Why check if a car is stolen
In UK law a thief cannot pass on ownership. A stolen car still belongs to the person it was taken from, or to the insurer that paid their claim, so it can be taken back from you and you lose what you paid.
Getting your money back means finding the seller, who has usually disappeared. Stolen cars are often sold quickly, for cash, at a price that looks too good to be true.
What our stolen car check shows
- Whether the car is recorded as stolen
- The date it was recorded
- The police force that recorded it
The stolen check is part of the Premium report (£9.99), with the finance and write-off checks.
Stolen vehicle check by reg: how it works
- Enter the reg above.
- Compare the make, model and colour on the free page with the car in front of you.
- Open the Premium report (£9.99) to see whether a stolen record exists.
Signs a car may be stolen
- The seller cannot show the V5C logbook, or the name and address on it are not theirs.
- The VIN on the car does not match the one on the logbook. Our free VIN decoder helps you read it.
- The price is far below what similar cars sell for.
- The seller wants cash and to meet somewhere other than their home.
- The number plate was changed recently.
- There is only one key, or the locks or ignition look damaged.
Cloned cars
Thieves often give a stolen car the number plates of a similar car that is not stolen. A check on those plates then describes the other car. This is why the VIN matters: find it on the car (at the base of the windscreen and on the door pillar) and make sure it is the one on the V5C logbook.