REVS check SA: finance, stolen and written-off, from $12.95

South Australians have a useful free step and a paid step. EzyReg flags that something is wrong; the PPSR certificate tells you what. Here is how the paid step works with us.

1. Enter the SA plate and select SA, or type the VIN from the registration papers or the compliance plate.
2. Check the make, model and year we return. If the plate resolves to a different car, do not proceed.
3. Choose the $12.95 certificate or the $27.95 car check report and pay.
4. Read the verdict page immediately. The certificate PDF is emailed with its 16-digit search number.
5. Search again on settlement day for a private sale. A security interest can be registered in a single afternoon.

Each certificate reports the security interests registered against the VIN, with the secured party named. It shows the stolen status recorded nationally. It shows any entry on the Written-Off Vehicle Register with the statutory or repairable classification. It also lists the plate, expiry, make, model and colour held against the VIN.

South Australia lets a repairable write-off return to registration after it passes an identity inspection. The inspection is about confirming the car is what it says it is, not about the quality of the repair. So an SA car with a repairable record and a passed inspection is legal to register, but you should see the repair invoices before you agree a price.

A statutory write-off has no legal road future in SA or any other state.

The EzyReg free rego check is unusual among state checks. Besides the registration status, expiry, make, body type, colour and CTP insurer, it shows a general warning if the car is recorded as suspended, stolen, defected or written off. If that warning appears, you already know to walk away or dig deeper.

What it cannot do is explain the warning or search for finance. It prints only the last four digits of the VIN, so you cannot take the result to ppsr.gov.au without asking the seller for the full number. A clean EzyReg result also says nothing about a loan.

The free part is EzyReg. The $2.00 part is the PPSR search at ppsr.gov.au, which needs the full VIN. Together they cover most of what a careful buyer wants, if you are happy to read a certificate written for lenders.

For $12.95 we run the plate lookup, deliver the same certificate unaltered and write the verdict in one sentence. For $27.95 the report decodes any write-off damage codes, checks open recalls and includes a free finance re-check within 14 days of purchase. If you mistype, we search again at no charge. The $2.00 search fee appears as its own line on every receipt.

• The balance owing on any finance. Only the secured party can confirm that.
• Previous owners. South Australia does not sell an owner-count report to private buyers.
• Whether an SA identity inspection was followed by a good repair.
• Service history, odometer accuracy or damage that was never claimed.