HPI Check
We check all our vehicles with HPI to offer you peace of mind and the added assurance that our retail cars have had a genuine past. The HPI Check is the industry benchmark for vehicle provenance reports and the standard check gives you information about the following markers:
Outstanding finance
HPI uses the UK’s most accurate database of finance agreements, with over 7 million current records. 24 out of every 100 vehicles checked with HPI turn out to have outstanding car finance. If the loan remains unpaid after the car changes hands, you stand to lose the car or the money outstanding on it.
Stolen vehicles
By sourcing information from the Police National Computer, the HPI Check will tell you if the vehicle you are looking at is currently recorded as stolen.
The HPI Check will not provide details of vehicles that have been recorded as stolen but have subsequently been recovered without damage. If the vehicle has been recovered and written off by an insurance company due to the theft, this will be moved from the stolen register and show on the write off/condition alert register.
Written-off following accident damage
Since 1997, HPI have used the Association of British Insurers’ coding on the level of accident damage sustained, helping you tell the difference.
Vehicles written-off within categories A, B or C will have a ‘VIC marker’ put against them by DVLA. The ‘VIC’ is a Vehicle Identity Check, and it is a scheme designed to help stop stolen cars being passed off as repaired accident damaged cars – also known as ‘ringing’. The DVLA will not issue a V5 for any vehicle with a VIC marker against it, unless the vehicle has passed a VIC test. Any vehicle that requires or has passed a VIC test will have this noted on the V5. A VIC test IS NOT a test on the repair of the vehicle or its road worthiness. The HPI Check will state the result of any VIC test the vehicle has been subject to.
Inspection report
The HPI car history check will tell you if a vehicle that was previously declared a total loss has passed an independent structural examination and is now deemed as being roadworthy. Copies of most inspections are available from HPI at additional cost.
Mileage Problems
The HPI Check uses the database of the NMR (National Mileage Register) to search around 125 million records. It provides the best intelligence available to protect against clocking and mileage discrepancies.
Vehicle Identity
The HPI Check will confirm the make, official model and derivative, where possible, (i.e. different types of a particular model such as special and luxury editions), door plan, vehicle’s current colour & prior colour, transmission, and engine size, as well as how many times it has changed hands. You’ll also be told the year the car was manufactured and the date it was first registered.
Stolen V5 “Logbook” Document Check
Checks if the V5 document is part of a batch recorded as stolen. If the V5 Document is stolen, the vehicle is unlikely to be legitimate.
Number plate transfer
By searching nearly millions of records stretching back over 10 years – further than any other source – the HPI Check will list the plate changes and reveal potential problems such as if the car was a write-off in a former life.
Number Plate and VIN Number match
HPI will tell you whether the reg number and VIN correspond to DVLA and DVA (N. Ireland) records. Always check that the vehicle’s identification numbers stamped into the bodywork, on the chassis plate or behind the windscreen match the documentation and look original.
Security Watch
Many types of organisation (such as car rental companies) use HPI’s Security Watch service to register vehicles that should NOT be put up for sale. The HPI Check will tell you if the car you want to buy is one of 120,000 vehicles that could be being sold illegally.
CO2 Rating
Using data from DVLA, HPI tells you what the CO2 rating (for vehicles registered after March 2001) is on the car you are considering buying. Providing you with this information is a small way of helping you do something positive about the environmental impact of your next car purchase.
Valuation
Using reliable industry data from CAP and Glass that is updated monthly, the HPI Check can indicate the current trade-in and retail value where available so you can see that you’re getting a good deal.