Don't buy someone
else's debt
Free UK car check by registration — instant.
If a lender still owns the car, they can repossess it from your driveway and you don't get your money back. Outstanding finance, a hidden write-off or a wound-back odometer won't be in the advert. Enter the reg and see the evidence in seconds — the preview is free.
Free instant preview — no account, no card required.
2021 BMW Z4
M40i Auto · Petrol · Black
£17,306
What the average used car costs — the amount you put at risk on one bad buy
Auto Trader Retail Price Index, May 2026
562,185
Vehicles written off by insurers in a single year, then repaired and resold
UK insurer write-off data, 2024
375,048
Vehicle thefts recorded in England & Wales in a year
ONS police recorded crime, year ending Sept 2024
How it works
Free first. Pay only if there's more to see.
We show you the vehicle and how many hidden issues exist before asking for anything.
Enter a reg or VIN
Type any UK plate — or the 17-character VIN if that's all the advert gives you. We match it to the DVLA record instantly.
See the free preview
Make, model, tax, MOT history, advisories and last recorded mileage, plus how many hidden issues exist — in under a second.
Unlock what you need
One payment unlocks every check on that car — finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and the rest. PDF included, nothing recurring.
Free vs paid vs everyone else
One table: what's free, what we charge for, what they check
The free preview, our Full Report and the four best-known UK reports side by side. Every tick against a named brand was read off that provider's own public page — a dash means they don't itemise it, not that it's missing.
| Check | Free checkNo payment£0.00 | EvelopCarsFull Report£8.99 | RACFull Check£14.99 | The AASingle check£14.99 | HPI Checkhpi check£19.99 | carVerticalSingle report£37.99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make, model, variant, colour & fuel | Published | Published | Published | Published | Published | Published |
| Full MOT history with advisories | Published | Published | Published | Not itemised publicly | Published | Not itemised publicly |
| Tax status, expiry & SORN | Published | Published | Published | Not itemised publicly | Published | Not itemised publicly |
| Outstanding finance | Not included | Published | Published | Published | Published | Published |
| Insurance write-off category | Not included | Published | Published | Published | Published | Not itemised publicly |
| Stolen (police records) | Not included | Published | Published | Published | Published | Published |
| Mileage anomalies | Not included | Published | Published | Published | Published | Published |
| Scrapped, salvage & certificate of destruction | Not included | Published | Published | Published | Published | Published |
| Imported & exported records | Not included | Published | Published | Not itemised publicly | Published | Published |
| Previous keepers & plate changes | Not included | Published | Published | Published | Published | Published |
| Market valuation | Not included | Published | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Published | Published |
| Outstanding safety recalls | Not included | Not included | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Published | Published |
| Factory specification & options | Not included | Not included | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Published |
| Downloadable PDF report | Not included | Published | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Published |
| Photographs of recorded damage | Not included | Not included | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Published |
| History from outside the UK | Not included | Not included | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Not itemised publicly | Published |
- Published on the provider's own site
- Not itemised publicly — may still be included
- Not included
Salvage and past adverts included
Salvage auction records and the mileage from the car's previous adverts are in every £8.99 report — and if any check fails to return, you get a full refund.
The free column is genuinely free
Vehicle details, full MOT history with advisories, tax and SORN — no card, no account. The paid rows are the only thing behind the paywall.
Where carVertical wins
They publish photographs of recorded damage and history from outside the UK. We don't, and we've left both rows in rather than quietly drop them.
Taken from each provider's own public pages on 19 August 2026 and shown for comparison only. Brand names are the property of their respective owners and imply no affiliation with or endorsement of EvelopCars. Providers change what their reports cover without notice — please check before you rely on it: RAC, The AA, HPI Check, carVertical.
The deliverable
See the report before you buy it
Not a mock-up. This is a genuine Full Report on a 2021 BMW Z4 — the register data found a Cat S salvage record on it. Every panel, every data point, plus the PDF exactly as it downloads.
Salvage auction history
If the car passed through a salvage auction we show the category, the damage recorded and the mileage at the time — the sample report has exactly this.
Finance, answered either way
If an agreement is registered we name the lender and the date so you can demand a settlement letter. If there is none, we say so plainly.
Every mileage reading
All readings plotted in order, from MOT tests and past adverts, with any pair that doesn't add up highlighted.
Clear results too
Checks that come back clean are stated just as clearly — that's the evidence you take to a negotiation.
What we check
The six that change the price you pay
Every EvelopCars report interrogates the national registers a private buyer can't reach on their own.
Outstanding finance
Any HP, PCP or lease agreement still registered against the vehicle — the lender can repossess it from you.
Written off
Cat A, B, S and N write-offs recorded on the insurance register, with loss date and claim category.
Stolen
Checked against police records for vehicles reported stolen and not recovered.
Mileage
Every recorded odometer reading cross-referenced to expose clocking and inconsistent history.
MOT history
Every test, advisory and failure item since the car's first MOT, with the mileage recorded each time.
Valuation
Trade-in, private, dealer forecourt and part-exchange values for the exact specification.
Why trust the result
The data, and what backs it
We'd rather show you where every field comes from than tell you how much people like us.
Licensed data, not scraped
Every field comes from a licensed UK aggregator with a direct feed to the registers above.
Report or refund
If a report fails to generate or comes back with no supplier data, we regenerate it or refund you in full.
One payment, no account needed
Guest checkout, no subscription, no card stored. Your report link is permanent and emailed to you.
Free preview first
You see the vehicle and how many issues exist before anything is charged.
Pricing
One payment. No subscription.
Free preview on any plate. Every paid check for £8.99, with a full refund if any of them fails to return.
Free check
£0
Instant preview of any UK registration or VIN.
- Make, model & variant
- Year, colour & fuel type
- Engine size & CO₂
- Current tax status & expiry
- MOT status & expiry
- Full MOT history, advisories & failures
Full Report
£8.99
Every paid check on one vehicle, plus the PDF. Full refund if any check fails to return.
- Outstanding finance agreements
- Insurance write-off categories (Cat A, B, S, N)
- Salvage auction records & damage photos
- Scrappage, import & export markers
- Stolen vehicle (Police NMR) & high-risk markers
- Mileage register & clocking detection
- Mileage from previous adverts
- Keeper, plate & colour changes
- Market valuation
FAQ
Questions, answered
The data, the price and what the results actually mean.
Data sources
Where every field comes from
Eight registers and datasets, accessed through a licensed UK data aggregator.
DVLA
Vehicle record, keeper changes, tax and SORN status
DVSA
Complete MOT test history, advisories and failures
Experian AutoCheck
Finance agreements and previous searches
MIAFTR
Insurance write-off and salvage categories
Police records
Stolen and high-risk vehicle markers
CAP HPI
Market valuations across four sale channels
Salvage auctions
Salvage sale records, damage type and auction photos
Advert archive
Mileage and price shown in the car's previous adverts
Check the plate before you view the car
It takes ten seconds and costs nothing to find out whether the advert is telling the truth.
Free instant preview — no account, no card required.