HPI check vs Car Advert Check at a glance
Two tables, both read off HPI’s own site. The first is the job we rank on: what the check does with the records. “No” means nothing on their site describes it, not that they can’t.
| Provider | Reads the advert | MOT advisory analysis | Known faults with costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car Advert CheckOur pick | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HPI | No | No | No |
Prices and features checked on 17 September 2026, read off each provider's own site: “No” means nothing on their site describes it. Providers change them; tell us if one has.
| Provider | One full check | Free tier | Data guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car Advert CheckOur pick | See pricing | Free scan: reads the advert against the DVSA MOT history, verdict, risk score and biggest finding, no card and no password | None stated |
| HPI | £19.99 (Comprehensive HPI Check); £9.99 (Basic, no guarantee, no mileage or write-off detail) | Free MOT history check: current MOT status, previous test results, advisory notes and recorded mileages; plus a free valuation | Up to £30,000 (£15,000 for written-off vehicles), two years, mainland GB, not transferable |
Prices and features checked on 17 September 2026, read off each provider's own site. Providers change them; tell us if one has.
Where HPI check beats us
The name that went generic, 80+ data points, a published source list and a £30,000 guarantee we do not offer. It’s the one to buy for the brand and the biggest stated guarantee.
HPI is the name that went generic: "HPI clear" in an advert means the seller ran some sort of check, not necessarily HPI's. The company has earned that. It publishes the registers it reads, the RAC and the AA both resell its data under their own names, and its Comprehensive check carries a cash guarantee we can't match. If you're buying for the guarantee, buy HPI's, and buy the Comprehensive tier rather than the Basic one, which carries none.
Where we part company is after the lookup. HPI's report ends at the records. Ours starts there, then asks whether the seller's description matches the car's own MOT record and whether the engine is one with a known fault at this age, and it turns the lot into one verdict instead of a page of fields.
What HPI describes on its own site
Straight from the pages listed under Sources, with nothing filled in from anywhere else. Where the site didn’t show something, the row says so rather than guessing.
- Free tier
- Free MOT history check: current MOT status, previous test results, advisory notes and recorded mileages; plus a free valuation
- One full check
- £19.99 (Comprehensive HPI Check); £9.99 (Basic, no guarantee, no mileage or write-off detail)
- Multi-check or packs
- MultiCheck £29.99 for three checks
- Data guarantee
- Up to £30,000 (£15,000 for written-off vehicles), two years, mainland GB, not transferable
- Sources it names
- DVLA; SMMT; Police National Computer; Association of British Insurers; finance companies; National Mileage Register; Glass's (valuations); MIAFTR; DVSA; leasing, rental, auction and trade sources
What its pages describe beyond the lookup: FAQ says the MOT history includes advisory notes; the sample report shows none and nothing describes analysing them.
Read off HPI’s own site on 23 October 2026.
What Car Advert Check does with the same records
Start with what’s the same. Our outstanding finance, theft and write-off lookups come from the same places as everyone else’s: the lenders, the police and the insurers’ write-off register. Nobody holds a private source, and we’re not selling better records than HPI check.
What’s different is what happens next. A plate lookup stops at the registration. Ours carries on and reads three things no lookup takes in: the advert you’re looking at, the car’s whole DVSA MOT advisory history, and our known-faults database for that model, with what each fault costs to put right. Then it gives you one verdict instead of a page of fields, and outstanding finance, a theft marker or a write-off sends that verdict straight to its highest risk rating, because none of those is something you negotiate around.
Where it earns its keep is a car that comes back clean on the registers. A standard check stops there and the car looks fine. Ours keeps going: if the advert says “full service history”, the MOT record shows the same suspension advisory three years running and the engine is one with a known fault at this age, the report says the description doesn’t match the car’s own record, what the fault would cost, and what to ask before you travel.
What it won’t do: we offer no data guarantee, we can’t see a car’s history from before it came to the UK, we don’t sell a car’s past adverts, and nothing we or anyone else sells can see accident damage that never became a claim or how well a repair was done. Those take your eyes and a ramp.
So which should you run?
You’ve got an advert open and you’re deciding whether it’s worth the drive. Run the free scan on that advert. It reads the wording against the car’s DVSA MOT history and tells you the biggest thing to worry about, with no card and no password.
You’re about to hand money over. Upgrade that report to the Provenance Check. It adds the outstanding finance, theft and write-off records, scores them in with everything else, and includes the Smart Check, so the seller questions and a figure to negotiate with come with it.
You need what HPI check does that we don’t. Buy it. The section above says what that is, and we’d rather you had the right check than ours.
You lose nothing by starting free: the free report upgrades on the same link with no re-run, so you never paste the advert twice, and if the free scan already says walk away, you’ve saved yourself the rest.