Stolen car check

A stolen car check tells you whether a car is recorded as stolen, or flagged as high risk, before you buy it. It's part of our Full check (£8.99).

It matters because buying a stolen car, even without knowing, doesn't make it yours. When it's traced, it goes back to its rightful owner or their insurer, and you're left trying to get your money back from a seller who has probably disappeared.

What the stolen check shows

• Police stolen marker: whether the car is recorded as stolen.
• High risk markers: flags that a car may be of interest to the police or insurers.
• Plate changes: every registration the car has carried, which can reveal a car trying to leave its history behind.
• VIN on record: so you can check it against the VIN on the car itself.

Why a clean result isn't the whole story

Car thieves know people run checks, so many stolen cars are cloned. The thief finds a legal car of the same make, model and colour, copies its number plates, and puts them on the stolen one. Run a check on those plates and it comes back clean, because you're checking the legal car.

That's why the check on paper has to be matched to the car in front of you:

• Find the VIN at the base of the windscreen and on the door pillar, and make sure both match the V5C logbook, character for character.
• Look for scratched, re-stamped or stuck-on VIN plates.
• Check the V5C is genuine: hold it up to the light and look for the DVL watermark.
• View the car at the address on the V5C, not in a car park or lay-by.

Our guides on how to spot a cloned car and what a VIN number is show you where to look.

Other warning signs

• A price well below similar cars.
• A seller who wants cash, today, and won't wait for you to check anything.
• Only one key, or keys that look new or don't match.
• A seller who can't answer simple questions about the car's history.
• Damage around the locks or ignition.

What to do if a car shows as stolen

Don't buy it, and don't confront the seller. Walk away and call the police on 101 with the registration and where you saw the car. If you've already bought a car and it turns out to be stolen, our guide to what to do if you bought a stolen car takes you through your next steps and how to get your money back.

Check more than theft

The same Full check covers outstanding finance, write-offs, salvage history, mileage, keepers and a valuation, so one report covers the risks that cost buyers the most.