You’ve found it. The perfect car, at a great price. Everything seems to be in order – but as you drive home, you realise something doesn’t feel quite right. A week later, the car’s in the garage, thousands of pounds down the drain in repairs. How could it have gone so wrong?
It seemed fine when you bought it – but unfortunately, scammers often take advantage of this trust. In turn, this can leave you with a car that’s got far more baggage than you’d realised. You could even end up with a stolen vehicle! Not a good purchase.
Luckily, this doesn’t have to be a decision you make blind. And today’s five excellent car history checking sites can help inform your choice before you hand over any money.
The Five Best Online Car History Checking Sites
If you need to check your car’s past, the following car history checking sites could really help.
The Original Checking Solution: DVLA
As a free tool, the DVLA provides a relatively simple checking feature that allows you to get a quick insight into a vehicle’s records. It’s not as thorough as most dedicated car checks, but it’s a brilliant place to start.
Best Simple Car History Check: Full Car Checks
When it comes to affordability, not many tools can rival Full Car Checks. Offering a simple and easy solution and instant reports, the site provides over twenty different data points for a thorough insight; plus, when you upgrade to a full report, you’ll also enjoy plenty more data (up to 80 different points)! Plus, they offer an excellent £30k data guarantee with paid checks, giving further confidence to buyers.
Best Value Free and Paid Overall: Reg Check UK
As a completely free option, Reg Check UK is a comprehensive tool providing over 25 data points free of charge. The free version mainly just looks at MOT history and tax, but it’s still useful as an initial check. The paid version has everything you need for a detailed history check. From written-off details to finance data, it’s all covered.
Best Comprehensive Car History Checker: Car Checker
Car Checker goes a step further than a traditional car history checking platform thanks to its plug-in mileage checking tool. This allows you to understand and identify any potential issues that might be present for the car. In turn, you’ll be able to make a more accurate decision overall. On top of this, you also have the option to run a detailed history check.
Best In-Person Car Check with Online Booking: ClickMechanic
If you’d rather have someone out to help check the car in person, ClickMechanic’s got you covered. This site allows you to book a local mechanic to inspect a vehicle. In addition to checking the car itself, they’ll also double check its paperwork to make sure everything looks good. It’s a great solution to use alongside an online car history check, too.
Final Thoughts
With so many choices to consider, it’s not easy to tell which car history checking sites are genuine. Fortunately, with today’s top choices, you should be able to get a clearer insight into whether your chosen car’s safe.
Our top contender is Full Car Checks, due to the thorough, detailed history check that picks up all the data points necessary to make the right choice. On top of that, the easy, simple user interface makes it attractive and powerful.
