Why Check the History of a Vehicle

Check BEFORE you buy

First and foremost, if you inadvertently purchase a vehicle that has been stolen the authorities can return it to the legal owner (or their insurance company) WITHOUT compensating you – the innocent party. Similarly, if you purchase a car with outstanding finance associated to it – that debt transfers to you. The average amount of outstanding finance on vehicles checked by HPI Check is over £9K!

For these two reasons alone there is a very clear and legally motivated reason to obtain a vehicle history report BEFORE you commit to buying a used vehicle (car, motorbike or van). For less than the price of a pizza a detailed vehicle history report will highlight any outstanding finance and many more important issues

Information Provided

The level of information obtained from a vehicle history report depends on the report purchased. Most companies offer entry level “basic”  reports and then a more comprehensive full featured report. With MyCarCheck you have the choice of three levels of report.

Bundled Reports – several vehicles at once

If you are considering several cars be certain to take advantage of their BULK report services. At the time of writing this post MyCarCheck have some great BUNDLED reports on offer. With this company you can get as many as 20 x vehicle checks for less than £3 each.

MyCarCheck.com vehicle history reports highlight if a car has been stolen, exported, written-off, scrapped & much more from just £1.99

HPI Check – popular vehicle checking service from under £10. Premium service comes with £30,000 data guarantee for peace of mind.

Selecting a Vehicle History Report

There are many online businesses that offer a comprehensive vehicle history report service. At IsMyCar.co.uk we have reviewed the offerings of 5 such companies. The two that we have chosen as our online partners are HPI Check and MyCarCheck.

HPI Check

HPI have been providing the histories of used vehicles since 1938 and are the market leaders in vehicle history checks. HPI are focused on giving used car buyers the right information at the right time. Their reports help customers make an informed decision when buying a used car, van or bike. By following the information provided by the HPI Check the car buying experience should be as pain-free as possible.

MyCarCheck

My Car Check is the UK’s number one consumer vehicle check provider. They claim to have helped millions of used vehicle buyers since their creation in 2005. It’s not restricted to car history checks – they can also check the history of motorcycles, vans – any vehicle carrying a Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM).

Their comprehensive report provides over 70 vital pieces of information all used vehicle buyers should be aware of. This includes if the vehicle is a write-off, is registered as stolen, has outstanding finance and many more. The information MyCarCheck provide comes from sources such as the DVLA, the police, insurers and finance companies.

The graphic below shows some of the important checks included in a vehicle history report from HPI Check. To get more details please view their online Sample Report Here

This chart highlights the key checks included in a vehicle history report from MyCarCheck. To get more details please view their online vehicle history checking service here

Visitors to the IsMyCar.co.uk website may be interested in the following motoring topics

• MOT Status – check your car’s MOT status here
• MOT History – get an up to date MOT history for any vehicle
• Vehicle Tax – does your car have valid road tax
• Report Untaxed Car – use this form to report an untaxed car
• MOT rules 2018 – summary of the new MOT rules (May 2018)
• Number Plate Cloning – what to do if your number plate is cloned
• Pre-MOT checks. A few things to check yourself before booking your car’s MOT
• Popular MOT Failures – Avoid the most common causes for an MOT fail
• Stolen Cars – How to avoid buying a STOLEN car
• Write Offs – Check if a car has been WRITTEN OFF
• Write Off Categories – What’s the difference between Category C (now S) or Category D (now N)

Some of the references in this post have been sourced from the following respected online authorities

• Citizen’s Advice – what to do if you’ve bought a stolen goods
• GOV.uk – what to do if your vehicle has been stolen