HPI checks

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Thu 18 Sep 2003 01:41
HPI checks - JohnX
I was going through the HPI checks website .
According to their info , they check
whether the car is a write off/nicked/has outstanding finance/total losses/outstanding insurance interests/national mileage register info/value of car.
for the grand figure of £37.95
Going through a similiar servive called carchecks
which checks stolen/written off / number plate change/first registration/colour change/chassis /vin/engine numbers/number of previous owners/date of last keeper change/imported
for £15 only
Wondering whats the difference apart from the price and how HPI checks manage to get away with it by charging more than double the price of its competitor.
Any ideas anyone?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Sep 2003 06:43
HPI checks - Vin {P}
If the two services are truly identical (down to compensation, etc if incorrect data is supplied, completeness of data, etc) then the reason there is a difference is that people will pay more for the HPI service due to extra marketing making them a trusted name, or just a well-known name.

It\'s basic economics. There is a price for everything that people are prepared to pay, not always based on rationality. It\'s the reason people buy Heinz beans when blind tests say the taste of (slightly cheaper) HP beans is better. A more car-related example? People pay more for secondhand VW\'s for their reliability, regardless of the fact that their belief in this reliability is largely a result of their VW\'s advertising.

Dunno if this helps, but if the two ARE identical, I\'d certainly give carcheck a try.

V

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Sep 2003 19:29
HPI checks - martint123
I used one of these as a cheap check when I bought mine 9.99.

You'll find the cheap ones don't offer any warranty about the data.
The don't check outstanding finance (most important)

Neither will show a car as a writeoff or stolen/recovered if the previous owner only had 3rd party insurance.

Martin
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance