DVLA: the vehicle record
Source: the DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service API, run by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.
Supplies: make, colour, fuel type, engine size, year of manufacture, month of first registration, tax status and due date, MOT status, CO2 emissions, Euro status, wheel plan, revenue weight, type approval, the date the last V5C logbook was issued and the export marker.
Used in: the free check and the full report.
Does not supply: keeper names or addresses. No CarCheckUp report shows who owns or owned a vehicle.
DVSA: MOT history
Source: the DVSA MOT History API, run by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
Supplies: each MOT test with its date, result, recorded mileage, failure items, advisories and dangerous defects, the MOT expiry date and whether the vehicle has an outstanding safety recall. It also returns the current registration for a VIN, which is how VIN searches work.
Used in: the free check, the full report, and the anonymised statistics on our model pages and research.
Does not supply: tests from before the digital MOT records began (2005), or work done outside an MOT.
Experian: vehicle history data
Source: Experian's vehicle history service, which CarCheckUp buys for each full report.
Supplies:
- Finance agreements registered against the vehicle by lenders.
- Insurance write-off records from the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register (MIAFTR), including the category.
- Police stolen markers, which originate from the Police National Computer and reach us through Experian. CarCheckUp has no direct access to police systems.
- High risk register entries.
- Keeper changes, number plate changes, colour changes, imported, exported and scrapped markers, and VIC inspections.
- Mileage readings recorded outside the MOT, where available.
Used in: the full report only, and the anonymised aggregate figures in our research.
What CarCheckUp adds
We don't create vehicle records; we request them, combine them and explain them. What we add is:
- The mileage anomaly check across MOT and other readings.
- A result for each check (alert, warning, information, clear or not returned), with the rule behind it explained.
- Plain-English explanations of each record and what to ask the seller.
- Statistics from the aggregated results of checks run on CarCheckUp, with their dataset and limitations stated.
What no source holds
Service history, accidents or repairs never reported to an insurer, mechanical condition and anything that has not reached the records yet. A clear result means the source holds no record, not that nothing happened. See what a report cannot tell you.
Licence
DVLA and DVSA data: contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.