How to do a REVS check

REVS stood for Register of Encumbered Vehicles. Before 2012, New South Wales, Queensland, the ACT and several other states each ran their own register of cars with finance owing. Victoria ran a similar one called the Vehicle Securities Register.

On 30 January 2012 all of those registers closed and their records moved to the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). The PPSR is a single national register run by the Australian Financial Security Authority. The name REVS survived in everyday use even though the database did not.

So a REVS check in 2026 is a PPSR motor vehicle search. There is no separate REVS database, and any business offering a "REVS check" is running a PPSR search behind the scenes.

The PPSR search returns more than the old REVS registers did. As well as security interests, it returns vehicle data from NEVDIS, the national vehicle database.

• Whether any security interest (finance) is registered against the VIN, and the secured party on each
• Whether the vehicle is recorded as stolen, other than in Tasmania
• Whether it is on the Written-Off Vehicle Register, statutory or repairable, with damage codes
• The registration number, expiry, make, model and colour held against the VIN
• A 16-digit search number for retrieving the certificate free later

1. Find the VIN. It is on the compliance plate, at the base of the windscreen on the driver's side, and on the registration papers. A VIN is 17 characters and never contains the letters I, O or Q.
2. If you only have the plate, get the VIN from the seller or from the free Victorian rego check. Queensland's free check usually shows it too. Otherwise use a plate-based check that converts it for you.
3. Go to ppsr.gov.au, select the motor vehicle search, enter the VIN and pay $2.00 by card. The result appears on screen and the certificate is emailed.
4. Read the PPSR registration details. "No registrations found" means no finance is recorded. A listed secured party means a claim exists.
5. Check the NEVDIS block for stolen and written-off flags, and confirm the make, model and plate match the car in front of you.
6. Save the certificate and note its search number. Search again on the day you pay, because the register can change at any time.

Queensland ran its own REVS register through the Office of Fair Trading until 2012. It no longer exists. A REVS check in Queensland is the same PPSR search as anywhere else, using the VIN.

Queensland does have two advantages for buyers. The free Transport and Main Roads rego check accepts a plate or a VIN and usually displays the VIN in full. That means you can go from a plate in an ad to a PPSR search without paying for a conversion.

Queensland also runs a Written-off Vehicle Inspection (WOVI) scheme. A repairable write-off cannot be re-registered in Queensland until it passes a WOVI and holds a safety certificate. If the certificate shows a repairable write-off on a Queensland car, ask the seller for the WOVI paperwork.

The PPSR cannot be searched by plate, so every "REVS check by rego" service converts the plate to a VIN first. The conversion runs through a vehicle-data lookup, and the PPSR search then runs on the VIN it returns.

That conversion is the reason plate-based checks cost more than $2. It is also a point where errors creep in. A good service shows you the make, model and year it found before you pay, so you can confirm it is the right car.

If you can get the VIN yourself, from the seller or a free state check, the $2 search at ppsr.gov.au gives you the finance and NEVDIS data.

• How much is owing. The register records the interest, not the balance. Ask the seller for a payout letter.
• Who owns the car or how many owners it has had.
• Service history, odometer readings or accident repairs that never went through an insurer.
• Whether a Tasmanian car is stolen, because Tasmania does not supply that data to the PPSR.
• Whether the registration is current in detail. The NEVDIS block shows an expiry date, but the state rego check is the better source.

With the VIN in hand, ppsr.gov.au for $2.00 is the direct route. Budget Direct offers the same certificate free, two per mobile number, with marketing consent. Paid services add the plate step and a reading of the result.

Our REVS check runs the PPSR search by rego or VIN for $12.95 including the $2 government fee. It shows the car before you pay and re-runs free if the plate or VIN was mistyped.

Run a REVS check by rego or VIN