Free HPI check - Where did I read about that?

Saltlick

Well-Known Member

Posts

1,082

Location

Taunton, Somerset

• Nov 3, 2017

• #1

Hi all...

Buying another car tomorrow - nothing exciting, just a eurobox daily for veggie based mile munchin - and I recently read on a forum something along the lines of '...you can actually get a free HPI check by beginning an application for...' and then my brain kicks in and rather helpfully deletes the useful bit of the memory.

Did I read it on here? Dunno, maybe.. or maybe it was another forum. Can anyone shed any light on this?

It was possibly done through an autotrader ad, or another sales thingy which you can cancel out of before it costs anything.
And yes, before anyone mentions it, I am being a tight arse

 

C

Colthebrummie

Well-Known Member

Posts

9,870

Location

Thatcham

• Nov 3, 2017

• #2

If anyone's offering a free hpi check there will be a catch. If a thing is too good to be true then it usually is as my old dad used to say.

Col

 

Saltlick

Well-Known Member

Posts

1,082

Location

Taunton, Somerset

• Nov 3, 2017

• #3

That's the thing though - it's not offered as such but part of something else like a precursor to something before the sale of another product..

 

DanClarke

Well-Known Member

Full Member

Posts

16,361

Location

Benfleet, Essex

• Nov 3, 2017

• #4

I read the same article. Tried what it said and it was a loophole in the site's code. They have since plugged it.
HPI is only a look at the "official record" of a registration. Useful, and pretty cheap IF the seller isn't a crook.
For c.£39 you find out a fair amount and if you really fancy a vehicle and want a final bit of reassurance that its "probably" OK then the fee (compared to purchase price) probably is a very small amount.

 

Saltlick

Well-Known Member

Posts

1,082

Location

Taunton, Somerset

• Nov 3, 2017

• #5

AHHH!! So I'm not going mental then!!

Well... ok, at least I didn't imagine that anyway Where was it then?

 

Saltlick

Well-Known Member

Posts

1,082

Location

Taunton, Somerset

• Nov 3, 2017

• #6

I went with an RAC report in the end as there are apparently not many useful things with the free or cheap HPI checks..

 

potus

Well-Known Member

Posts

2,162

Location

South Devon

• Nov 4, 2017

• #7

Seems like if you just want to check the basics then the cheap checks are okay, otherwise I think if you pay a bit more and do actually get more for your wedge, additional checks and insurance should it go pear shaped. I've used the cheap ones before, good enough for what I wanted.

 

Bobsticle

De Villes Advocaat

Posts

27,632

Location

Manchester

• Nov 4, 2017

• #8

Next doors had one on his Scooby. When he sold the car on, the first prospective buyer showed him the one he had just paid for. Turns out it was a written off repaired. Something the free one seemed not to have found. Cost him a few grand in the resale value.