Howwe testedthem
Havingtheinformationfromadatacheckisuseless unlessyouknowhowtouseit,andadodgysellerwill relyonyounotknowingwhattolookfor.Here’sour checklisttomakesureyoudon’tgetcaughtout: ·CrosschecktheVehicleIdentificationNumber (VIN)ontheregistrationdocument,thedatacheck andatseveralpointswhereitwillbemarkedonthe car.Itshouldbevisiblethroughasmallwindowon thewindscreen,onaplateunderthebonnetandinat leastoneotherplaceonthebodyshell.Makesurethey don’tlooklikethey’vebeenaltered,andcomparethe markingstosimilarcarsifpossible. ·ChecktheserialnumberoftheV5registration documentagainstthedatacheck–itcould ·Acarwhichiswrittenoffafterseriousstructural bestolenorforged. damagewillhavethismarkedontheV5.Vehicles thathaveonlyhadcosmeticdamagewon’thaveit mentioned,butitwillappearinafulldatacheck. ·It’snotuncommonforacartohavefinance outstandingonit–butmakesurethatithas beenclearedbeforeyouhandoverany money.Thebestcheckswillprovidecontact detailsforthebank,soyoucanensure thattheloanhasbeenrepaid. ·It’sperfectlylegalforsomewrite-offs toberepairedandputbackontheroad. Manybuyersdon’twantuncertaintyover thequalityofrepairs,sothesecarsare cheapertobuy.Youshouldexerciseeven
HAVINgacarstolenisatraumatic experience,butthousandsofpeoplerunthe riskofhavingtheirvehicletakenawayfrom themperfectlylegally–andthere’dbeno hopeofclaimingforyourlossoninsurance. Ifyourprideandjoyisfoundtobenicked orstillownedbyafinancecompany,then thepoliceorabankwillwantitback. evenifthey’renotstolenorhaveoutstanding finance,plentyofcarshavean‘interesting’ history,whichisworthinvestigatingbefore youpartwithyourcash.Thesimplestwayto avoidbecomingavictimistocarryoutan onlinedatacheckbeforeyoubuyacar. Theseareroutinelyusedbydealers,but cannowbedonecheaplybyanyone,with pricesrangingfromfreetomorethan£20. Whichisthebest?Wetriedeighttofindout.
Weharvestedthedetailsofaselection ofcars,includingonethatwasreported asstolen,severalinsurancewrite-offs, apotentialcloneandaLandRoverthat wascleanbuthadpreviouslyworna personalisednumberplate. Weexpectedthesitestoflagupany issuesasabareminimum,butextrapoints weregiveniftheyprovidedadviceand otherareastoinspect.Finally,wetook