Is onlycars.co.nz safe?
http://onlycars.co.nz/
Checked on
How we checked
Coverage: strong · 3 of 4 applicable core capabilities
- Antivirus (61 of 93 engines answered) · saved result: did not fully complete
- Google Safe Browsing: completed
- page reading: completed
- page capture: completed
- domain records · not available: did not fully complete
- web research: completed
OnlyCars is a New Zealand-registered car listing marketplace with a paid-listing model, but stale antivirus phishing flags and an unreviewed contact channel keep it out of the Safe band.
OnlyCars presents itself as a New Zealand vehicle resale platform: the site's own footer states that OnlyCars is the registered trading name of Only Sales Limited, NZBN 9429050787678, and the primary page copy advertises a $29.95 listing fee for private sellers. That is a normal classifieds-style commercial model rather than a hidden trap, and the browser threat feed currently returns no threat warning for the domain. The caution comes from two places: a saved antivirus observation in which two independent engine families (BitDefender, G-Data, Gridinsoft) recorded an adverse 'phishing' result, and the fact that the captured page contained no direct contact email, so the operator's customer-service channel could not be verified from the page itself. The antivirus data is stale rather than fresh, so it is a caution flag, not proof of an active phishing operation, and the score reflects that balance.
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Where this site sits
- Dangerous1–20
- High Risk21–44
- Moderate Risk45–69
- Low Risk70–84
- Safe85–100
The score combines saved evidence strength and analysis quality. Coverage is reported separately.
Why 72/100
Low Risk covers scores 70–84. 2 findings pulled the score down; 3 pushed it up.
What pulled the score down
- Decisive2 independent antivirus families reported an adverse result. This comes from a saved antivirus observation rather than a new submission, so treat the detection as real but confirm the timing.
- MinorThe captured page contained no direct contact email, so the operator's customer-service channel could not be confirmed from the page text.
What pushed the score up
- SupportsThe site's footer states OnlyCars is the registered trading name of Only Sales Limited, NZBN 9429050787678, with trademark number 2348312 — specific, checkable identifiers.
- SupportsThe primary page copy states a clear $29.95 listing fee for private sellers, a normal paid-classifieds model rather than a hidden charge.
- SupportsThe browser threat feed returned no threat warning and the saved TLS check found a valid encrypted connection.
No points per finding are stored for this report: our analysis weighed all findings together to set the score. Each finding shows its saved severity instead (Decisive, Strong, Moderate or Minor). Community reviews never change the Safety Score.
01 · Investigation Brief
Investigation Brief
OnlyCars presents itself as a New Zealand vehicle resale platform: the site's own footer states that OnlyCars is the registered trading name of Only Sales Limited, NZBN 9429050787678, and the primary page copy advertises a $29.95 listing fee for private sellers. That is a normal classifieds-style commercial model rather than a hidden trap, and the browser threat feed currently returns no threat warning for the domain. The caution comes from two places: a saved antivirus observation in which two independent engine families (BitDefender, G-Data, Gridinsoft) recorded an adverse 'phishing' result, and the fact that the captured page contained no direct contact email, so the operator's customer-service channel could not be verified from the page itself. The antivirus data is stale rather than fresh, so it is a caution flag, not proof of an active phishing operation, and the score reflects that balance.
A registered NZ trading name behind a paid-listing marketplace
The site's own footer identifies the operator: 'OnlyCars is the registered trading name of Only Sales Limited NZBN 9429050787678.' The same NZBN appears as a separate footer element, and the footer also carries a trademark number, 2348312. These are the site's own claims about its identity, not independently verified registrations, but they are specific, checkable identifiers rather than the anonymous, contact-free presentation typical of throwaway storefronts.
The commercial model is visible on the page itself: 'List Your Car $29.95 until your car is sold.' That is a straightforward paid-classifieds fee for private sellers, and the footer also carries an email subscription capture field ('Subscribe type email name subscribe_email id footer-subscribe placeholder Enter your email'), which is a same-site marketing signup rather than a cross-domain monetisation path.
The only outbound commercial link observed is to Credit One Group, a finance-related destination, which is consistent with a vehicle marketplace offering finance referrals rather than a hidden redirect chain. No cross-domain checkout, affiliate supplement funnel, or forced advertising flow appears in the evidence.
Clean live checks, but stale phishing flags and an unverified contact channel
The live technical picture is clean: the browser threat feed returned no threat warning, and the saved TLS check found a valid encrypted connection. Those results mean no active detection at scan time; they do not by themselves establish that the operator is trustworthy.
Against that, a saved antivirus observation records that two independent engine families — BitDefender, G-Data and Gridinsoft — reported an adverse 'phishing' result for this domain. The evidence is marked stale, so the timing is uncertain and it may reflect an old hosting or content state rather than the current site. It is still the strongest adverse signal in our review and is the main reason the score sits in the Low Risk band rather than the Safe band.
The captured page also contained no direct contact email, so the operator's customer-service channel could not be confirmed from the page text itself. Combined with the stale phishing flags, that leaves the operator's responsiveness and current reputation only partly verified.
Why the score is 72
The saved checks found no material threat, but the evidence was not strong enough for the highest Safe tier. Coverage remains separate so missing sources cannot be mistaken for clean results.
02 · Security Evidence
Security evidence
Antivirus Engines
4/ 93
detectionsSaved analysis from October 16, 2026 - stale
4 engines flagged this URL
Every saved adverse engine is listed below. The full provider matrix remains available for audit.
- Malicious
- 3
- Suspicious
- 1
- Total
- 93
| Engine | Finding |
|---|---|
| BitDefenderMalicious | phishing |
| G-DataMalicious | phishing |
| GridinsoftMalicious | phishing |
| ESETSuspicious | suspicious |
All 93 engine results
- BitDefender - phishing - Malicious
- G-Data - phishing - Malicious
- Gridinsoft - phishing - Malicious
- ESET - Suspicious
- 0xSI_f33d - Unrated
- Abusix - Clean
- Acronis - Clean
- ADMINUSLabs - Clean
- AILabs (MONITORAPP) - Clean
- AlienVault - Clean
- alphaMountain.ai - Clean
- AlphaSOC - Unrated
- Antiy-AVL - Clean
- ArcSight Threat Intelligence - Unrated
- AutoShun - Unrated
- Bfore.Ai PreCrime - Unrated
- Bkav - Unrated
- BlockList - Clean
- Blueliv - Clean
- Certego - Clean
- ChainPatrol - Unrated
- Chong Lua Dao - Clean
- CINS Army - Clean
- CRDF - Clean
- Criminal IP - Clean
- CSIS Security Group - Unrated
- CTX AI - Clean
- Cyan - Unrated
- Cyble - Clean
- CyRadar - Clean
- desenmascara.me - Clean
- DNS8 - Unrated
- Dr.Web - Clean
- EmergingThreats - Clean
- Emsisoft - Clean
- Ermes - Unrated
- ESTsecurity - Clean
- Forcepoint ThreatSeeker - Clean
- Fortinet - Clean
- Fortra - Unrated
- GCP Abuse Intelligence - Unrated
- Google Safe Browsing - Clean
- GreenSnow - Clean
- GreyNoise - Unrated
- Guardpot - Unrated
- Heimdal Security - Clean
- Hunt.io Intelligence - Unrated
- IPsum - Clean
- Juniper Networks - Clean
- K7AntiVirus - Unrated
- Kaspersky - Clean
- LevelBlue - Clean
- Lionic - Clean
- Lumu - Unrated
- Malwared - Clean
- MalwarePatrol - Clean
- MalwareURL - Unrated
- Mimecast - Unrated
- Netcraft - Unrated
- OpenPhish - Clean
- Orcapot - Unrated
- PhishFort - Unrated
- Phishing Database - Clean
- Phishtank - Clean
- PREBYTES - Clean
- PrecisionSec - Unrated
- Quick Heal - Clean
- Quttera - Clean
- Rising - Clean
- SafeToOpen - Unrated
- Sangfor - Clean
- Sansec eComscan - Unrated
- Scantitan - Clean
- SCUMWARE.org - Clean
- Seclookup - Clean
- Snort IP sample list - Unrated
- SOCRadar - Unrated
- Sophos - Clean
- StopForumSpam - Clean
- Sucuri SiteCheck - Clean
- Synthient - Unrated
- ThreatHive - Clean
- URLhaus - Clean
- URLQuery - Unrated
- Viettel Threat Intelligence - Clean
- VIPRE - Unrated
- ViriBack - Clean
- VX Vault - Clean
- Webroot - Clean
- Xcitium Verdict Cloud - Clean
- Yandex Safebrowsing - Clean
- ZeroCERT - Clean
- ZeroFox - Unrated
How security vendors categorise this site
- alphaMountain.aiVehicles
- Forcepoint ThreatSeekervehicles
- Googleshopping
Each vendor’s own label for the site, saved with the antivirus result. Labels are separate from the engine verdicts above and can disagree with each other.
Security Scans
Checked against the browser threat feeds available to this scan — no hit.
What we observed
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Visual context from the captured page
OnlyCars
What the captured page showed
1 observation- 01
OnlyCars
What the page says about itself
What the site says about itself, quoted from the pages we read. The site wrote these words; they are not our findings.
- Page title
Cars for Sale NZ | Buy & Sell Cars Online with OnlyCars
- Meta description
Find your next car at OnlyCars. Search thousands of new and used cars for sale by dealers and private sellers. Sell your car fast.
Pages we read
- Main page/Read
- About page/aboutRead
- Terms/terms-and-conditionsRead
- Contact page/contactRead
03 · Investigation Story
Investigation story
What the site claims
Cars for Sale NZ | Buy & Sell Cars Online with OnlyCars
What we observed
The page content was captured and checked alongside 61 antivirus results.
What independent research found
The search completed without a material external warning or corroborating report.
What remains unverified
1 of the 4 applicable core capabilities did not complete, so those gaps remain visible in the coverage ledger.
What kind of site and risk is this?
Threat category
No threat category confirmed
Service and business model
Shop
Observed behavior
Evidence behind this classification
- 01The site's footer states OnlyCars is the registered trading name of Only Sales Limited, NZBN 9429050787678, with trademark number 2348312 — specific, checkable identifiers.
- 02The primary page copy states a clear $29.95 listing fee for private sellers, a normal paid-classifieds model rather than a hidden charge.
- 032 independent antivirus families reported an adverse result. This comes from a saved antivirus observation rather than a new submission, so treat the detection as real but confirm the timing.
Web research findings
Independent findings for onlycars.co.nz, including public complaints, named review sources, registration records, and look-alike-domain evidence. A missing result is shown as unverified, never converted into a clean bill of health.
No independently sourced scam reports or credibility records were found for onlycars.co.nz. That is common for new or low-traffic sites and does not clear the site.
Reputation Sources
How this domain rates across independent threat-intelligence and blocklist providers.
04 · Domain & Infrastructure
Domain & infrastructure
The plumbing behind the site — who registered it, how it’s encrypted, where it’s hosted, and where it links out. A valid certificate or a calm server doesn’t mean the business is honest — scam sites pass these checks too. Use this to corroborate the verdict, not to overturn it.
Infrastructure map
How the saved page connected to the wider web.
- Domainonlycars.co.nz
- Redirects towww.onlycars.co.nz
- Hosted byCloudflare, Inc.
- Referencesgoogletagmanager.com
Contact Verification
Saved contact details can help identify the operator. Their presence supports traceability; it does not prove the business is trustworthy.
- No direct contact email found on the captured page.
- Postal address visible on the page.
Domain & Encryption
Certificate issued for onlycars.co.nz.
A shared Cloudflare address answers for many sites, so it is not the site's own server and says nothing about who runs it.
Analytics and ads
- Google Tag Manager
Payment providers the page loads
None seen among the outside domains we saved.
Read from the first 20 outside domains the page loads and the shop platform it uses; the web server and platform rows are under Hosting & Technology. A payment script on the page does not prove the shop accepts that method at checkout, or that you are protected.
Redirect Chain
- 1301http://onlycars.co.nz/
- 2301https://onlycars.co.nz/
- 3200https://www.onlycars.co.nz/
Server Reputation
Referenced Domains
Outbound domains this page links to or loads resources from. Each links to its own security scan.
05 · Evidence Ledger
Evidence ledger
- Antiviruspartial
- Browser threat feedcomplete
- Page contentcomplete
- Analysiscomplete
- Visual evidencecomplete
The conclusion is supported by the evidence saved with this report.
Technical threat
suspiciousMalware, phishing, credential theft and hostile infrastructure.
2 independent antivirus families reported an adverse result. This comes from a saved antivirus observation rather than a new submission, so treat the detection as real but confirm the timing.
Operator / customer risk
unknownComplaints, withdrawals, business conduct and commercial traps.
The captured page contained no direct contact email, so the operator's customer-service channel could not be confirmed from the page text.
Source coverage and freshness
Status shows whether usable evidence was saved; finding shows what that evidence observed.
| Source | Result | Completion | Finding | Freshness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antivirus | 4 of 93 engines flagged | Limited | Adverse | stale fallback · analysed Oct 16, 2026 |
| Browser protection | No browser threat-list match | Completed | No adverse finding | this scan · Oct 19, 2026 |
| Page content | Page fetched · HTTP 200 | Completed | No adverse finding | this scan · Oct 19, 2026 |
| Visual evidence | 1 visible observation saved with the page capture | Completed | No adverse finding | this scan · Oct 19, 2026 |
| Independent research | The search completed without a material external finding | Completed | No adverse finding | this scan · Oct 19, 2026 |
- Antivirus
- Result4 of 93 engines flagged
- CompletionLimitedFindingAdverse
- Freshnessstale fallback · analysed Oct 16, 2026
- Browser protection
- ResultNo browser threat-list match
- CompletionCompletedFindingNo adverse finding
- Freshnessthis scan · Oct 19, 2026
- Page content
- ResultPage fetched · HTTP 200
- CompletionCompletedFindingNo adverse finding
- Freshnessthis scan · Oct 19, 2026
- Visual evidence
- Result1 visible observation saved with the page capture
- CompletionCompletedFindingNo adverse finding
- Freshnessthis scan · Oct 19, 2026
- Independent research
- ResultThe search completed without a material external finding
- CompletionCompletedFindingNo adverse finding
- Freshnessthis scan · Oct 19, 2026
07 · Safety FAQ
Safety FAQ
Common questions, answered directly from the scan data above — so the answers reflect the saved verdict and evidence in this report.
Is onlycars.co.nz a scam or is it safe?
Is onlycars.co.nz safe to use?
Has onlycars.co.nz been flagged by antivirus engines?
Is onlycars.co.nz on any phishing or malware blacklists?
Does onlycars.co.nz have a valid SSL certificate?
Where is onlycars.co.nz hosted?
How often is the onlycars.co.nz report updated?
08 · Final Verdict
Final verdict
OnlyCars is a New Zealand-registered car listing marketplace with a paid-listing model, but stale antivirus phishing flags and an unreviewed contact channel keep it out of the Safe band.
OnlyCars presents itself as a New Zealand vehicle resale platform: the site's own footer states that OnlyCars is the registered trading name of Only Sales Limited, NZBN 9429050787678, and the primary page copy advertises a $29.95 listing fee for private sellers. That is a normal classifieds-style commercial model rather than a hidden trap, and the browser threat feed currently returns no threat warning for the domain. The caution comes from two places: a saved antivirus observation in which two independent engine families (BitDefender, G-Data, Gridinsoft) recorded an adverse 'phishing' result, and the fact that the captured page contained no direct contact email, so the operator's customer-service channel could not be verified from the page itself. The antivirus data is stale rather than fresh, so it is a caution flag, not proof of an active phishing operation, and the score reflects that balance.
09 · Community
Community
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