Hi,

 

Is there some FREE way on the net I can check out a cars history?

 

It seems in the US there are a few free sites but they don't work for me obviously, cos I live in RIP OFF BRITAIN.

 

The UK sites I have found come with a price, which I am too stingy to pay.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Ta

 

Eddie ;-)

Still without my AVCR :-(

 

Hey Eddie,

 

Interesting subject ye ol' HPI check, I found out a few years ago with the help of my Bro that the basic HPI that you pay for is not worth the paper it's written on. What are they charging now...35 squid or so?

 

He was buying a car from a so called reputable dealer in Altrincham and part ex'ing his Renault 19 16v, if my memory serves me correctly...anyway rambling a little here as it's past Gremlin feeding hour...

 

Anyway, what I did learn was that if you want a full Monty HPI ask for the Gold check.

 

This costs about 70-100 quid depending on how or where you get it, you need to provide the VIN aswell as REG. The way that garages can rip you off is on the registration. Alot of the time they will change the plate to a private one if the car has done Apollo 13 miles which wipes out alot of data and sort of gives the car a fresh image, then they will re-assign a normal reg, "cherished transfer" start so to speak.

 

My Bro was in a Renault 19 16v at the time with only 73000 miles. But this car was shite, trading standards were dragged in for effect but when he went to part ex the car at a dealer they ran a GOLD CHECK HPI on the VIN and found out that the car had done 150,000+ and had been a fleet car for the majority of its life long b4 he got his hands on it. The dealer in question, will remain nameless, had torn off the nastey part of the HPI which he claimed was the original article...and my poor old Bro was sucked in...

 

This car was sold to him with full history or so it would seem???????

 

So, the moral of this story is you get what you pay for...as usual!

 

Beware, it's comparable with having a survey done on a house, pay for the shitty one or pay monty money for the full jobby...it's your choice.

 

It certainly opened my eyes...

 

Tim

;-)

 

Good advice Tim,

As a Police Officer(well you already hate me so giving u a bit more ammo won't make any difference) I can vouch for the fact that HPI checks don't mean much...the only 100% sure way is on the PNC (police national computer).

 

I recently had a HPI check done on my own car to help when i get round to selling it.

It say that the car is not an import, seems strange since I imported it!

Having said that, most punters love a bit of paperwork.

 

 

"It seems in the US there are a few free sites"

 

 

Where, I've been looking for one =)

 

 

Droop

 

 

 

The RAC do one its about £30 quid and they ask for the VIN, it's the only way to do it.It is important when you check the VIN that it hasn't been changed or tampered with. Most specialist garages will tell you where there is an alternative to the one in the engine bay. The one for my Audi is in the boot. When I bought said Audi two years ago they gave me a full report which covers insurance write off, change of number plate, engine, HP. For the peace of mind the money is almost irrelevant.

 

Good luck, Grant.

 

You can get a basic free HPI check from Orange WAP, you can ask for a more detailed one for (I think - not sure at all!) £5 or maybe it's £30... get's charged to the phone bill.

 

I've used the basic one which you just enter the car reg in, and it gives you the colour, year, exact model, engine size, and I think that's it.

 

Sorry droop my mistake. The site I found was to do with working out the model & colour of a car.

 

Not much use really.

 

Thanks all for your advice and experiences.

 

Ta

 

Eddie ;-)

 

Droop, here are two VIN-checkers for cars from/in the US:

VIN check 1

 

VIN check 2

 

-Eric