Vehicle checks
Free DVLA vehicle check
Enter a registration to read what the DVLA holds on the vehicle: its make, colour, engine, tax and MOT status and the date its logbook was last issued. CAR Confidence is an independent service. We aren’t the DVLA or GOV.UK.
What does a DVLA vehicle check show?
A DVLA vehicle check shows what the DVLA holds for a registration: make, colour, engine size, fuel type, CO2 emissions, year of manufacture and first registration date. It also shows whether the vehicle is taxed or SORN, when its tax and MOT run out and when its latest V5C logbook was issued.
What the DVLA record holds
- Make, colour and year of manufacture
- The date the vehicle was first registered
- Fuel type, engine size and CO2 emissions
- Whether it is taxed, untaxed or SORN, with the date the tax runs out
- The date the MOT runs out
- The issue date of the latest V5C logbook
- Whether the vehicle has been marked for export
We print the DVSA’s MOT history on the same page: every test, failure, advisory and mileage reading.
What a DVLA check leaves out
The DVLA’s vehicle enquiry describes the vehicle. It says nothing about the people or the money attached to it.
- The keeper’s name and address. Those stay with the DVLA unless someone has a lawful reason to ask for them.
- Outstanding finance. Finance agreements are held on separate finance records.
- Whether an insurer has written the car off.
- Any police report of theft.
- The number of keepers before the current one.
Those answers come with the CAR Confidence Score, the full report you can add after the free check.
Outstanding finance checkWrite-off checkPrevious owners check
The official DVLA service and ours
The DVLA runs its own vehicle enquiry service on GOV.UK. It is the official source. Use it when you need the DVLA’s own word on a vehicle, for example the rate of tax it pays.
Our free check reads the same record and puts the MOT history next to it. That saves you a second lookup while you’re weighing up a car you haven’t seen yet.
How to use a DVLA check before a viewing
- Take the registration from the advert and run it. Check the make, colour, engine size and fuel type against the listing.
- Read the tax status. It describes the seller’s tax, which ends at the sale. Yours starts when you tax the car in your own name.
- Read the MOT expiry date. A few weeks left means a test soon after you buy.
- Note the V5C issue date. At the viewing it should be the date printed on the logbook the seller shows you.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Is this the official DVLA check?
No. CAR Confidence is an independent service that reads the DVLA’s vehicle record. The DVLA’s own vehicle enquiry service is on GOV.UK.
Is the DVLA vehicle check free?
Yes. Reading the DVLA record costs nothing here. Neither does the MOT history we print beside it. You don’t sign up for anything.
Can a DVLA check tell me who owns a car?
No. A vehicle check never shows a keeper’s name or address. The DVLA releases keeper details only to people who can show what it calls reasonable cause, through its own postal request.
Does a DVLA check show outstanding finance?
No. Finance agreements aren’t part of the DVLA’s vehicle enquiry. The CAR Confidence Score report checks finance, theft and write-off records.
What if the details don’t match the car?
Check the registration for a typing mistake first. If the plate is right but the colour, engine or fuel type on the record differs from the car in front of you, ask the seller to explain before you pay anything.
Guides
More checks before you buy
Free car check
Check it before you go and see it
DVLA details, tax and MOT status, mileage and the full MOT history, free for any UK registration.