We know it may sound like a lot. But we’re here to help you out. Here’s all you need to know about doing a car registration check.
Doing a car registration check is possibly one of the most important things anyone needs to do when buying a car, especially if it's a used one. A car reg check will allow you to make sure you're getting what you're paying for. This should cover the past history of your potential new vehicle, from its service history and how many owners it has had to any outstanding finance or insurance write-offs. Basically everything you need to know before you buy a car.
We know it may sound like a lot. But we’re here to help you out. Here’s all you need to know about doing a car registration check.
Whether you call it car reg check, car registration check or a vehicle history check, it’s the process of researching a cars history, its owners, its servicing, any outstanding finance or write-off. Simple.
Doing a car reg check sounds more complicated than it is. In fact, you can run some basic checks on government sites like the DVLA and the DVSA, the first one if great to check tax and MOT status, and the second will give you a comprehensive MOT history of any vehicle.
For more in-depth vehicle checks there are plenty of companies who offer them. The HPI check is one of the industry’s favourite and the one that Motors.co.uk work with.
The most basic car registration check is the one you can do using the DVLA website. It’s free and really straightforward. Here you will be able to check:
All these things will come in real handy when you want to validate a car’s past. Just remember to have the car’s registration number (aka. the number plate) handy before doing a DVLA vehicle check.
The DVSA website is another useful government tool. This one gives you a free full MOT history of any vehicle. You will need the car’s number plate and the 11-digit number from the vehicle’s log book to the test location.
Having the MOT history of a car gives you a very accurate indication as to if the car has been looked after, it lists when the model has failed and details any advisories it has had, which could be a bargaining point if the issues haven’t been sorted.
You can also use the MOT history check to verify the car’s mileage and to make sure it’s not been ‘clocked’ with a lower mileage. To top it all, this government tool is easy as pie to use.
Checking if a car has been recalled at some point of its life is part of an MOT History check. Again, easy and free to check. You may want to make sure you also check for that, free of charge, on the government site.
When you’re doing a car registration check with the DVLA it will show you the V5C vehicle registration certificate and its serial number. When you go to see the car check that the log book has a ‘DVL’ watermark and the serial number and details match the ones the government site has given you. If it doesn’t and the serial number is between BG8229501 to BG9999030, or BI2305501 to BI2800000, then the vehicle may be stolen and you should call the police as soon as it’s safe to.
You can check the vehicle registration number on the gov.uk website.
An HPI check is the industry standard for vehicle history checks and it stands for ‘Hire Purchase Investigation’, the name of the company that does it and that is one of the first to provide this service. At Motors.co.uk we work with HPI to check the car you want to buy. That way there won’t be any hidden surprises.
You can do a more in-depth full check from HPI for around £20. It’s really good value for money and will give you peace of mind that the car you are buying has no hidden secrets.
What sort of information does an HPI check give you?
For more information on how Motors.co.uk works with HPI, have a look at our car History Check guide.
You should basically look out for two physical documents in any car registration check:
The V5C document is a slip of paper that only the registered owner or dealer should have. If you can’t see it and it is nowhere to be found, be wary of the vehicle and its owner since it could mean that the car is stolen.
Once you’ve done your DVLA, MOT and HPI check you may want to do some further checks on the car you’re interested in. We’ll discuss here physical car checks and car insurance checks. Let’s go!
When you see the car physically, it’s time to check a few more things before you buy it.
These days more and more people are buying their cars online. You’ll still have to do all the necessary checks listed in our guide to buying a car online.
More than checking whether the car owner has car insurance (they should, by the way), ask yourself if your existing car insurance covers you on other cars. If you’re planning on test-driving your potential new vehicle, then you should be. If not, you can always take out a short-term policy so that you are covered.
Dec 13th, 2021