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Completely Free.

The big-name checks charge £14.99 to £19.99 for vehicle history data: stolen, finance, write-off. We include all of that for £4.99, plus a reliability score, predicted repair costs and common fault guides.

CarCostCheck sells three things: Premium, Valuation and Bundle. Premium is the £4.99 history check, which includes the outstanding finance check. Valuation is £2.99 and is a valuation only, not a history check. Bundle is £6.99 for both together. No tiers, no subscription: each is a one-time purchase, and the basic car check is free.

A check of the MOT history and vehicle details is free. A history check that includes outstanding finance costs from £3.99 (DealerPricing) to £39.99 (carVertical): CarCostCheck's is £4.99, and the AA's and the RAC's full checks are £14.99. The AA's check and the RAC's Full check include a £30,000 data guarantee; CarCostCheck does not. Prices checked 9 October 2026.

No. Those records come from Experian and are in the £4.99 history check. The free check covers the MOT history, mileage, reliability score, running costs, tax and MOT status, recalls and a ULEZ check.

The free check includes the full MOT history back to 2005 with each advisory explained, mileage verification with clocking detection, a reliability score out of 100, running cost estimates, the faults that keep coming up in the car's MOT history, red flag alerts, recall checks, tax and MOT status, and a ULEZ check. No sign-up needed.

The £4.99 premium check adds vehicle history data from Experian: a stolen check against the Police National Computer, outstanding finance (PCP, HP, loans) with the lender and agreement details, insurance write-off history (Cat A/B/N/S) with the date and cause, the number of keepers with the date of each recorded change, a VIN check (the last 4 characters of the VIN on record), the engine number, colour changes, plate transfers, import and export markers, scrapped status, DVLA identity checks and previous checks on the car. One-time payment, no subscription.

CarCostCheck's £4.99 history check shows how many keepers the car has had, including the current one, and the date of each recorded change. The free report shows when the current V5C logbook was issued. Keeper names are never shown: DVLA releases those only on a written request with reasonable cause.

If you are about to buy, yes. Free checks cannot show outstanding finance, a theft record or a write-off, because that data is licensed. A stolen car can be taken back from you, and some finance, such as a logbook loan, stays with the car, so a £4.99 check before you pay is a small cost against the price of the car.

GOV.UK's MOT history service shows a car's MOT tests, and DVLA's vehicle enquiry service shows its tax and MOT status, both free. CarCostCheck's free report brings those together with a mileage check, a reliability score and running costs. Finance, stolen and write-off checks are not usually available free, because that data is licensed.

We sell one-off checks online and keep our margin small. The history data comes from Experian, and the free report is built from official DVSA and DVLA data. No subscription and no add-ons you have to buy.

Free check data comes directly from DVSA (MOT History API) and DVLA (Vehicle Enquiry Service), the same official government databases that garages and dealers use. Premium vehicle history data is sourced from Experian. All government data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

We analyse every odometer reading from the full MOT history (back to 2005). If the mileage drops between tests, we flag it as a high clocking risk. We also detect suspicious gaps and unusually low readings. This is included free with every check.

The reliability score is our own 0-100 rating built from the car's MOT history: pass rate, dangerous defects, advisory trends, recurring issues, mileage consistency and neglect signals. Grade A (90+) means excellent condition; Grade F (below 30) means significant concerns.

The free report uses MOT data from DVSA and vehicle details from DVLA, refreshed at least once a week, so a test from the last few days may not show yet. The £4.99 history check is run with Experian when you buy it, and the report shows the date it was checked. The MOT history includes every test since the vehicle was first tested.

Your report appears on screen as soon as you pay, and we email you a link to it so you can open it again later. With the £4.99 history check you can also download it as a PDF from the report page.