You can check a car’s history for free on Autotrader. All vehicles listed on Autotrader undergo a free, five-point car check, based on the registration supplied. The check covers whether a car has been stolen, scrapped, written off, imported, or exported – the car’s results are shown on the advert on Autotrader. You can read our terms and conditions here.

If you want to know more about a vehicle’s background, you can buy a full Vehicle Check which covers key information like number of previous owners, colour changes, outstanding finance and risk of third-party trace. It also includes full vehicle specs like colour, number of gears and engine capacity, alongside vehicle data like the engine number, date of registration and CO2 emissions. You also get a data guarantee worth up to £30,000 if you purchase our full Vehicle Check for £4.95.