Why Most Car History Reports Are a Mess (and How Carpeep Fixes It)

Let’s be honest — most UK car history reports suck. They look like they were designed on Microsoft Excel, half the stuff in them makes no sense, and by the time you scroll through ten pages of numbers and “flags,” you’re more confused than when you started.

We built Carpeep because we were sick of it. Sick of ugly layouts. Sick of fake “£1.99” deals that don’t tell you jack. Sick of car buyers having to pay extra to find out if a car’s stolen — which, let’s be real, is the entire point of the damn check.

So here’s what’s broken, why it’s broken, and how we’re cutting through the noise.

1. Reports That Read Like Tax Returns

Most car check reports look like someone printed out a government spreadsheet. Endless boxes. Random icons. A few traffic-light colours thrown in for “design.”

And what’s inside? Stuff nobody asked for. MPG stats. CO₂ emissions. “Fuel type: petrol.” Thanks, I could’ve guessed that from the fuel cap.

Some even include a “vehicle valuation” — as if the person paying for the report doesn’t already know what the car’s worth. You’re literally checking a car you found for sale. You already saw the price.

Then there’s the “ex-taxi” marker. Yes, technically interesting. But unless you’re buying a Prius (which, let’s face it, probably was a taxi), it’s about as useful as knowing how many owners once sneezed in the driver’s seat.

The result? Reports that are bloated with filler. The stuff that actually matters — finance, stolen status, write-off history, mileage consistency — ends up buried somewhere around page six.

2. Pricing That Belongs on a Game Show

“Vehicle checks from £1.99!” they say. Cool. You think you’re paying £1.99, right? Wrong.

As you click through the options, you find out that the version you thought you were paying for doesn’t include finance checks. Or stolen status. Or basically anything that makes the report useful.

So now you’re offered a “Gold” or “Platinum” package for a few quid more. Add the “mileage add-on” and “write-off upgrade,” and suddenly you’ve spent £15 — more than Carpeep, and you wasted extra time and money figuring out which optional extras to choose.

This isn’t transparency. It’s a bait-and-switch.

A car history report isn’t a Netflix subscription. You shouldn’t have to decide between “basic,” “standard,” and “premium” to find out if your next car’s been written off.

3. The Old Guard and Their Habits

HPI Check: The OG of vehicle checks. Rock-solid data, good coverage, good design. But you’ll pay around £19.99 for a single report.

CarVertical: Slick marketing and international salvage photos — useful if you’re shopping repaired imports — but often £25–£30 a pop.

Vcheck: Deep on salvage auction data — great for enthusiasts, overkill for normal buyers.

Total Car Check / MyCarCheck: Cheap and cheerful with clunky layouts and tiered pricing.

Each has strengths — data quality, reputation, unique features — but none make the process simple, modern and complete without trade-offs.

4. Too Much Data, Not Enough Design

These reports often feel like they were built by engineers for engineers. Tons of data points, zero hierarchy.

You shouldn’t have to scroll through every MOT date since 2003 just to find out if the car’s clear of finance. And when they do highlight something serious — like “Outstanding finance found” — it’s buried halfway down the page in small text.

A report should tell you, at a glance, if you’re about to buy a good car or a headache. Instead, most make you play “Where’s Wally?” with the red flags.

5. Where Carpeep Steps In

We’re not pretending to reinvent the car check. The core data comes from trusted sources — DVLA, police databases, insurance write-off records, finance houses. The difference is in how we present it.

One price. All in.

No tiers. No “add finance check for £4.99.” No nonsense. You pay once and get every essential check:

• Finance
• Theft
• Write-off categories (C/D/S/N)
• Mileage history + discrepancies
• Previous owners
• Import/export status
• MOT & tax
• Technical identifiers (VIN, engine number, etc.)
• That’s it. Everything that matters.
• No filler.

Clean, readable design.

We built our reports like a conversation, not a spreadsheet. Big clear headers, colour-coded results, plain-English summaries.

If a car has finance owing, it’s flagged clearly at the top. If it’s all clear, you see a green ✅ and you move on. No guessing, no hunting, no second report needed.

Fast and friction-free.

No accounts. No waiting. Enter a reg, pay, and get the full report instantly — on your phone in a car park or on your sofa.

6. The Real Difference

Other companies add fluff to justify tiers or raise prices. We’re doing the opposite — cutting the noise and keeping it honest.

We don’t want to overwhelm you with 200 data points you’ll never read. We show the ten that matter — clearly, instantly, and without charging extra.

7. Why We Built It

Because we’re buyers too. We’ve stood in the rain outside a car, phone in hand, waiting for a slow site to load a half-useful report. We’ve been upsold and confused.

Carpeep exists because the industry got lazy. Nobody asked: does the buyer even care about this stuff? We did — and we built the version that makes sense.

8. The Bottom Line

Most vehicle history sites drown you in pointless data, hide key info behind paywalls, and make you jump through hoops. We don’t.

At Carpeep, you get everything that matters in one go. No fluff, no fake discounts, no tiny “upgrade” buttons. Just a clean, complete, all-inclusive car check you can actually understand.

Buying a used car is stressful enough. The history check shouldn’t be.

We’re not here to reinvent the wheel — just to make sure it’s not bent, stolen, or still on finance.

So yeah, we’re cutting out the bullshit. One report at a time.