Vehicle Checks
A vehicle check is a report on a car’s recorded history and specification, compiled from sources such as the DVLA, the DVSA MOT database, insurance industry records and finance houses. By entering a registration number, you can see what is officially known about a car before you buy it – and compare vehicles side by side on data such as dimensions, economy and performance, engine specification and MOT history.
What a vehicle check typically covers
- Outstanding finance – whether a lender still has a financial interest in the car, which could allow it to be repossessed
- Stolen status – whether the vehicle is recorded as stolen with the police
- Insurance write-off markers – whether it has been a Cat A, B, S or N write-off
- MOT history – every pass, failure and advisory recorded by the DVSA since 2005, with mileage at each test
- Mileage anomalies – readings that go down over time can indicate clocking
- Number plate and colour changes – frequent changes can be innocent, but are worth questioning
- Tax and SORN status, plus specification data – engine size, fuel type, CO2 band and more
Why it matters when buying a used car
Sellers do not always disclose a car’s past, and some problems – outstanding finance, a write-off marker, a clocked odometer – are invisible on a driveway inspection. A vehicle check costs a few pounds at most and can save you from losing the entire purchase price: a car with outstanding finance or recorded as stolen can be taken from you even though you paid for it in good faith.
Run a full car history check on any car before you view it, and treat any unexplained discrepancy as a reason to walk away.