How reliable vehicle verification can boost your business

Published October 2025

Written by Steven Wild

Steven is a Product Manager, with 12 years experience of managing Automotive products. He works closely with our Motor Dealer clients to design products that meet their business needs. AutoCheck - one of the products under his portfolio - was recently voted the best provenance product in the Car Dealer Power Awards.

Drive sales with confidence

In today’s fast-moving automotive market, having access to accurate, up-to-date vehicle data isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential. When you are buying and selling vehicles, the quality of your data directly impacts your decisions, your reputation, and your bottom line.

For most businesses, it’s simply not viable to end up with buyer’s remorse. Overpaying for a vehicle based on incomplete knowledge could have a detrimental effect on your profit margin, while gaps in car history could leave you with inventory that’s difficult to sell.

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How do I know the true history of a vehicle?

We know that all too often, vehicles don’t always have a straightforward history. Whether it’s plate changes, ownership transfers or question marks over mileage, it can be hard to get the full picture. This can make it tricky to feel confident in what you’re buying or selling and could even lead to you making costly mistakes with your inventory.

Thankfully, access to comprehensive, reliable data can give you the peace of mind that you need.

According to the Experian Vehicle Database, 29% of vehicles checked have changed plate at least once^[1].

With it being difficult to connect the dots on each vehicle, having a full, 360-degree overview, from the start of its story at its first registration to the present day, can help you to make informed decisions about every purchase or sale and reduce the risk associated with moving motor stock.

To help reduce the risk that comes with moving motor stock, AutoCheck has enhanced vehicle matching logic to ensure that you get every scrap of available information on a car, even if it’s had ten owners or three plate changes in as many years.

Example of an AutoCheck report showing number plate changes for one vehicle

This sample report from AutoCheck shows number plate changes for one vehicle (Note: This is sample information and does not reflect a genuine vehicle).

We’ve done this using advanced machine learning techniques, which can analyse vast datasets and identify patterns and trends that might otherwise be missed. This elevates the accuracy of our records, giving you added peace of mind.

Could I be overpaying for a vehicle?

You could be, if you don’t perform a thorough provenance check on it.

Good margins are essential for any successful business. And we know that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to vehicle valuations. Age, mileage, specification, owner number and service history are just some of the factors that come into play when working out how much to pay for a vehicle you want to bring into your inventory. And in deciding what you can sell it for.

A simple mistake, such as incorrect mileage, can drastically affect the valuation of a vehicle, and potentially wipe out your profit.

To ensure that you have complete oversight of all the potential value of your stock, AutoCheck provides access to a range of trusted sources, including CAP, Glass’s, AutoTrader and Percayso. We make it easy to choose the source and valuation that best fits your needs and budget, so that you can build your margin accordingly.

What are the best information sources for checking a car’s history?

Your information is only ever as good as where it comes from, and whether you are buying or selling a vehicle, it’s crucial that you have data that you can trust. Anyone can put a sticker on a windscreen proclaiming it to have “low mileage”, but where’s the proof? Having this, or being able to provide it, can make all the difference when it comes to knowing what to pay, irrespective of whether you’re buying as a dealer or as a customer.

Some of the most trusted data sources for checking car history include:

MIAFTR

Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register

DVLA

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

SMMT

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders

PNC

Police National Computer

These sources draw on the most reliable and up-to-date information out there about every vehicle.

We also live in a time where many people choose to finance their vehicles, rather than pay for them outright. What this also means is that all too often, there is outstanding finance against a car that needs to be settled in full when someone decides to change it.

1 in 6 vehicles checked through AutoCheck are found to have outstanding finance against them^[2].

We strongly recommend that anyone buying or selling a vehicle chooses to use a platform that pulls vital data from financial institutions, to make sure that vehicles are free from finance or any other lien (such as a “logbook loan”), which could see it seized or even repossessed.

Salvage data is another important differentiator in vehicle provenance platforms. Salvage data provides an essential layer of transparency and protection against transacting on inventory that has previously been damaged or written off.

One car is written off every 60 seconds in the UK^[3]

Not only are cars of this nature often worth substantially less than market value (which could significantly impact your profit margin), but you’re often unable to guarantee the quality or standard of repairs, and this could affect the look, feel, function and safety of the vehicle.

We understand that checking vehicle information can be time-consuming, and having to recheck data that has maybe been missed or updated later can mean paying twice. With AutoCheck, we’ve created a unique notification system that provides real-time alerts when anything about a vehicle you’ve previously checked changes. It’s fast, accurate and means you don’t need to search or pay again.

Are you ready to see the AutoCheck difference?

Do you want to leverage greater, more accurate insights when buying and selling vehicle stock? We’ve built our vehicle history product around trust, transparency, and total coverage. But don’t just take our word for it. We’re award-winning^[4] too, and were praised for our robust reporting and refreshed approach to vehicle history data at the 2025 Car Dealer Power Awards.

So, what sets AutoCheck apart from other vehicle provenance checking services?

It all starts with the origins and quality of our data.

Talk to us today about how you can start using AutoCheck, the award-winning vehicle history product that puts truth, depth, and trust at the heart of every check.