An HPI check is recommended when buying a used car but why? Here at LMC Cars, all of our vehicles are HPI checked before purchase, so you have no worry when looking for your new car. 

The checks are used to find out the history of a particular vehicle, whether it has outstanding finance against it, if it has been declared an insurance write off, has a valid mileage and provides general information.

HPI vehicle history check checklist:
• Outstanding finance and/or logbook loans – have all the debts against the car, or debts in which the car was used as security, been paid off? If not, it still belongs to a finance company.
• Write-offs – has the car previously been classed as an A, B, C, D write-off, or the newer S or N write-off categories by an insurer?
• Theft – has the car been recorded as stolen on the Police National Computer?
• Mileage – HPI’s own mileage register holds 200+ million speedometer readings.
• Previous owners – HPI can tell you how many previous owners a car’s had, courtesy of the DVLA database.
• Number plate changes – again harvested from the DVLA records.
• VIN/Chassis numbers – allows you to check recorded engine and chassis numbers against those on the car itself.
• Scrapped vehicles – as with Cat A and B insurance write-offs, you don’t want a car that shouldn’t even be on the road.
• Imported/exported vehicles – cars built for foreign markets can be harder to insure or repair, while cars registered as exported shouldn’t be for sale here at all.
• MOT status – is that MoT certificate you’ve been shown genuine?
• Road tax/Fuel costs – useful for cars that use the older emissions-based road tax system, plus you’ll get an estimated cost of fuel over 12,000 miles.