Sample car check report and PPSR certificate

The worked example below is a 2016 Ford Falcon sedan, searched by a Queensland plate. We chose a car with two problems so you can see how each is presented. In the illustration, a finance company holds a security interest registered in 2022, and Queensland recorded a repairable write-off for hail damage in 2019.

A clean report looks the same but shorter. The verdict banner is green and the security interests section says none are registered. The write-off and stolen sections each say no record was found. The certificate PDF is attached in both cases.

The report opens with a verdict banner that states the result in one line. For the Falcon it reads: "One security interest registered. Repairable write-off recorded. Not recorded as stolen." Below it, three cards repeat the same three facts in traffic-light colour so nothing is buried.

The security interests section lists each registration on the certificate: the secured party, the registration date and the collateral class. For a car the class is "motor vehicle". Beside it is what to do. Ask the seller for a payout letter from that secured party, and do not pay until the interest is discharged or the lender is paid first. The amount owing is never shown, because the PPSR does not record it.

The stolen section shows the NEVDIS result and, for Tasmanian cars, a note that Tasmanian stolen-vehicle data is not supplied to the PPSR. The Falcon shows no stolen record.

The write-off section is where the report earns its keep. The certificate prints a jurisdiction, a date, a write-off type and a string of codes. Our report shows each code with its meaning from the PPSR code tables. For the Falcon: "Repairable write-off, Queensland, 2019. Incident code H: hail. Damage recorded to the roof and bonnet." It then explains what repairable means in that state. In Queensland that is a Written-Off Vehicle Inspection before re-registration. It also tells you to ask for the repair invoices.

Everything after the PPSR and NEVDIS sections sits under a divider with that exact heading. That way you can always tell the government record from the material we add around it.

Vehicle identity shows what the registers hold against the VIN: make, model, colour and registration details from NEVDIS. A manufacturer and model-year decode from the VIN itself sits beside it. For cars first supplied from about 2021 the Register of Approved Vehicles adds build date and import pathway. The 2016 Falcon predates it, so that card says no RAV record exists, as expected for its age.

Recalls lists open safety recalls for the make, model and year, with a link to each notice at vehiclerecalls.gov.au. Each is labelled as a make-model-year match rather than a confirmed fault on this car. Fuel use and CO2 come from the Green Vehicle Guide for 2004+ cars. An "Odometer readings we found" card lists any dated readings with their source. If there are none, it says so plainly.

The last section before the certificate is a list of what no PPSR-based report can tell you, with where to get each item instead.

For the Falcon the list also notes the 14-day finance re-check. Run it again free on the day you pay, because an interest can be registered or discharged at any time.

• Amount owing: a payout letter from the secured party named on the certificate
• Number of owners: the Service NSW vehicle history report or the VicRoads vehicle report, for cars from those states
• Service history: the logbook and dealer invoices
• Accident repairs never recorded as a write-off: an independent inspection
• Takata airbag status: the plate check at ismyairbagsafe.com.au

The PPSR certificate is attached exactly as the Registrar issues it. We do not reformat, trim or brand it. Its 16-digit search number is printed on the report page and in your email, next to a link to the PPSR's own retrieve page. You can retrieve this certificate free from the PPSR at any time using that number.

The certificate is the only part of the report that is official. The verdict, the decoded codes and the extra data are our work, drawn from the sources named in each section.

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