Car history reports are packed with hugely important information. In turn, these can help inform your decision about whether to buy a second-hand car. However, it’s important to consider where these tools get their data; after all, they’re only useful if they’re based on legitimate information. To this end, today, we’re exploring where genuine car history checking tools source data for vehicles. In turn, this will hopefully allow you to find a suitable car history report provider, too.
Where do Car History Checking Tools Source Data?
In many cases, car history checking tools can provide a huge amount of information about different vehicles. Some can even offer almost 100 individual checks! However, it’s not always clear where this information comes from, which can understandably raise some questions.
Fortunately, for genuine car history checking tools, the answer to this question is simple. Most systems derive their information from a couple of validated and verified sources, including:
- DVLA
- DVSA
- Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
- Finance and leasing providers
- Association of British Insurers providers
- Trade and auction data
- Police National Computer (stolen records)
Altogether, these records can provide a wealth of information about a car. For example, the DVLA and DVSA records provide data about the vehicle’s specs, ownership details, and MOT history. Meanwhile, finance checks, stolen vehicle records, sale and ownership transfer details, and more.
What does this actually mean for your car purchase, though? Well, there are several ways this could help. Most obviously, this allows you to understand the results of past MOTs, both for advisories and major faults. In addition, it can verify the plate shown belongs to the car in question; it also highlights if the car is stolen, and so on. In other words, this simple check allows you to look for any signs of dishonesty or foul play.
Watch Out for Inaccurate Checking Tools
As we’ve seen above, reputable tools source their information from recognised industry bodies, largely comprising official government records, insurance data, and police records. However, it’s crucial to do your research carefully here. After all, if you choose a tool that doesn’t use legitimate data, you could end up buying on false pretences. So, always be careful to ensure you’ve chosen a tried and tested platform to verify your car purchase.
Always do Due Diligence Before Buying!
At the end of the day, car history checking tools are incredibly powerful. However, they are only able to report on data that is recorded and known; as such, any minor issues (especially recent problems) may not be displayed on the report.
Given this, when using one of these checkers, always double-check all information before buying, and check you’re happy with the car in person. For example, minor damage that the owner has never reported could be missed from a car history report.
Plus, don’t be scared off just because a car history report has brought some data to light; asking the seller may give you a satisfactory explanation! However, if the seller is unsure or reluctant to answer questions, it may be safer to choose a different second-hand car instead.
Conclusion
While there are plenty of websites offering car information, not all of them provide complete or reliable data. Some history check providers may miss important details or be unable to source certain records.
We recommend Full Car Checks, a leading UK car history service with thousands of reviews across platforms like Trustpilot and Google. Their reports are detailed and backed by a data guarantee. We tested several vehicles and found the data to be accurate and very detailed.