Expert Car Check exists because buying a used car in the UK is still a leap of faith. Forty per cent of the 7.5 million used cars sold each year have something material in their history — an outstanding finance agreement, a written-off chassis, a clocked odometer, a recorded theft — and most of it is invisible at the kerbside.
What we do
We pull data direct from the registers that hold the ground truth — DVLA for identity, DVSA for MOT history, MIAFTR for write-offs, Experian for finance and the Police National Computer for stolen status — and present it in a forensic, navigable report. No upsell pop-ups, no inflated valuations, no “score out of 10” gimmicks. Just the data, sourced, dated and explained.
Editorial standard
Every line of copy on this site is written or reviewed by a UK motoring specialist. We hedge where the data hedges: “typically”, “where available”, “according to the record”. We don’t promise outcomes we can’t deliver and we don’t paint failures as features.
Who we’re for
Private buyers checking a car before handing over cash. Independent traders running provenance on stock. Insurers, fleets and finance brokers who need a quick, auditable view of a vehicle’s history. The AI Mechanic in the corner is there for everyone else — ask it about an MOT advisory, a write-off category or a common fault, and you’ll get a forensic answer in plain English.
How we make money
Expert Car Check is funded entirely by one-off report payments. Four tiers — £0 (Free snapshot), £1.99 (Standard), £2.99 (Advanced) and £4.99 (Platinum, which carries the £1,000,000 data guarantee). You pay once, you own the report.
- No subscriptions. We never auto-renew or keep a card on file for recurring billing.
- No data resale. Your lookups and report contents are not sold, brokered or syndicated to third parties for marketing.
- No on-site advertising. No display ads, sponsored placements or pay-to-rank listings inside reports.
- Affiliate links are disclosed. Where we link to a third-party service (e.g. short-term insurance, finance settlement), any commercial relationship is labelled on the link and on the destination page.
- Card processing is handled by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number.
Company registration
Expert Car Check is operated as a UK business. Full company registration details — legal entity name, Companies House number, VAT number where applicable and registered office address — are available on request by emailing hello@expertcarcheck.com. We’ll publish them inline here as soon as the registration record is finalised; we’d rather leave the field blank than show a placeholder number.
Data protection & ICO
We handle personal data (your email, payment metadata and the vehicle registrations you look up) under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our lawful bases are contract (to deliver the report you paid for) and legitimate interest (to prevent fraud and improve the service). Full detail is in the privacy notice.
Where ICO registration is required for our processing activities, our ICO registration number will be listed here and in the privacy notice. If it is not yet listed, registration is either in progress or not yet required at our current scale of processing — email hello@expertcarcheck.com for the current status. You can raise a complaint with the ICO at any time via ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Contact
General enquiries, data requests, press and corrections: hello@expertcarcheck.com. We aim to reply within two working days.