Everything the AA offers, plus:
- Full MOT history with every test since 2005 (free)
- MOT advisory analysis with estimated repair costs (free)
- Detailed mileage timeline with automatic clocking detection (free)
- Reliability score (0-100) based on the car's complete history (free)
- Annual running cost breakdown: fuel, tax, insurance, repairs (free)
- Common faults for the exact make, model, and year (free)
- Insurance group with estimated premiums by age (free)
- DVSA recall check for outstanding safety recalls (free)
- ULEZ compliance check (free)
- Fuel cost calculator (free)
- Predicted repair costs for current advisories (free)
- Vehicle health grade A-F (free)
You pay half the price and get more than double the information. The 12 free checks are available before you spend anything, so you can screen multiple cars at no cost and only pay £4.99 for the car you are serious about.
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One thing the AA offers that CarCostCheck does not is a physical pre-purchase inspection from £149. A trained mechanic visits the car and checks it in person, covering mechanical condition, bodywork, electrics, and road test.
This is a genuinely useful service for high-value purchases or cars with suspicious histories. However, it is a completely separate product from the £9.99 online check, and the two are not bundled. The smart approach is to use CarCostCheck for the online checks (£4.99, more data) and the AA for the physical inspection (£149) if you need one. That saves £5 compared to using the AA for both.
| Scenario | CarCostCheck | AA | Saving |
|---|
| Basic free check | Free (12 checks) | Not available | 100% |
| Full history check | £4.99 | £9.99 | £5.00 (50%) |
| History + valuation | £6.99 | Not available from AA | N/A |
| Checking 3 cars before buying one | £4.99 (free checks on 2, premium on 1) | £29.97 (£9.99 x 3) | £24.98 |
The savings compound when you are shopping around. Most buyers view 3-5 cars before purchasing. With CarCostCheck, you screen all of them for free and only pay for the premium check on your final choice. With the AA, you pay £9.99 per car.
CarCostCheck is not just a cheaper version of HPI. It is a fundamentally better product that happens to cost 75% less. Here is what you get that HPI does not offer at any price:
- Real-time market valuation from £2.99, powered by over 650,000 live UK dealer listings. See what your car is actually worth in your local area, how quickly similar cars sell, and how the price compares nationally.
- Estimated vehicle lifespan: Our AI model analyses over 100 million data points to predict how many years the car has left and the probability of it being on the road in 12 months.
- Insurance costs by age: See estimated annual premiums for drivers aged 20, 30, 40, and 50. Budget before you buy.
- Running cost breakdown: Annual fuel, road tax, MOT, predicted repairs, and total cost per month. All calculated for this specific car.
- Health score (0-100): A single number that tells you the overall condition of the vehicle based on MOT history, advisory patterns, mileage consistency, and maintenance trends.
- Common faults: Known issues for this exact make and model, drawn from real MOT failure data across thousands of vehicles.
- 12 free checks: Full MOT history, mileage verification, reliability score, running costs, fuel costs, insurance group, red flag alerts, common faults, recall check, ULEZ compliance, and more. All before you pay a penny.
The premium history check (£4.99) uses the same Experian database as HPI, AA, and RAC. You get identical stolen, finance, and write-off data. The complete bundle (history + valuation) is £6.99, still 65% cheaper than HPI's basic check.
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12 checks included free. Premium stolen, finance, and write-off checks for just £4.99. Market valuation from £2.99.
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