A report has found that nearly a quarter of used cars in Australia sold privately come with potentially serious hidden issues.

The CarHistory.com.au report said almost a quarter of the used cars on the market that underwent a vehicle history check in 2015 were hiding a potentially serious issue.

CarHistory.com.au, part of credit agency Veda, is Australia’s first online automotive bureau. The report is the result of analysing 154,035 sales.

The research found that fewer than half of potential used car buyers plan to do anything more than basic mechanical checks before buying. Just 28% of recent used car buyers undertook a mechanical check before purchase.

Less than half checked for issues like past accidents, finance owing or fraudulent incidents, including flood damage, rebirthing and odometer windbacks.

Of the used cars that underwent a CarHistory vehicle check last year, 22.2% received a negative report, risking thousands of dollars in repairs.