Case study: V5 check car logbook.
DVLA V5C registration certificate vehicle check.
A recent customer was planning to buy a car from a local dealer in the Midlands. He spoke with the dealers for an on-the-phone V5 check to confirm the date of registration, how many owners the vehicle had and the general condition of the car.
Relates to buying a car or legal car ownership without a V5 log book
V5C Logbook Check
(V5C issue & all available car owner data)
Vehicle enquiry service – checking a DVLA logbook
Our customer had verbal confirmation that the vehicle was registered 31st October 2005 with two owners from new (equal to the current registered keeper and one former keeper). Next, he ran a DVLA logbook check via CarVeto’s vehicle enquiry service.
He bought a CarVeto check to ensure there was no outstanding finance, major accidents, mileage issues and theft alerts.
Our online checks confirmed this information, which initially gave the green light to go ahead and inspect the car in person.
Attention to detail for car buyers
He examined the information in his CarVeto report but noticed a discrepancy in our data compared to the V5 check from the dealers.
The selling dealer stated the vehicle was 2 owners from new (as stated via a V5C check), but Andrew’s CarVeto report reported five owners.
CarVeto had also reported the vehicle was registered from new on 30th January 2007, almost 16 months later than what the dealer has reported.
He contacted our support team, who investigated further.
CarVeto vehicle enquiry service
We ran a manual vehicle check using the free service provided by the DVLA .gov website https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/.
Date of registration matched on both CarVeto and DVLA as January 2007.
Logbook sections defined, step by step
See our full DVLA logbook guide (information for new style DVLA logbooks only)
When you are looking to tax a car without V5 or V11 reminder
Comparing basic vehicle information with Gov.uk and CarVeto
Customer email snippet
Our team
Unlike CarVeto, DVLA does not include the number of owners for a car, so we decided to contact DVLA directly to investigate a bit further.
We confirmed the number of owners recorded by DVLA and CarVeto were correct. The vehicle was 5 owners from new.
This meant the DVLA logbook needed checking a second time, as it was likely to be fraudulent.
After a conversion with the dealers, it turned out they had taken the car in part exchange some weeks earlier and were cleverly deceived into believing the car was 2005 with 1 previous owner from new.
See our related guide to find a car owner by registration number
Lesson for car buyers
67% Of our customers admitted they did not compare the car owner information on their CarVeto check with the car documentation. Of the 67%, more than 90% said they had bought a CarVeto to ensure the car had no outstanding finance or had ever been stolen.
Our customer was a little more vigilant than most car buyers, and it saved him from losing over £2,000 and considerable stress.
It highlights the importance of protecting your money – to purchase a car that is genuine, reliable and good value, it is crucial to run a free car check via this database before buying CarVeto Platinum check. Both certificates corroborate car data with vehicle documentation.
If you have suffered from DVLA logbook fraud, please get in touch with our support team, as we’d love to hear from you and might be able to help.
The team, CarVeto
contact@carveto.co.uk