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.
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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.
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.
Total Car Check is a competent service with a solid track record, but its pricing structure no longer represents the best value.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.
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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