical specifications, mileage history, inspection photos, post-2019 accident and insurance records, registration details, and traffic restriction statuses.
Csizmár also discusses the significance of background checks before addressing the financial details of the purchase. “Get an independent inspection before handing over any money, including a deposit, [and] have someone fluent in Hungarian help with the negotiation, if possible,” he says.
“Resist the urge to rush. Any pressure to decide quickly is usually manufactured by the seller. A good car bought carefully will always beat a fast purchase you regret,” Csizmár warns.
“Buying a car [in Hungary] doesn’t have to be a stressful experience, the market isn’t uniquely dangerous. There are good cars, fair prices and honest sellers at every level. What makes it difficult for expats is the combination of the language barrier, unfamiliar processes and having nobody independent to ask. Remove those obstacles and the whole thing becomes manageable, even enjoyable,” Csizmár concludes.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of July 31, 2026.
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