We live in the digital age, which means we have a world of tools at our disposal to make our lives easier. There are robotic lawnmowers, internet things we can give commands to in our homes and of course, drones.
What a time to be alive. But what does it mean for you, the car buyer? Happily, it means you can take all the guess work out of the process, and it won’t cost you a penny.
01 Bring in the Government
No, we’re not talking about spies. Though you might feel a bit like one. What we’re on about here is the Government’s vehicle enquiry facility. It’s a basic search, but one that has important information.
Log on, put the registration number and make of the car into the website’s prompts and it will quickly tell you if the car has MOT, if it’s on SORN (statutory off-road notification) or if it’s taxed. It will also tell you when all those are valid from and until.
You can find it at: https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk
02 Does it pass the test?
Another government special comes in the form of being able to check the MOT history of a car. This is a wonderful and incredibly detailed tool. Pop the registration in and you’ll be shown the MOT history of the car. It’s more than a history of passes and fails though.
This service will tell you where the car was MOT'd, it will tell you what advisories the car had (if any) and most importantly of all, it will tell you what it has failed on in the past.
Oh, and of course, the mileage throughout is documented. So if the seller says it’s a low mileage car, this is a good way to find out if they’re being honest.
You can find it at: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
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03 Just Ask
This one only has one job, but again, it’s an important one. AskMID works with data from the motor insurance database and as you would expect, it will tell you if a car is insured or not.
This is particularly handy if you’re about to go on a test drive, or if you’ve just bought new insurance yourself. Think of this as peace of mind for your motoring.
You can find it at: https://ownvehicle.askmid.com
04 Can you Cazana?
Cazana is, quite simply, brilliant. Admittedly it pulls a lot of information from the other sites we mentioned, but that’s fine, because it puts it all in one place. Put in a registration number and watch Cazana spill the beans.
It will tell you the MOT and tax status and the MOT history, which is handy. But wait, there’s more. It will also show any plate changes, it will show old adverts where the car has appeared for sale online, it will tell you when there were owner changes AND it will tell you the estimated value and mileage. Brilliant!
You can find it at: https://cazana.com/uk