- You are buying a budget car (£1,000-5,000). The 20% savings on a £3,000 car is £600, which is significant at this price point. The £4.99 check cost is negligible.
- You know what you are looking for. If you can assess a car competently and know what checks to run, the dealer premium is paying for protection you can replicate yourself.
- You can negotiate confidently. Private sellers are more flexible on price, especially with data-backed offers.
- You are comfortable with the risk. No warranty means any problems after purchase are your responsibility.
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If you buy privately, these checks replace the protections a dealer would provide:
- Free CarCostCheck report: MOT history, mileage verification, reliability score, running costs, recalls, common faults. This tells you whether the car is worth viewing.
- Premium report (£4.99): Finance, stolen, write-off, VIN, keepers. This catches the most expensive problems: finance repossession (£thousands), stolen vehicle seizure (£total loss), and undisclosed write-off (20-50% overvaluation).
- Valuation (£2.99): Know the market value before negotiating. The £6.99 bundle includes everything.
- Physical inspection: Cold start, panel gaps, VIN match, V5C check.
- Test drive: 20+ minutes on various roads. Check brakes, steering, gearbox, suspension.
Total cost of protection: £6.99 for the full bundle. Compare that to the £1,500-2,500 dealer markup on a £10,000 car.
Dealers are not immune to issues. It is still worth running the free CarCostCheck before buying from a dealer:
- Compare dealer offerings objectively: The running cost data lets you compare two similar cars on total ownership cost, not just sticker price.
- Check MOT history: A dealer-prepared car may look clean, but the MOT history reveals past problems the dealer may not mention.
- Verify write-off history: Dealers are not legally required to disclose that a car was previously written off. The £4.99 check reveals this.
- Negotiate with data: MOT advisories and market valuation data strengthen your position.
| Scenario | Recommendation |
|---|
| Budget under £5,000 | Buy privately + £4.99 check. The dealer markup erodes too much value at this price. |
| £5,000-15,000 | Either. Private with checks if you are confident; dealer if you want warranty. |
| Over £15,000 | Dealer recommended. The warranty and legal protection are worth the premium. |
| First-time buyer | Dealer recommended. The Consumer Rights Act safety net is valuable while you learn. |
| Experienced buyer | Private with checks. You know what to look for and the savings are significant. |
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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