Free car check
Type a registration and see what the DVLA and the DVSA hold on it — live tax and MOT status, every test on file with its defects and advisories, every odometer reading a tester has written down, and the car's basic specification. No account, no card, no limit on how many you run.
No account and no card. What the Pro check adds.
What a free check shows
Two official sources, read live at the moment you press check — nothing here is a cached copy of a record from last month.
- Tax status and due date
- Taxed, untaxed or SORN, with the date the current period runs out.
- MOT status and expiry
- Whether there is a valid certificate today, and the day it lapses.
- Every MOT test on file
- Pass or fail, the testing date, and the defects recorded at each — graded dangerous, major or minor, with advisories listed separately.
- The full mileage record
- Every odometer reading captured at test, plotted in order so a reading that goes backwards is visible rather than buried in a list.
- Make, colour and fuel
- As currently registered with the DVLA — which is not always what the advert says.
- Engine size, CO₂ and Euro status
- The figures that set the tax band and decide whether the car is clean-air-zone compliant.
- First registration date
- Year and month, plus the date the most recent V5C was issued — a recent issue on a car with no keeper change is worth a question.
What a free check cannot tell you
The DVLA and DVSA hold the car's registration and its test record. They do not hold its finance, its insurance claims, or whether anyone has reported it stolen — those sit on commercial and industry registers that are not free to query, and no free check anywhere can reach them.
So a car can pass a free check spotlessly and still be carrying an outstanding hire-purchase agreement, a Category S write-off from two years ago, or a theft marker. That is the gap the Pro check closes, and it is the only reason to pay for one.
Where this comes from
The DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service for the registration record and live tax status, and the DVSA MOT History Trade API for every test. Both are queried at the moment you run the check.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need an account to run a free check?
- No. There is no sign-up and no card. Enter a registration and the result loads.
- How many free checks can I run?
- As many as you need. There is no daily cap on the free check.
- Is this the same data the DVLA shows?
- Yes — it is the DVLA's own Vehicle Enquiry Service and the DVSA's MOT history, read live. What we add is putting them side by side and reading the mileage record for you.
- Will the owner know I have checked their car?
- No. A registration lookup is anonymous and nothing is sent to the keeper.