Questions, answered

The report pulls together the recorded details for the registration or VIN you enter: make, model and spec, MOT history with advisories, tax band and rates, recorded mileage over time, colour changes and more. It's the same kind of data the motor trade checks before taking a car in part exchange.

Almost immediately. Once payment goes through, the checks usually finish within a few seconds and the report opens in your browser. It also stays saved in your account, so there's no rush to read it all at once.

Yes. Switch the box to VIN and enter all 17 characters from the V5C logbook or the plate at the base of the windscreen. We search the same records by VIN, and the report names the plate the car is registered on now. Both checks work this way, at the same prices.

No. Enter a registration or VIN, pay, and the report opens. We set an account up for you afterwards using the email address you paid with, and send the report there too, so you can come back to it months later or download it in a different format. Setting a password on it is optional and free.

The £5 vehicle report covers the DVLA and MOT record: every MOT with its advisories, every mileage reading, the tax band, full spec, and the scrapped, exported and imported markers. The £14.99 full history check adds what that record cannot show you, because it lives on industry databases rather than with the DVLA: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records with the category, the date and any damage the insurer recorded, the police stolen marker, a second clocking check and, where the price guide covers the car, a trade and private valuation. It also shows whether the car is taxed or SORN right now, the tyre sizes and pressures listed for the model, and its factory equipment. Use the £5 one while you are still comparing cars, and the £14.99 one on the car you actually decide to buy.

The fee is added back to your account as credit automatically, and you can put it towards another check whenever you like. If you'd rather have it back on your card, use the refund button on your order or account page before you spend the credit, or email us, and it goes back to your card instead.

Payments are handled entirely by Stripe, which processes card payments for millions of businesses. Your card details never touch our servers.

Any UK plate: the current two-letter format, older prefix and suffix styles, dateless plates and Northern Ireland registrations. We validate the format before you pay, so a typo can't cost you money. For a Northern Ireland car, MOTs from 2017 show with the result, date and mileage, but without the tester's advisories or failure items, which DVSA's records do not hold for Northern Ireland tests.

Yes. The multi-check page takes a list of up to 25 registrations and runs them as one order. Each vehicle gets its own separate report. Handy on auction day.

We use an industry vehicle data provider that aggregates official and trade sources. No lookup we run ever affects the vehicle's record, and the owner isn't notified; checks are anonymous.