About CarHistory reports

The CarHistory Report is a comprehensive report on the reported history of a used motor vehicle that has been registered in Australia. The CarHistory Report is designed to alert you to potentially significant information about a vehicle.

A CarHistory Report includes a PPSR Certificate and depending on the information returned, the report can provide you with:

• A PPSR Certificate - formerly REVS (which indicates if there is existing finance on the vehicle)
• If the vehicle has suffered damage resulting in a written-off status, e.g. hail, fire, accident, flood
• If the vehicle’s odometer reading is consistent with what has previously been reported, or if it has potentially been wound back (based on the reading you provide)
• If the car has previously been reported as written off or stolen
• Previous sale listings
• Vehicle safety and emission ratings
• What the car is expected to be worth in the current market

The CarHistory Report is a comprehensive report on the reported history of a used motor vehicle that has been registered in any state or territory of Australia.The CarHistory report is designed to alert you to potentially significant information about a vehicle, and helps you to decide which vehicle to purchase.

A PPSR Certificate is a national check for financial encumbrances registered against the vehicle. This replaced state based REVS registers from 30 January 2012. It provides details of any financial encumbrances against a vehicle including the interest holder, the vehicle or boat recorded on PPSR, the date the interest was recorded on PPSR and the type of interest. It may also include information including whether the vehicle has been recorded as written-off or stolen.

It is recommended the PPSR Certificate be purchased on the day you take ownership of the vehicle.

Please note that CarHistory’s database is comprised of many different data sources which combine to present a comprehensive vehicle history. However, we are reliant on the availability of this data from third party supplier data sources and there will be occasions where vehicle data is not available from those sources. If your report comes back incomplete or empty, please email us at [email protected] and we will then issue you with a full refund.

Please email us at [email protected] with proof of why the data in the report is not accurate. We will review and if the request is genuine, we will fully refund you. 

If you are unable to find the answer to your question here, please email us on [email protected].

An encumbrance relating to a vehicle being searched upon means that the vehicle has outstanding finance, i.e. money is owed on a loan relating to the vehicle. It is our recommendation that you ensure the finance is cleared and the encumbrance removed, prior to the purchase of the vehicle.

Those vehicles which have been in an accident, or suffered some form of impact, water, fire or malicious damage. Written-off vehicles are classified as either a statutory (unable to be re-registered) or repairable write-off (able to be re-registered once repaired and passes written-off vehicle and safety certificate inspections). Written off vehicles can be of the following types:

• Dismantled - A statutory write-off that is stripped of interior and exterior body parts, panels and components
• Fire damage - Sections or all of the vehicle has been burnt by fire
• Hail damage - Sections or all of the vehicle has been damaged by hail
• Impact damage - Damage caused, due to violent contact with another object
• Malicious damage - Wilful damage or destruction of a vehicle
• Refer jurisdiction - Contact the registration authority displayed in the 'state of registration'
• Unrecovered theft - A stolen vehicle that has not been recovered. Contact the relevant registration authority
• Water damage - Immersed in fresh or salt water

Make sure you do not buy the vehicle until you have made some investigations of your own. All queries regarding stolen vehicle information should be directed to the state police.

The CarHistory Report has been constructed in sections to make reading and interpretation about the credentials of your prospective vehicle as easy as possible. The report is structured in the following order from the top:

1. A summary of the vehicle description including vehicle identification information (VIN), make, model, series, body type, year of manufacture, and colour.
2. A summary of each of the sections in the remainder of the report including:
   • Snapshot: identifies if there are any odometer discrepancies, encumbrances, if the vehicle has been written-off or stolen.
   • Identification: includes engine number, plate number and state the vehicle is registered in.
   • Status: includes last odometer reading, last sale listing and purpose of use.
   • Vehicle Ratings: includes ANCAP Safety Rating, air pollution rating, greenhouse rating and overall Green Rating if available.
   • Valuation: includes the dealer trade in price, private party price and dealer sale price.
   • Vehicle Details: includes fuel type, engine size, cylinders, fuel consumption, power and torque.
   • Odometer History
   • Sales Listings
   • PPSR - if there is or isn’t an encumbrance on that vehicle.
3. A PPSR Certificate: provides the details of any financial encumbrances/registrations relating to the vehicle found on the PPSR.
4. A reference section including Terms and Definitions and General Disclaimers.

Click here to read our guide to reading and interpreting your PPSR Certificate.

CarHistory provides sample reports on product pages and on the What We Offer page.

No. The VIN is the prime identifier of the vehicle and it is critical to completing a successful CarHistory report. All vehicles manufactured after or on 1 January 1989 have a VIN. In the case of a PPSR Certificate, you will be able to complete the search on a VIN, serial number, chassis number or HIN.

Yes. In addition to the VIN, which is the prime identifier of the vehicle, you can enter the vehicle registration plate number to complete a CarHistory report. 

Yes. The VIN is the prime identifier of the vehicle and it is critical you provide the correct VIN number for the vehicle you are intending on completing search on. It is strongly recommended that BEFORE you request a report that you personally inspect the vehicle you are intending on purchasing to ensure that the identifiers you have supplied are correct. Failure to provide the correct number may result in your search not being successful or the report being invalid, and no refund will be issued as a result of incorrect information supplied.

No, CarHistory reports are for used motor vehicles only.

CarHistory draws on a large number of data sources in order to compile our reports. CarHistory reports are compiled using data held in the National Vehicle Information System (NVIS), operated and maintained by Equifax, Australia's leading credit information bureau. The NVIS is a comprehensive collection of information on motor vehicles that have been registered in Australia. It is contributed to, and updated by major Australian motor vehicle insurers as well as other proprietary companies with interests in the Australian automotive industry. CarHistory also sources data from the government personal property securities register (PPSR).