Short answer: MyCarCheck offers a full vehicle check for £4.99, which matches the market on price. But mixed Trustpilot reviews about data accuracy and a lack of running cost analysis mean you can get more detail elsewhere for the same money, or even for free.
MyCarCheck has been around since 2009 and positions itself as the affordable alternative to HPI. It pulls from Experian's vehicle database (the same source behind HPI, AA, and RAC checks) and offers stolen, finance, and write-off checks at a fraction of the price the bigger names charge. On paper, that sounds like a solid deal. But what do you actually get, and is it enough?
Check Any Car Free, Right Now
Full MOT history, mileage check, reliability score, and running costs. No sign-up needed.
What MyCarCheck Includes
MyCarCheck's £4.99 "Full Monty" check covers the core essentials: stolen vehicle check against the Police National Computer, outstanding finance alerts, insurance write-off history (Cat A, B, N, and S), mileage discrepancy flags, plate changes, colour changes, keeper count, and VIN verification. That is a solid package and genuinely competitive on price.
They also offer a free basic check that shows registration details, MOT status, and tax status. This free tier is useful but limited. It tells you the car exists and when its MOT expires, but nothing about its history or hidden problems.
Where MyCarCheck falls short is in analysis. You get raw data, but no interpretation. There is no reliability scoring, no predicted repair costs, no running cost breakdown, and no health assessment. You are left to make sense of the data yourself, which is fine if you know what to look for but not ideal if you are a first-time buyer.
Trustpilot Reviews: The Accuracy Question
MyCarCheck holds a reasonable Trustpilot score, but a recurring theme in negative reviews is data accuracy. Several reviewers have reported cases where finance alerts did not match reality, or where mileage data seemed incomplete. To be fair, no vehicle check service is perfect. Data depends on what has been reported to Experian, DVLA, and MIAFTR. But when you are paying for peace of mind, accuracy concerns are worth noting.
Another common complaint is the upsell process. The free check is designed to worry you into buying the full report, which is standard practice in the industry. CarCostCheck takes a different approach: the free tier includes 12 meaningful checks (MOT history, mileage verification, reliability score, running costs, repair predictions) so you get genuine value before deciding whether to pay for premium data.
Try It Yourself
See everything we check for free. No sign-up, no email, instant results.
MyCarCheck vs CarCostCheck: Feature Comparison
| Feature | MyCarCheck Free | MyCarCheck £4.99 | CarCostCheck Free | CarCostCheck £4.99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOT status | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full MOT history (every test) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| MOT advisories with repair costs | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mileage verification | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reliability score (0-100) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Annual running costs | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Predicted repair costs | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vehicle lifespan estimate | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stolen check (PNC) | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Finance check | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Write-off check | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Keeper count | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| VIN verification | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
At the same £4.99 price point, CarCostCheck includes everything MyCarCheck offers in its paid tier, plus full MOT history analysis, a reliability score, running cost projections, repair predictions, and a vehicle lifespan estimate. The free tier alone on CarCostCheck delivers more actionable data than MyCarCheck's paid report.
The Verdict
MyCarCheck is not a bad service. It is competitively priced and covers the essential safety checks. But in 2026, paying £4.99 for just the basics feels like a missed opportunity when you can get significantly more insight for the same price. If you want to understand not just whether a car is safe to buy, but whether it is a smart financial decision, CarCostCheck gives you the fuller picture.
The accuracy concerns on Trustpilot are worth keeping in mind too. Both services pull from similar data sources, but CarCostCheck adds its own analysis layer on top, which means you are not just seeing raw data points. You are getting interpreted results that flag problems in plain English.
What Makes CarCostCheck Different
CarCostCheck is not just a cheaper alternative. It is a fundamentally better product that costs 75% less. Here is what you get that HPI and most other services do not offer at any price:
- Real-time market valuation from £2.99, powered by over 650,000 live UK dealer listings. See what this car is actually worth in your area, how quickly similar cars sell, and how the price compares nationally.
- Estimated vehicle lifespan: AI analysis of over 100 million data points predicts how many years the car has left and the probability of it being on the road in 12 months.
- Insurance costs by age: Estimated annual premiums for drivers aged 20, 30, 40, and 50.
- Running cost breakdown: Annual fuel, road tax, MOT, predicted repairs, and total cost per month for this specific car.
- Health score (0-100): A single number summarising overall vehicle condition based on MOT history, advisory patterns, and mileage consistency.
- 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 anything.
The premium check (£4.99) uses the same Experian database as HPI, AA, and RAC for identical stolen, finance, and write-off data. The complete bundle (history + valuation) is £6.99, still 65% cheaper than HPI alone.
Ready to Check a Car?
12 checks included free. Premium stolen, finance, and write-off checks for just £4.99. Market valuation from £2.99.