Hi Guys,
I live in Canada and work in the car business, and my sister back in england is going to buy a 2nd hand car. Do any of you well informed people know if there is a company that offers a service where a search using the vehicle's serial number can be conducted and shows if the vehicle has been involved in any accidents? I regularaly use an online servie which does exactly this in Canada and would be very gratful for any feedback.
Thanks guys!
Davo
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Its called hpi experian davooo but they can only check against damage that has been repaired due to an insurance claim,many fleets are self insured and therefore will not flag as being repaired when they come up for sale.
Best advice is get a good local independant garage to give it a good seing to and then a hpi check
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the other thing is, many people use the registration number to do the check.......but........if that number is a false one and has been copied from someone else's legitimate car, then all you are doing is checking up on another car, not the one you're considering buying
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Thanks for the advice both of you. I hear what you are saying about the system being far from fail safe. In Canada, the database I dealers have access to includes the police's data base for accident response calls as well as insurance company reports which offers an extra level of depth to the search.
I'll get her to carry out the hpi search and to request that the seller states 'no accidents' (or similar) on the bill of sale as an extra protection. good advice about having someone look it over also - wish I was there to help (though I admit to having missed a couple of things on trade ins when I first started appraising cars which ended up costing a few bucks to put right!! Lesson learned!).
Thanks again guys.
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but they can only check against damage that has been repaired due to an insurance claim
Isn't it worse than that - only check against a total loss (write off) for the insurance company. If the insurer repairs it, then there is no HPI record??
(and even if it's written off they can hide the fact by classifying it as an unrecorded Cat 'X' to keep it's salvage value up!)
Martin
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Yes, only total loss, insurance write offs are recorded. I can't imagine a system which recorded any accidental damage would be of any use, it would be totally unmanageable.
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There is a major difference in Canada.
When there is an accident the police are always called unless mabe its a near miss or a very minor bumber scuff or something.
This is because it is extremely difficult to pursue the othe driver if the police have not attended and charged the other driver with something. You see as far as the police are concerned it is always someones fault.
The other thing is that almost all drivers in Canada have insurance and it is an offense to drive with out your photo Licence , insurance certificate and owners documents.
So you say thats crazy, because they could get stolen?
Well not really as you cannot buy or make reg plates there. They have to be issued from the equivalant of the DVLA. So you could steel a car but it would have the stolen plate on it which you couldn't swap.
Car insurance is however more expensive there becuase of the high claims made.
Road rules are strictly enforced however and ther are many more patrol cars on the road which can stop you without a particular reason, just to check you documentation.
Any cars looked that looked to be modified are subject to a alot of hassle form the police and you can report bad driving to the police and it will most likely be followed up by them.
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