Auto Trader vehicle check alternative
Carpeep gives you the full history file for £15 flat, with no account to create and no paid upgrades hiding the parts that matter.
Included in your report:
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off category
- Stolen markers
- Every MOT mileage reading
- MOT advisories
- Keeper history
What Auto Trader's check gives you.
Auto Trader is where most UK used car searches start, so its vehicle check is the one buyers meet first. There are two. Every car listed on the site carries a free five point check, covering stolen, scrapped, written off, imported and exported. The paid Vehicle Check costs £6.95 and runs on any registration you type in.
The paid report is billed as a 27 point independent report. Auto Trader lists reported stolen, insurance write-off, outstanding finance, import and export markers, mileage history and colour changes, plus previous keepers, engine number, VIN confirmation, CO2 figures and road tax rate. Its sample report also shows MOT test dates, mileage readings and pass or fail results. A £30,000 data guarantee sits behind it.
So the honest comparison is not free versus paid. Auto Trader's paid check costs less than half what Carpeep charges, and both carry a £30,000 data guarantee. The difference is depth and access. Carpeep reads every MOT record including the advisory notes, tracks plate transfers, and needs no sign-up before you see a price.
What Auto Trader actually sells
One free check tied to its listings, and one paid report you can run on any registration.
Free five point check
Every car listed on Auto Trader carries a free five point check based on the registration supplied. It covers stolen, scrapped, written off, imported and exported, and the result appears on the advert itself. You pay nothing to see it.
£6.95 Vehicle Check
The paid report is £6.95 per check and works on any registration, not only cars listed on the site. Auto Trader describes it as a 27 point independent report covering finance, write-off, stolen markers, mileage history and colour changes.
£30,000 data guarantee
Auto Trader states that if any detail in the report is incorrect, it provides a guarantee of up to £30,000. Carpeep carries a £30,000 data guarantee too, so this one is a level match rather than a difference.
Saved to your account
You sign up and register payment details before the check runs. In return, Auto Trader says you can access the report any time and as many times as you want from your account.
Price side by side
What each check costs, and what you hand over to run it.
| Provider | Price | What you get | Account needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpeep | £15 flat | Full report, no tiers and no paid upgrades | No |
| Auto Trader Vehicle Check | £6.95 per check | 27 point report on any registration | Yes, sign-up plus payment details |
| Auto Trader free check | Free | Five point check shown on cars listed on Auto Trader | No |
Auto Trader prices were taken from its own vehicle check page on 3 September 2026 and can change.
Run a Carpeep check
Check a car for £15.
Enter the registration and see finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history in one report.
- Instant results
- All checks included
- £30,000 data guarantee
Where Carpeep differs
Carpeep costs more per check, so here is exactly what the extra buys.
Advisories, not just results
Auto Trader's sample report shows MOT test dates, mileage and pass or fail results. Carpeep lists the advisory and defect notes under each test, so you see the corrosion, tyre and suspension warnings a garage flagged before they became failures.
Plate transfers tracked
Carpeep records registration transfers on and off the vehicle, alongside colour changes and import or export markers. Auto Trader's published list of what its check covers names colour changes and imports, but does not mention plate transfers.
Mileage from every test
Carpeep pulls the reading from every MOT the car has ever had and runs discrepancy analysis across the whole sequence. You get the full mileage line rather than a summary, which is where clocking tends to show itself.
No account, no upsell
Carpeep is £15 flat with no sign-up, no stored card and no tiers. Auto Trader asks you to register personal details and a payment method before the check runs. Neither approach is wrong, but one leaves no account behind.
Where Auto Trader is the better pick
Start with the price, because it matters. Auto Trader's Vehicle Check is £6.95 and Carpeep is £15. If you are working through a shortlist of several cars, Auto Trader is the cheaper way to do it. The free five point check on every listing also lets you rule out stolen, scrapped, written off and imported cars before you spend anything at all.
It also does things Carpeep does not do and does not claim to. Auto Trader values your car for free, carries the adverts themselves, runs finance and insurance introductions, and keeps every report you buy inside your account to reopen later. If you are already shopping on Auto Trader, checking there keeps the whole job in one place and one app.
How a Carpeep check works
1
Enter the registration
Type the number plate into the box. Carpeep matches it against DVLA and DVSA records and shows the make, model, colour and year, so you can confirm it is the right car before paying anything.
2
Confirm it is the right car
Check the returned make, model, engine and colour against the advert in front of you. If the seller's description and the official record disagree, that alone is worth knowing before you go further.
3
Pay £15, no account
One flat payment covers the full report. There are no tiers, no locked sections and no upgrade prompts, and you do not create an account or store a card to get it.
4
Read the report
Finance, write-off category, stolen markers, every MOT with advisories, keeper history, plate transfers and mileage analysis arrive together in one file you can read on your phone at the kerbside.
Where our data comes from.
Always from official records. We do not create, edit or estimate any data.
DVLA
Registration, keeper history, import and export status and recorded vehicle details.
DVSA
Full MOT test history including results, advisories and mileage at each test.
Insurance industry records
Recorded write-off markers such as Cat A, B, S and N from insurance industry records.
UK finance lenders
Outstanding finance agreements including HP, PCP and conditional sale records.
Police stolen vehicle records
Stolen vehicle markers from UK police records, checked against the registration and VIN.
Vehicle identity checks
VIN and registration cross-referenced to flag plate changes, cloning or identity mismatches.
Auto Trader alternative FAQs
How much is Auto Trader's vehicle check?
Auto Trader's Vehicle Check is £6.95 per check, taken from its own vehicle check page on 3 September 2026. No bundle or multi-check price is listed. Separately, every car advertised on Auto Trader carries a free five point check covering stolen, scrapped, written off, imported and exported, shown on the advert.
Is Auto Trader's free car check enough?
It depends where the car is. The free five point check appears on cars listed on Auto Trader and covers stolen, scrapped, written off, imported and exported. It does not cover outstanding finance. Auto Trader's own page says 1 in 6 vehicles checked in 2025 had outstanding finance recorded, and a lender can repossess a car still under an agreement.
Why is Carpeep £15 when Auto Trader is £6.95?
Because the report goes deeper and there is nothing sitting behind it. Carpeep reads every MOT including advisory notes, tracks plate transfers, names the write-off category and runs mileage discrepancy analysis across the full test history. There are no tiers and no paid upgrades, so £15 is the whole product. If price is your main filter, Auto Trader is cheaper and we would say so.
Do I need an Auto Trader account to run a check?
Yes for the paid one. Auto Trader's own steps are to enter the number plate, sign up, then register your personal details and payment method before the report is produced. It saves the report to your account so you can reopen it later. Carpeep runs without an account, so nothing is stored for you to log back into.
Does Carpeep give a valuation like Auto Trader?
No. Auto Trader offers a free valuation and Carpeep does not do valuations at all. Carpeep is a history report only, covering finance, write-off, theft, mileage, MOT records, keepers, plate transfers, import and export markers and tax status. If you want to know what a car is worth, use Auto Trader's free valuation tool.
Do both have a £30,000 data guarantee?
Yes. Auto Trader states that if any detail in the report is incorrect, it provides a guarantee of up to £30,000. Carpeep is backed by a £30,000 data guarantee as well. This is a genuine match rather than a point of difference, so it should not be the thing that decides which check you buy.
Can I check a car that is not listed on Auto Trader?
Yes with either service. Auto Trader's paid £6.95 check runs on any registration you type in. Only the free five point check is tied to cars advertised on the site, so a Facebook Marketplace car or a forecourt car gets nothing for free. Carpeep runs on any UK registration for £15.
What does Carpeep not cover?
Carpeep does not do valuations, service history, taxi licensing, insurance status, recalls, MPG or emissions ratings, insurance groups or ULEZ status. It is a history and identity report. If any of those matter to you, check them elsewhere before you buy, because no single £15 report covers everything a used car buyer might want.
Before you buy
Check the car before you pay
One registration, one flat £15, the full history file with nothing held back.
- Full vehicle history
- No account required
- £30,000 data guarantee