Total Car Check: Free Check, Prices, What’s Included and the Alternatives
Total Car Check is one of the larger UK vehicle-history providers, built around a free basic check and a set of tiered paid reports. This guide sets out what the free layer shows, what the paid reports cost and include, when it’s worth choosing, and how it compares with the alternatives — so you can pick on the data and the price rather than the name.
What the free check shows
The free tier covers the public data: MOT status and history, tax status, vehicle spec, and basic keeper information. That’s enough to screen an advert and confirm the car is what it claims to be, in the same way any free check is. Finance, theft and write-off sit in the paid reports, as they do everywhere.
What the paid reports cost
The full report covers the standard set: outstanding finance, stolen markers, write-off category, mileage records, keeper and plate history, import and export status, and a valuation.
Is it worth it?
Worth choosing when: you want a well-established mid-market provider with a familiar report layout, you’re buying several cars and the bundle pricing works, or you prefer a named UK brand over a newer entrant. Harder to justify when: you only need the public layer, which is free from several providers including GOV.UK, or you want the full check at the lowest price, where the value end of the market has moved a long way. The question to ask of any paid report is what the finance, theft and write-off layer costs per car, because that’s what you’re actually buying.
Total Car Check vs Rooster
On the free layer, Rooster shows more: full MOT history with the model pass rate, spec and insurance group, keeper count with plate, colour and import markers, and running-cost estimates including predicted repairs and ULEZ status. On the paid layer, both cover finance, theft, write-off and valuation; Rooster’s is £4.99 against Total Car Check’s £9.99, with Experian as the named data partner. Run the free check and compare the two reports side by side.
Who should stick with Total Car Check
Anyone with an existing bundle of unused checks, anyone whose dealer or lender specifically asks for their report format, and anyone who values a familiar name over the saving. For everyone else the sensible route is the full comparison, dated and side by side — and, if the phrase “HPI check” is what brought you here, our guide to what that term actually means.
Total Car Check FAQs
Is Total Car Check free? The basic check is free; finance, theft and write-off data is paid, as with every provider.
Is Total Car Check the same as an HPI check? It’s the same kind of check — finance, theft, write-off — from a different provider. “HPI check” is a brand name that’s become the generic term.
How much is a Total Car Check? From £1.99 for the basic paid report to £9.99 for the full report; bundles reduce the per-car price. Prices checked Oct 2026.
What’s the cheapest alternative? Rooster’s Premium check at £4.99, on top of a free report that already covers the public layer in full.
Download Rooster and run car checks in the app.
