About CarCostCheck

What we do

CarCostCheck is a free vehicle analysis tool that helps you understand the true cost of owning any UK car. Enter a registration plate and we instantly pull the complete MOT history, verify the mileage, predict upcoming repairs, and calculate annual running costs.

Where our data comes from

All our data comes from official UK government sources:

• DVSA MOT History API provides every MOT test result since 2005, including advisories, failures, and mileage readings.
• DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service provides vehicle registration details, tax status, and technical data.
• DVSA anonymised bulk data powers our make/model reliability statistics from millions of real MOT tests.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

How the health score works

Every vehicle gets a score from 0 to 100 based on seven factors:

1. MOT pass rate across all tests
2. Recent test results (failures in the last 3 tests weigh more)
3. Dangerous defect history
4. Advisory trend (improving, stable, or worsening)
5. Recurring issues in consecutive tests
6. Mileage consistency and clocking risk
7. Neglect signals (easily preventable failures)

Scores map to grades: A (90+), B (75+), C (60+), D (45+), E (30+), F (below 30).

How running costs are calculated

We estimate annual fuel costs based on the vehicle's engine size, fuel type, and actual average mileage from MOT readings. Road tax uses the correct VED bands for the vehicle's registration date and estimated CO2 emissions. Predicted repair costs are derived from recent MOT advisories, each mapped to a cost range based on typical UK garage prices.

Contact

Questions or feedback? Email us at hello@carcostcheck.co.uk.