Free REVS check: what's free, what costs $2, what we add

REVS, the Register of Encumbered Vehicles, was the state-run finance register, best known in NSW and Queensland. In 2012 the states' registers were folded into the national Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR), run by the Australian Financial Security Authority. Every "REVS check" sold today is a PPSR search. The name survives because buyers still type it, and so do we.

A PPSR vehicle certificate shows finance owing and the secured party. It also carries the NEVDIS block: stolen status (except Tasmania), written-off status with damage codes, and the plate, expiry, make, model and colour on record.

Most complaints about free REVS checks come down to four things. A site advertises "free" and charges at the final screen, or offers a free preview that is only the plate-to-make-and-model lookup. A $0.99 or $2 headline turns out to be a trial that renews monthly. A mistyped VIN runs anyway and is charged again. And a VIN copied from the advertisement is searched instead of the one stamped on the car.

The fixes are simple. Read the checkout total before entering a card. Look for the words "renews" or "per month". Photograph the compliance plate yourself. And if a result looks wrong, retrieve the certificate free from the PPSR with its search number and read it directly.

• Your state's rego check. Every state and territory runs one by number plate: registration status and expiry, usually make and model, and in NSW the CTP insurer and three odometer readings. It shows no finance. South Australia adds a general warning if the car is recorded stolen or written off.
• Budget Direct's PPSR certificate. The insurer issues a free certificate by VIN, two per mobile number, after SMS verification and marketing consent.
• Retrieving a certificate you already have. The 16-digit search number on any PPSR certificate reissues it free at ppsr.gov.au.
• The Victorian VIN. Service Victoria's free rego check prints the full 17-character VIN from a plate, which you can then search for $2.

The PPSR search itself. AFSA charges $2.00 per vehicle search by VIN or chassis number, certificate included. There is no plate search at any price on ppsr.gov.au. If you have the VIN, this is the whole REVS check and there is nothing else to pay. If you mistype the VIN, the search still runs and you pay again.

Our basic price is $2.00 PPSR search fee paid to the Australian Government plus $10.95 for our part. You get:

• A search by number plate and state. We convert the plate to the VIN and show you the make, model and year before you pay.
• The official PPSR certificate, unaltered, with its search number, attached to a plain-English verdict page.
• A free re-run if you mistype, or if the register returns no vehicle data.
• A full refund if no certificate arrives. No subscription, no trial, nothing pre-ticked.
• For $27.95, the report tier adds decoded write-off codes, open recalls, build data for 2021-plus cars and a free 14-day finance re-check.

The PPSR is national, so a REVS check in Queensland, NSW or anywhere else is the same $2 or $12.95 search. What differs by state is the free rego check that sits beside it: what it shows, whether it prints a VIN, and the rules on repairable write-offs. Our state REVS pages cover each one.

• The amount owing. The register records the interest and the lender, never the balance.
• Whether a Tasmanian car is stolen. Tasmania does not supply stolen data to the PPSR.
• Owner counts, service history or private accident repairs. Those are not on the register.