This is where a £4.99 check pays for itself many times over. If you buy a stolen car, even unknowingly, UK law follows the principle of nemo dat quod non habet: no one can pass ownership of something they do not own. The car still belongs to its owner, or to the insurer if it has paid out on the theft. The police can seize it, and you can lose the car.
You can pursue the seller for a refund, but sellers of stolen cars are often hard to trace, so buyers can lose the whole purchase price. A £4.99 check is a small cost next to the price of even a £3,000 car.
It also helps to be able to show that you bought the car in good faith. Keep the email with your CarCostCheck report link: it is a dated record that you checked the car before you paid.
While a confirmed stolen flag requires a paid report, the free CarCostCheck report highlights warning signs that should prompt a proper check. Look for:
- MOT history gaps. If the car has a big unexplained gap between MOT tests, it may have been off the road, and it is worth asking why.
- Mileage that does not add up. Unusual patterns between MOT readings can point to a clocked car.
- A plate that looks newer than the car. DVLA rules do not allow a number plate that makes a car look newer than it is, so ask why. The £4.99 history check also shows any private plate transfers.
- Seller reluctance to provide VIN. Any seller refusing to show you the VIN or V5C logbook is a hard no. Run the CarCostCheck free report before you even view.
Any of these should trigger a £4.99 CarCostCheck history check. The cost is small compared with the risk of losing thousands on a stolen car.
CarCostCheck's £4.99 history check covers stolen, outstanding finance and write-off, and the free report gives you MOT history, a mileage check, a reliability score and running costs. £4.99 is less than most checks that include finance.
- 12 checks free, no sign-up. Full MOT history, MOT and tax status, mileage check with clocking detection, reliability score, red flag alerts, running costs, fuel costs, road tax, common faults, safety recalls, ULEZ and clean air zone compliance, and the export marker.
- Premium history for £4.99. Stolen (Police National Computer), outstanding finance with the lender and agreement details, write-off with category (A, B, S, N and the older C and D), date, insurer and damage, the date of each recorded keeper change, VIN check, plate and colour changes, import and export markers, scrapped and high-risk markers. The data comes from Experian AutoCheck.
- Valuation for £2.99. The local dealer value from live UK listings, a private sale price range and how quickly similar cars sell near you.
- Bundle for £6.99. The history check and valuation together.
- No subscription, ever. Every CarCostCheck report is a one-time payment. One payment, one report, done.
- Reliability score. A single 0-100 health score worked out from the car's own MOT history: pass rate, recent failures, advisory trend, recurring faults and mileage.
- Results in seconds. From DVSA, DVLA and Experian data.
Our premium data comes from Experian AutoCheck: stolen records from the Police National Computer, write-offs from MIAFTR and outstanding finance from Experian's finance register. We keep the price at £4.99 by keeping our overheads low. Every paid check is a one-off payment: your report appears on screen, and we email you a link to it that does not expire.
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12 checks included free. Full history from £4.99. Valuation from £2.99. No subscription, ever.
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