Find out what's hiding on that car before you pay a cent.
Finance owing, stolen, written off: the three things a seller may not mention, and the reason a lender can take the car back from you. Type the rego, see the car in seconds, get the official answer in about two minutes.
- Free to look up. You see the make, model and year before you pay anything.
- Buyers ran 1.4 million PPSR searches last year. Checking is normal; skipping it is the risk.
- Refund in full if your report has not arrived within 15 minutes.
What's in the report
The certificate, decoded.
The verdict page opens the moment the search finishes. The unaltered PPSR certificate is attached with its search number so you can verify it on ppsr.gov.au.
- Official PPSR search certificate (PDF)Personal Property Securities Register
- Finance owing and the secured party namedPPSR
- Stolen vehicle, plate or engine recordNEVDIS via PPSR
- Written-off status, statutory or repairable, codes decodedNEVDIS via PPSR
- Make, model, colour, rego, expiry and engine number held against the VINNEVDIS
- Build date, approval type and import pathway (2021+ vehicles)Register of Approved Vehicles
- Identity cross-check: state record vs NEVDIS vs VIN decodeThree independent records compared
- Registration status, expiry and purpose of use (ex-taxi or hire flag)State register and NEVDIS
- Open safety recalls for the make and modelvehiclerecalls.gov.au
- Free 14-day finance re-check before you pay the sellerPPSR
1.40 million
PPSR searches run by buyers themselves in 2025–26, up 14% on the year before. AFSA statistics.
2.3 million
used cars changed hands in Australia in 2025; roughly half were private sales. AADA/AutoGrab.
$2.00
government search fee inside every report, itemised on your receipt. No GST applies to it.
14 days
free finance re-check on report tiers, so you can confirm nothing changed on the day you pay.
How to check a car
Three screens. About two minutes.
- STEP 1
Enter the rego and state
Or the 17-character VIN from the compliance plate or rego papers. Nothing is charged at this step.
- STEP 2
Confirm it is the right car
We look the plate up and show the make, model and year before any payment. Wrong car? Try again, free.
- STEP 3
Read the verdict, keep the certificate
The report page opens straight away and the PDF certificate is emailed with its search number.
Why not just the $2 search
What the certificate alone won't tell you.
The PPSR certificate is written for lenders and lawyers. You can buy it yourself for $2.00 at ppsr.gov.au if you have the VIN. Here is the difference between reading it raw and reading our report.
Write-off codes, decoded
The certificate prints single letters. The report explains the incident, the severity and what to ask for.
Finance: who, and what to do next
No PPSR certificate from anyone shows the amount owing. We name the secured party and tell you how to clear it before you pay.
Searching with only a number plate
The PPSR only accepts a VIN, and most state rego checks hide it. We convert the plate first and show you the car.
Where the data comes from
Every line in the report names its source.
Nothing is estimated or inferred. If a register did not return a field, the report says so rather than guessing.
| What | Source | Certificate | Report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security interests (finance owing) | PPSR, Australian Financial Security Authority | ||
| Stolen vehicle, plates, engine | NEVDIS, Austroads | ||
| Written-off Vehicle Register | NEVDIS, Austroads | ||
| Registration plate, state, expiry | NEVDIS, Austroads | ||
| Make, model, colour, body, engine number | NEVDIS, Austroads | ||
| Write-off damage codes decoded | PPSR code tables | – | |
| Build date, approval, import pathway (2021+) | Register of Approved Vehicles, Dept of Infrastructure | – | |
| Manufacturer and model-year decode (older cars) | VIN decode | – | |
| Safety recalls | vehiclerecalls.gov.au | – | |
| Identity cross-check across the three records | State register, NEVDIS, VIN decode | – | |
| Purpose of use (private, hire, taxi, fleet) | State registration record | – | |
| Fuel use and CO2 (2004+) | Green Vehicle Guide | – |
Not available from any Australian source, so not in any honest report: amount owing on finance, service history, unreported accident repairs, and owner counts (sold only by Service NSW and VicRoads for their own state). Tasmanian stolen-vehicle data is not supplied to the PPSR.
How it compares
Against the $2 search and the cheap checks.
| ppsr.gov.au ($2 search) | Typical cheap check | CarVerify report | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search by number plate | No | Some | Yes |
| Official PPSR certificate, unaltered | Yes | Sometimes | Yes |
| Plain-English verdict and what to ask the seller | No | No | Yes |
| Write-off codes decoded | No | No | Yes |
| Recalls, identity cross-check, purpose of use | No | No | Yes |
| Free re-run if you mistype | No | No | Yes |
| Refund if the report does not arrive | n/a | Rarely | Yes |
| One-off price, no subscription | Yes | Often a trial that renews | Yes |
"Typical cheap check" reflects the common pattern among $0.99 to $10 providers reviewed in October 2026; individual services vary. See 14 providers compared.
Official certificate, unaltered
Exactly as the Registrar issues it, with the search number you can verify on ppsr.gov.au.
Free re-run on typos
Mistyped plate or VIN, or a nil result? We run it again at no charge.
Refund if it does not arrive
Most reports take under two minutes. Not there in 15? Full refund.
Australian company
Spawn Solutions Pty Ltd, ABN 36 699 027 104. Payments by Stripe. Not a government website.
REVS check by state
Free rego check by state
Guides
All guidesWhat is the PPSR, and what does a PPSR check show?
The PPSR is the national register of security interests over cars. What a PPSR check and certificate show, what they cost and when to search.
How to check if a car has finance owing
How to check whether a used car has finance owing with a PPSR search: the $2 option at ppsr.gov.au, reading the result and what to do if money is owed.
How to do a REVS check
A REVS check is now a PPSR search. How to run one by VIN or rego, the $2 option at ppsr.gov.au, the Queensland variant and how to read the result.
Questions people ask
Is this the government PPSR website?
No. CarVerify is a private service. The certificate inside every report is the official PPSR certificate, which you can also buy yourself for $2.00 at ppsr.gov.au if you have the VIN. We add the plate lookup, the plain-English report and the guarantees.
What do I need to check a car?
Either the number plate and the state it is registered in, or the 17-character VIN. With a plate we look up the VIN for you and show the make, model and year before you pay.
What does the check show?
Whether finance is owing and who the lender is, whether the car is recorded as stolen, whether it is on the Written-Off Vehicle Register and whether the write-off was statutory or repairable, plus the registration, make, model and colour held against the VIN.
Does it show how much money is owing?
No report from any provider does. The PPSR records that a security interest exists and names the secured party. We tell you exactly what to ask the seller for.
How fast is it?
Most reports arrive within two minutes. If yours has not arrived within 15 minutes we refund in full.
Can I check rego for free?
Yes. Every state has a free rego check that shows registration status and expiry. It does not show finance, stolen or write-off records. Our rego check pages link to each one.
Ready when you are.
Enter the rego, confirm the car, read the report. About two minutes.
Check a car now