Short answer: Total Car Check has built a reputation as one of the more affordable car history services, with reports from £1.99 to £9.99. The £1.99 Basic tier is eye-catching but very limited; it does not check for stolen status, finance, or write-off categories. The £9.99 Gold tier is comprehensive for provenance but still lacks MOT analysis and running cost data. CarCostCheck at £4.99 sits between TCC's two main tiers on price but includes significantly more data than either.
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Total Car Check's Three Tiers
Total Car Check, now owned by Motorway, offers three report levels:
£1.99 Basic Report
The budget option covers vehicle identity (make, model, colour, engine size, fuel type), keeper count, whether the car has been scrapped or exported, MOT due date, and basic registration details. That is it. There is no stolen check, no finance check, no write-off category detail, and no mileage analysis.
This tier is essentially a formatted version of data you can look up for free on the DVLA and DVSA websites. It saves you a few minutes of manual searching, but it does not tell you anything that would protect you from buying a car with hidden problems. If a car has £5,000 of outstanding finance or has been classified as a Category S write-off, the £1.99 report will not flag it.
£4.99 Standard Report
The mid-tier adds stolen vehicle check, outstanding finance check, write-off history with categories, and a more detailed mileage check. This is the minimum level most buyers should consider, as it covers the core "is this car safe to buy?" questions.
£9.99 Gold Report
The top tier adds VIN verification, plate change history, imported/exported status detail, and enhanced mileage analysis. It also includes a data guarantee. This is Total Car Check's most complete offering and competes directly with the AA and RAC at the same price point.
What None of the Tiers Include
Regardless of which TCC tier you choose, none of them provide:
- Full MOT history with test-by-test results
- Advisory and failure explanations in plain English
- Estimated repair costs for MOT issues
- A reliability score based on the car's history
- Annual running cost projections (fuel, tax, repairs)
- Common faults for the specific make and model
- DVSA recall check
- Insurance group estimation
This is a significant gap. Knowing whether a car has been stolen or written off is important, but knowing that it has failed three MOTs for corroded brake lines, is averaging £800 a year in repairs, and has a reliability score of 32 out of 100 is equally valuable when deciding whether to buy.
Total Car Check vs CarCostCheck: Tier by Tier
| Feature | TCC Basic (£1.99) | TCC Gold (£9.99) | CCC Free | CCC Premium (£4.99) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle identity data | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Keeper count | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Stolen check | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Finance check | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Write-off check (detailed) | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| VIN verification | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full MOT history | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| MOT advisories explained | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Repair cost estimates | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reliability score | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Running cost breakdown | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Common faults | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| DVSA recall check | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Insurance group | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | £1.99 | £9.99 | Free | £4.99 |
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The Motorway Connection
Total Car Check was acquired by Motorway, the online car selling platform. This is not necessarily a negative; Motorway is a well-funded, reputable company. However, it is worth being aware that the service now sits within a business whose primary revenue comes from car sales rather than car checking.
Some users have questioned whether data accuracy issues they have encountered are related to the acquisition, though there is no public evidence of this. Total Car Check won the "What Car? Car Data Provider of the Year" award in previous years, which speaks to the quality of the product historically.
When Total Car Check Makes Sense
The £4.99 Standard tier from Total Car Check is a reasonable option if all you want is a quick stolen, finance, and write-off check with no frills. It does the core provenance job competently.
The £1.99 Basic tier is not worth it for used car buyers. It misses the checks that actually protect you, and the data it does include is freely available elsewhere.
The £9.99 Gold tier is overpriced relative to the market. At the same price as the AA and RAC, it does not offer anything that CarCostCheck's £4.99 premium report does not already cover, and it misses all the MOT analysis and running cost features.
The Verdict
Total Car Check is a competent service with a solid track record, but its pricing structure no longer represents the best value. The £1.99 headline price attracts attention, but the report at that level is too limited to be useful. The Gold tier is double the price of CarCostCheck for less data. For most buyers, starting with a free CarCostCheck report and upgrading to premium for £4.99 provides more information at a lower total cost than any Total Car Check tier.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Makes CarCostCheck Different
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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