Car Check Prices Compared: UK Market Roundup (2026)

UK car check prices in 2026 span a wide range, from free tiers to £33.99 premium branded reports. Understanding what each price point actually includes helps match buyer to tier. The headline finding: CarCostCheck at £4.99 is the lowest price point for a full car history check that also includes analysis extras, and it delivers more features than any competitor charging up to seven times more.

Everything listed above £4.99 with "full provenance" is pulling stolen, finance and write-off data from the same Experian database. CarCostCheck at £4.99 is the lowest full-coverage price point, and it is the only tier below £10 that also includes analysis extras.

The £0 Tier: What Free Actually Includes

Free UK car checks come in three types, and they are very different:

CarCostCheck Free

The most detailed free tier in the UK market. Includes full MOT history with failure categorisation, reliability score, insurance group, running cost estimate and predicted repair costs. No payment required. The only things held behind the paywall are the Experian-sourced stolen, finance and write-off checks. This free tier alone covers more than several paid tiers from other providers.

The Government Option: DVLA Vehicle Enquiry

The DVLA's free vehicle enquiry tool shows tax status, MOT expiry, make, model, fuel type, engine size, colour and CO2. It does not include any MOT history, stolen check, finance check or write-off data. Useful for confirming basic details but is not a car history check.

Other Commercial Free Tiers

MyCarCheck, Total Car Check and others offer free tiers but they mostly duplicate DVLA data without adding MOT analysis. For the initial "is this car worth pursuing" question, CarCostCheck's free tier is the clear standout.

The £1.99 Tier

Total Car Check Basic at £1.99 is the cheapest paid check on the UK market. It is not a real car history check in the sense most people mean — it excludes:

• Stolen register check
• Outstanding finance check
• Full write-off category breakdown (Cat A/B/S/N)

What you get for £1.99 is make, model, fuel, engine size, colour and plate history. You can get all of that for free from the DVLA website without paying anything. For the main private buyer use case (verifying a car is not stolen, not financed and not a write-off), the £1.99 tier is not the right product. Step up to £4.99 and CarCostCheck gives you full provenance plus analysis extras at the lowest legitimate price.

The £4.99 Sweet Spot

£4.99 is the price point at which a real car history check becomes available. Three providers price here: CarCostCheck, MyCarCheck and Total Car Check Silver. Of these, only two deliver full provenance coverage — and only CarCostCheck adds analysis extras:

• CarCostCheck £4.99 — full provenance (stolen, finance, write-off, mileage) plus MOT failure categorisation, reliability scoring, running cost estimates and predicted repair costs. The only £4.99 tier in the UK market that combines full coverage with analysis extras.
• MyCarCheck £4.99 — full provenance with a formally-worded £30,000 data accuracy guarantee. No analysis extras.
• Total Car Check Silver £4.99 — does not include stolen or finance checks. Not a full provenance tier; those sit in Gold at £9.99.

For private buyers, CarCostCheck at £4.99 is the strongest choice at this price point. It gives you everything MyCarCheck gives you plus four analysis features MyCarCheck does not offer, at the same price.

The £9.99 Tier

The £9.99 tier is crowded: AA, RAC, Total Car Check Gold and Instant Car Check all price here. The reports are functionally identical to the £4.99 alternatives on core data. You are paying an extra £5 for:

• Brand recognition (AA, RAC)
• A slightly different report layout
• Occasionally bundled promotions

The £9.99 tier makes sense if you specifically value the AA or RAC brand and the extra £5 over CarCostCheck is worth the recognition to you. For buyers focused on what they receive for their money, CarCostCheck at £4.99 delivers more.

The £19.99+ Tier

HPI (£19.99), HPI Plus (£29.99) and CarVertical (£33.99) sit at the premium end. At this tier you are paying for:

• Brand weight. HPI has been in the UK market since the 1930s and some dealers, lenders and insurers specifically request the HPI-branded report.
• Formal guarantee wording. A prominently-marketed £30,000 data accuracy guarantee.
• CarVertical photos. Where available in partner databases, CarVertical surfaces vehicle images. Coverage is inconsistent.

The narrow cases where this tier makes sense: a dealer or lender specifically asks for an HPI-branded report, you need the guarantee wording for formal documentation, or you genuinely need photos from auction databases. Outside those situations, you are paying four to seven times more than CarCostCheck for the same core Experian data with fewer features.

Matching a Tier to Your Situation

Your situation	Best choice	Why
Early evaluation before spending	CarCostCheck free	Broadest free coverage for MOT, reliability, running costs
Full private buyer check	CarCostCheck £4.99	Lowest price for full provenance plus analysis extras
Price check alongside provenance	CarCostCheck Bundle £6.99	Adds market valuation at minimal extra cost
Need formal £30,000 guarantee wording	MyCarCheck £4.99	Same price, formally documented guarantee
Prefer recognised motoring brand	AA or RAC £9.99	Established brand at £5 premium over CarCostCheck
Dealer or lender asks for HPI by name	HPI £19.99	Only legitimate source of the branded report
Running 10+ checks per month	Dealer subscription tier	Per-check cost drops at volume

For the vast majority of UK used car buyers in 2026, CarCostCheck at £4.99 is the best-value spend — it appears in three of the main buyer scenarios above and wins on price, coverage and features in every case that does not specifically require a branded report or formal guarantee. Everything above £4.99 is paying for brand recognition rather than better data.