Here is the mistake almost every used-car buyer makes: they shortlist two or three cars, pay to check one, and view the rest blind. With roughly 1 in 3 UK used cars carrying some hidden history, a three-car shortlist has better-than-even odds of containing at least one problem car, and it is not always the one you suspect. The fix is to check the whole shortlist at once. In 2026 that costs less than you think: three cars fully checked is £13.48, less than a single £19.99 HPI check, and it produces a side-by-side comparison that tells you which car to buy.
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Honest summary: if you only want the raw provenance data at the lowest possible price, three separate Total Car Check Silvers at £11.97 is the cheapest route. CarCostCheck at £13.48 is the most information per pound: the same Experian checks plus MOT and running-cost analysis for every car, and the only option that produces a side-by-side comparison report with a verdict. Everything above that price line is buying brand rather than data, with the exception of HPI's £30,000 guarantee, which is a fair reason to pay more if you want it.
What the cheaper options leave out
The price gap between £11.97 and £13.48 buys a lot of missing information. Here is what each option actually includes per car:
| Included per car | Total Car Check Silver £3.99 | CarCostCheck £4.00-£4.99 | MyCarCheck £4.99 | HPI £19.99 |
|---|
| Stolen check (PNC) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Outstanding finance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Write-off check | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full MOT history analysis | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Mileage / clocking verification | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Reliability / health score | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Running cost estimates | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Side-by-side comparison report + verdict | ✗ | ✓ (free with 2+ cars) | ✗ | ✗ |
| £30,000 data guarantee | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
So the £1.51 saving on a three-car shortlist at Total Car Check means giving up the MOT analysis, mileage verification, reliability scoring, running costs and the comparison verdict on all three cars. If you are choosing between cars rather than just screening one, the comparison layer is the point of the exercise. And in fairness the other direction: only HPI includes a £30,000 data-accuracy guarantee, which none of the cheaper providers, us included, offer.
Every car gets its own complete report (stolen, outstanding finance, write-off, previous owners, VIN, plate history), and the order includes a side-by-side comparison report with a verdict. The pricing works because the 2nd car is 50p off and the 3rd onwards are 99p off each, applied automatically.
1. Build the shortlist free
Before spending anything, put every candidate reg through the free comparison: MOT pass rates, health scores, mileage verification and running costs, up to five cars side by side. This alone usually eliminates one car, the one with the 58 health score and five open advisories you would otherwise have driven an hour to view.
2. Run the full checks on the survivors
The free data cannot legally include the provenance databases. Before viewing day, add the paid checks for the cars still standing. This is where finance flags, write-off records and stolen markers surface, the findings that eliminate a car instantly. Our choosing-between-cars method covers the elimination order in detail.
3. Read the comparison, then view in order
The comparison report ranks your shortlist with a verdict. View the strongest car first with the report on your phone; the advisory list doubles as an inspection checklist (check the exact suspension corner the MOT flagged). The runner-up report is your negotiating lever and your ready-checked backup if the deal falls through.