KnownVehicle answers

Every answer below is aimed at a question people measurably search for, is written from named sources, and links to the page that handles the job itself. None of them is a landing page in disguise.

• BHP check: why a BHP checker reads the factory figure, not a dyno

  A BHP lookup returns the power the manufacturer declared for that derivative. The DVLA record carries engine size and emissions, not brake horsepower.

• Car insurance group checker: what insurance band is my car in, and who sets it

  Insurance groups run 1 to 50 and are set by the ABI panel on Thatcham Research data, from repair cost, new price, performance, design and security.

• Car mileage check: the free MOT series, and what a paid mileage checker adds

  Every MOT captures the odometer reading, and the free DVSA history publishes the series. A falling reading between tests is the clocking check, at no cost.

• Car registration plate and the V5C: how the mark and the log book differ

  The plate identifies the registration, the V5C records the keeper and the vehicle. A transferred plate breaks the trail, which is why the VIN matters more.

• Car service history check: what a vehicle service history really proves

  No public register holds service history. The MOT record, the manufacturer, the stamping garages and the invoices are the four routes that do.

• Car spec check: the free vehicle info on the record, and where trim comes from

  The DVLA record returns make, model, colour, year, engine size, fuel, tax band and CO2 from a plate. Trim, options and equipment are the manufacturer's.

• Cat N car meaning: what an insurer's salvage category really says

  Cat N is non structural damage, Cat S is structural damage repairable. Cat A and Cat B can never return to the road. Cat C and Cat D were retired in 2017.

• Check a vehicle: what a free plate lookup returns and what only a paid report adds

  Four free government lookups answer tax, MOT, mileage and insurance from a number plate. Everything a paid report adds is a marker held in private data.

• Check if a car has been written off: the salvage marker the free registers never show

  No free government service returns a write-off marker. The category sits in insurance industry data, which is what a paid history check buys access to.

• Check if a vehicle has been scrapped: the end of life mark and the ATF notification

  A scrapped vehicle is notified to DVLA and leaves the register. A paid history check reads the scrapped marker; the free lookups do not carry it.

• Check road tax cost: why the date of first registration decides the system

  Vehicle tax depends on when the car was first registered, then on CO2, fuel or engine size. The date decides which of the three systems applies.

• CO2 emission checker: check CO2 emissions from the registration, which figure the record holds, and how it decides the band a vehicle is taxed in

  The DVLA record carries the CO2 figure used for taxation, in grams per kilometre. It is the type approval number, not a measurement of your own car.

• How many owners has my car had? Where the keeper count comes from

  The V5C prints the number of former keepers and a paid check returns the count and last change date. Names and addresses are never released to a buyer.

• How to check a car is insured: the askMID lookup, what the Motor Insurance Database does and does not show, and what to do after a collision

  askMID answers free whether a vehicle appears on the Motor Insurance Database. It shows presence, not policy detail, and new cover can take days to appear.

• How to unsorn a car: there is no unSORN button, and taxing the vehicle is what actually ends the declaration

  A SORN ends automatically the moment you tax the vehicle. There is no separate cancellation, and a SORN does not transfer when the car changes keeper.

• HPI meaning: what does HPI mean, why the phrase became a generic term for a used car history check, and what an HPI check actually reads

  HPI is a brand name that became the generic phrase for a vehicle history check. Several providers sell the same data, so compare on price and inclusions.

• Import car check: what an import means for the record, value and insurance

  An imported vehicle gets a UK registration and its foreign history does not follow. The V5C shows the import status, and a history check reads the marker.

• Is my car taxed? The free answer, straight from the DVLA record

  The DVLA vehicle enquiry answers taxed or untaxed for any registration in seconds, free, and also shows SORN status, MOT expiry and the tax band.

• MOT advisory check: why an advisory is the most useful line on a test

  An advisory is a tester's note that something will fail soon. The free MOT history publishes them, and read as a sequence they are a maintenance record.

• MOT history check NI: why Northern Ireland records start later than the rest of the UK

  Northern Ireland tests are run by the DVA and appear in the GOV.UK MOT history from 2017, against 2005 in Great Britain, so an Ulster car shows less.

• MOT history checker: what the free MOT history UK record shows, and how to read it

  The DVSA MOT history service is free and returns every test result and recorded mileage since 2005, which is the clocking check most paid reports resell.

• MOT trailer check: which trailers are tested at all, where a trailer test record lives, and why a car trailer has no MOT to look up

  Ordinary car trailers and caravans have no MOT. Heavy goods trailers are tested annually by the DVSA, and their results appear in the history service.

• Motorbike history check: the free half every rider has, and what a paid check adds

  A motorcycle sits on the same DVLA and MOT records as a car, and the same finance, theft and write-off databases. The frame number is the identity.

• Police stolen vehicle check: what a theft marker on a vehicle record means, how it gets there, and what an anpr check online is and is not

  A theft marker comes from the Police National Computer and is read by paid history checks. There is no public stolen vehicle register to search free.

• Pre purchase car check: which lookups to run before you view, which before you pay, and what an ex taxi check or a hire history should make you ask

  Run the free DVLA and MOT lookups before you drive to see a car, and the paid finance and write-off check before any money moves. Order saves money.

• Transfer of ownership of a car: what the V5C records, and what it never proves

  A DVLA transfer changes the registered keeper, not the legal owner. Do it online at the point of sale, and the tax is cancelled and refunded to the seller.

• VIN number: the 17 characters that stay with a car for life

  A VIN is the 17 character identity stamped on the car itself. It is on the V5C, the windscreen base, the door pillar and under the bonnet or boot floor.

• What engine is in my car? Size, fuel and the engine code, read from the record

  The DVLA record carries cylinder capacity in cubic centimetres, fuel type and the engine number. The engine code and variant come from the VIN.

• What model is my car? Reading the record when the model field is thin

  The DVLA record carries make and a short model field, and the date of first registration. Trim and derivative come from the VIN and the build record.

• What warranty does my car have? Three kinds of cover, held by three parties

  No public register records warranties. The manufacturer holds the factory cover against the VIN, and your rights against the seller are separate from it.

• When is my MOT due UK: the free expiry check, the first test at three years, and the early test rule that keeps your date

  The free DVLA and DVSA lookups both return MOT expiry from the registration. The first test falls due on the third anniversary of first registration.

• Who owns this car? What a number plate returns, and the lawful route to a name

  No public service names a keeper from a number plate. DVLA releases keeper details only to a person with reasonable cause, in writing, on form V888.

• Bad credit van finance: what a commercial lender checks before the file

  A damaged file moves a van application to different lenders. The van, the trading history and a director's guarantee matter as much as the score.

• Car finance 24/7: what happens to an application submitted overnight

  An online motor finance form takes an application at any hour. What it returns overnight is a scorecard decision, not money and not a signed agreement.

• Car finance CCJ bad credit: how a lender reads a judgment against the file

  A county court judgment is a dated entry, not a refusal. Its age, whether it is satisfied and what the file has done since decide what a lender does.

• Car lease bad credit: what a leasing company checks before it prices you

  Leasing is underwritten harder than hire purchase on a damaged file: the funder keeps the car and lends against future rentals, not against an asset.

• Van loan against van finance: which one leaves the van yours from day one

  A loan lends against you and the van is yours at once. Van finance lends against the van and holds title to the end. That changes rights and tax.

• Car finance credit check: what a soft search shows and a hard search leaves behind

  A quotation search leaves no footprint other lenders can see. A full application leaves one they can, and several in weeks read as repeated declines.

• HP cars: what hire purchase buys, and the month it becomes yours

  HP lends against the car. You pay equal instalments, the funder holds title until the last one, and then the car is yours with no balloon to find.

• Student car finance: the two things a lender needs that a student often lacks

  Being a student is not the problem. A thin credit history and income a lender cannot verify are, and both have ordinary answers that beat any advert.

• Business vehicle loans: which facility a trading company should actually take

  A company can buy a vehicle on a loan, hire purchase, contract hire or PCP. Ownership, VAT and whether consumer credit rules apply differ in each.

• Can you transfer car finance to another person, and what a funder does instead

  An agreement is a contract between you and the funder, so it does not move on request. What funders do is settle the old one and write a new one.

• PCP new car finance: what the instalment covers and what waits at the end

  A PCP instalment pays the forecast depreciation, not the car. The rest waits as an optional final payment sized on the car's expected value.

• Car finance for 18 year olds: what changes at eighteen, and what does not

  Eighteen is the age a credit agreement can be signed at all. The file behind it is usually a few months old, and that is the real constraint.

• How to get out of negative equity car finance without rolling it into the next car

  Negative equity is the gap between the settlement figure and the car's value. There are four ways out and only one of them makes the gap smaller.

• Refinance balloon payment: the three things you can do with a final payment

  The final payment on a PCP can be paid, refinanced or avoided by handing the car back. Which is right depends on the car's value against the figure.

• Sell my financed car: the settlement figure comes before the buyer

  The funder holds title until the agreement is settled, so a financed car is not yours to sell. The route is a settlement figure, then a sale clearing it.

• Part exchange car on finance: where the settlement figure goes in the deal

  A part exchange on a financed car is a settlement plus a valuation. Equity becomes the next deposit and a shortfall is added to what you finance.

• Car finance after IVA: what changes on completion and what stays on the file

  An individual voluntary arrangement sits on the register while it runs and on the credit file for six years from its start, longer than the arrangement.

• Does car finance improve credit score, and which part of it actually does

  An agreement paid on time builds history, which helps. The application and the new balance push the other way at first, so the order matters.

• Car finance with guarantor: what the guarantor is actually promising

  A guarantor promises to pay the whole agreement if you do not, and can be pursued for it. It goes on their credit file and affects what they can borrow.

• Car finance on benefits bad credit: the two questions a lender asks separately

  Benefit income and a damaged file are two different problems. One is an affordability question about what counts as income, the other is about price.

• Car finance for old cars: the age and mileage limits funders actually apply

  Funders set a maximum age at the end of the agreement, not at the start. That single rule decides both whether an old car can be financed and for how long.

• Second hand car finance: what changes when the car is not new

  A used car is financed on the same three products as a new one. What differs is the term a funder will write, the rate, and who is liable if it is faulty.

• Car hire purchase: what you are hiring, and when you buy it

  Hire purchase splits the price into equal instalments. The funder owns the car until the last one clears, and then it is yours with nothing left to pay.

• Car finance calculator UK: which number you are actually trying to find

  There are four different sums behind the phrase: the monthly payment, the total payable, an early settlement figure and the gap between value and balance.

• 0 finance car deals: what a manufacturer gives up to offer one

  Interest-free motor finance is real and somebody pays for it. The maker subsidises the rate, and the price of the car is where that money comes from.

• Car repair loans: which borrowing fits a bill that arrived today

  A repair bill is unsecured, short-term borrowing on a car you already own. The order to work through is warranty, then the dealer's liability, then credit.

• Van finance calculator: why a business quotation is not a car quotation

  A van quotation turns on whether the figures are shown with or without VAT, and on whether the agreement is regulated at all. Both change the comparison.

• Fair credit car finance: what the middle tier is actually offered

  A fair file is not a bad one. It sits in a near-prime tier with its own lenders, and the things that move it are the deposit, the car and the term.

• Black box car finance: what the device in the car is actually for

  A device fitted as a condition of finance is usually a payment reminder and an immobiliser, not an insurance telematics box. The two get confused.

• Pay weekly cars no credit check: what is really being offered

  Regulated credit always involves a check, because affordability must be assessed. A no-check advert means a soft search, a rental, or something else.

• Van finance for limited company buyers: who the funder is really lending to

  A company with no filed accounts has no credit history, so the director is underwritten and asked for a personal guarantee. That document is the product.

• Joint application for car finance: what two names on one agreement changes

  Two applicants means two files read and two incomes counted, and both are liable for the whole balance. The weaker file is not averaged away.

• Hybrid car finance: the residual value question behind every quote

  A hybrid or electric quote turns on the forecast value at the end of the term. That forecast is the funder's risk on a PCP and yours on hire purchase.

• Can I give my car back to the finance company, and what it costs to do it

  Three ways a car goes back: voluntary termination at the half-way point, voluntary surrender at any time, and the end of a PCP. They cost differently.

• Finance car without license applications: what a lender actually requires

  A driving licence is not a condition of credit, but it is the document most lenders verify identity and address with, so its absence changes the paperwork.

• Motorbike finance bad credit: why the bike matters more than it would on a car

  A bike is a smaller, more volatile asset than a car, so on a damaged file the machine itself and the deposit carry more of the lender's risk.

• Motorbike loan against bike finance: which one leaves the machine yours

  A loan lends against you and the bike is yours at once. Finance lends against the bike and holds title to the end, which changes what you can do with it.

• Car loans for private sales: why an unsecured loan is often the simpler route

  A funder lending against a privately sold car has to satisfy itself about title and condition. A personal loan does not, because the money is yours.

• Car loan pre approval: what it commits the lender to, and what it does not

  A pre-approval is an indication from a scorecard against the data available then. It is not an offer, and it is conditional on checks a person still makes.

• Self employed car loan applications: the evidence that decides them

  Being self employed is not the difficulty. Proving income a lender can rely on is, and accounts, tax calculations and statements are what do it.

• HP car finance deals: the four numbers that decide which one is cheaper

  A hire purchase deal is decided by the amount financed, the term, the rate and any fees. Compare the total amount payable, never the monthly figure.

• 7 seater cars on finance: what a bigger car changes in the agreement

  A larger car raises the amount financed, the tax band and the insurance group at once, so the monthly cost moves by more than the price difference.

• CS car finance: what a conditional sale is, and how it differs from HP

  CS stands for conditional sale: the car becomes yours on the final payment with no option to purchase fee, and the Act's protections match hire purchase.

• Car finance for bankrupts UK: what changes while you are undischarged

  While undischarged you must disclose the bankruptcy and most lenders decline. Discharge comes after a year, and your rebuilt file then sets the price.

• 125cc on finance: what a learner bike actually costs to borrow for

  A 125 is the cheapest thing a lender will write a motor finance agreement on, which cuts both ways: small balances are priced high and the term is short.

• Finance cars for new drivers: what a thin credit file changes

  Passing your test is not what a lender scores. A short credit history and a new address are, and both are fixable in ways more lender searches are not.

• Can I finance a car at 17, and what can be done in the year before eighteen?

  A contract is unenforceable against a minor, so no lender writes one at 17. What a parent can and cannot do instead, and what to build before the birthday.

• Supercar finance calculator estimates, and the agreement a specialist car is usually written under

  On a specialist car the monthly estimate is the easy half. The residual nobody can forecast, and the exemptions that remove your rights, are the rest.

• Electric bike finance: what you are actually borrowing against, and the three routes

  An EAPC is a bicycle in law, so there is no licence, tax or insurance and usually no hire purchase either. The three routes, and what each one costs.