The V5C is the one document every used car should come with, and the one most buyers glance at for about two seconds. It won't prove the seller owns the car, but checked properly it'll catch a stolen log book, a car that isn't what the seller says, and a seller who isn't who they say. It takes five minutes at the viewing.
How do you do a V5C check when buying a car?
Check five things on the log book itself, at the car, before any money changes hands:
- The serial number. If it falls between BG8229501 and BG9999030, or between BI2305501 and BI2800000, the document came from a batch of blank V5Cs stolen from DVLA. GOV.UK's checks when buying a used car says to call the police if it does.
- The watermark. Hold it up to the light. A genuine V5C carries a "DVL" watermark.
- The VIN and engine number. GOV.UK says to check the vehicle identification number and engine number match the log book. The VIN is usually visible through the base of the windscreen and stamped on the body, often in a door pillar or under the bonnet.
- The keeper's name and address. They should be the seller's, and the address should be where you're viewing the car. If not, ask why before anything else.
- The details of the car. Make, model, colour and registration should all match the car in front of you. GOV.UK's wording is to make sure the log book details match the details you've been given.
If any of them fail, stop. Don't negotiate around a mismatched VIN or a log book that names somebody else with no explanation.
Check the history before you hand over money
A Provenance Check covers the four things no free lookup includes: outstanding finance, theft markers, insurance write-off category and recorded mileage discrepancies.
Run a provenance check →What does a V5C prove, and what doesn't it?
A V5C proves who DVLA has recorded as the registered keeper, the person responsible for taxing and registering the car. It doesn't prove who owns it. The Department for Transport said so in as many words when the current design was introduced: "Buyers often mistakenly believe the V5C to be proof of ownership of a vehicle. This is not the case."
That gap matters for one reason more than any other: finance. A car on hire purchase belongs to the lender until it's paid off, and the keeper on the V5C is still the person driving it. A seller can show you a genuine log book in their own name for a car they don't own. Outstanding finance on a used car covers what happens if you buy one and how the law protects a private buyer.
| The V5C can confirm | The V5C can't confirm |
|---|---|
| The registered keeper's name and address | That the keeper owns the car |
| The car's identity: VIN, engine number, colour | That there's no finance outstanding |
| The number of former keepers | Who the former keepers were |
| That this document isn't from the stolen batches | That the car itself isn't stolen or cloned |
| A Cat S write-off, if the insurer declared one | A Cat N write-off, which isn't marked on it |
Does the V5C show if a car's been written off?
Sometimes. GOV.UK says DVLA will record the category in the log book when someone keeps a Cat S or Cat N car, but the insurance industry's own rules are more precise: under the ABI's code of practice for categorising salvage, a Cat S car's V5C is reissued with a note of its status, while a Cat N car's is reissued with no comment added. Cat A and Cat B cars should never get a V5C again.
So a clean-looking log book doesn't mean a car's never been written off. The write-off register is held by the insurance industry, and checking it is a paid lookup. Cat N and Cat S explained goes through what each category means and whether you'd want one.
What is the V5C new keeper slip?
It's the green section of the log book, the V5C/2. When you buy a car, the seller fills it in with your details and gives it to you, and tells DVLA the car's been sold, with your full name and address. GOV.UK says the slip "needs to be from the most recent V5C", so a slip torn from an older log book won't do.
Keep it safe. You'll usually receive the new V5C in your name within 4 weeks, or 5 to 7 working days if the seller did it online. If nothing has turned up after 6 weeks and you haven't told DVLA, GOV.UK says you'll have to pay £25 for another one. And you need the slip straight away for one thing in particular: tax doesn't transfer with the car, so you must tax it before you drive it, and the new keeper slip is one of the documents GOV.UK accepts to do that.
Should you buy a car without a V5C?
Generally no. GOV.UK puts it plainly: "DVLA advises that you should not buy a vehicle that does not have a V5C." A seller who can't produce the log book for a car they claim to own has removed the one document that would let you check them, and that's exactly what someone selling a stolen or financed car needs to do.
There are honest reasons a log book goes missing, and there's an honest fix: the keeper applies for a replacement, which usually costs £25 and takes a few weeks by post. So the right answer to "I've lost the log book" is "fine, I'll wait for the replacement", not "fine, I'll pay cash". If you do buy a car without one, you'll have to register it yourself with form V62, which also costs £25, and you won't have checked any of the five things above before handing over the money.
What else can the V5C tell you about the car's history?
Two useful things, both free. First, the number of former keepers, which is printed on the log book; how many owners has a car had explains why the pattern matters more than the number. Second, the date the current V5C was issued. You can see that date without the seller on the DVLA vehicle enquiry service. A log book issued a fortnight ago on a car the seller says they've had for years needs an explanation. Sometimes it's a change of address or a lost original. Sometimes it's a trader who bought it last week.
Which of these checks can a report do for you?
The concession first, because it's true: the documents in the seller's hand are the one part of this nobody can check remotely. The serial number, the watermark and the VIN on the metal have to be looked at by you, at the car. No report, ours included, replaces that five minutes.
What a check can do is everything around the log book. On official records our data is the same data every provider sells: write-off records come from the insurance industry's register, finance from the lenders and theft markers from the police, and nobody has a private source. Our Provenance Check runs all three, and a recorded theft, outstanding finance or a Cat A or B write-off forces the report straight to its highest risk rating rather than leaving you a list to weigh. It shows the keeper history with the date of each change and the dates the V5C was issued, so you know what the log book should say before you see it. And it includes the full Smart Check: the known faults for that model with repair costs, and the questions to put to the seller. Our model pages, like the BMW 3 Series and Range Rover Sport, show the same fault data for free.
It also reads the advert, which no plate lookup ever sees. "Owned from new", "had it years", "log book in my name" get tested against the record, and a claim the record contradicts is a headline finding. The free scan already does the first part of that: it compares DVLA's date for the latest log book with what the advert says about ownership, before you've paid for anything.
What it can't do is see a cloned car. If the plates and the paperwork belong to a different, legitimate vehicle, a lookup on the plate comes back clean. That's exactly why the VIN on the car matters, and why how to check if a car is stolen spends so long on it.
So what should you actually do?
Before you travel, run the advert and the registration through the free scan. It reads the full MOT history and the advert's ownership claims against DVLA's record, and gives you a verdict and the biggest finding, free, with no card. If the car's still in the running, upgrade the same report to a Provenance Check for finance, theft, write-off and keeper history, then take the five V5C checks above to the viewing. The upgrade runs on the same link with nothing re-run, so nothing's wasted if the free scan says walk away.
