How to check if a car is stolen or written off in Australia

Two records can turn a good-looking used car into a bad buy: a theft report and an insurance write-off. Neither shows on the car itself, and a seller has every reason not to mention either. Both are on the official records, and checking them takes a plate number and a minute.

Stolen cars

When a car is stolen, the theft is reported to police and recorded against the car. If you buy a car that is still reported stolen, police can take it back for its owner, and you are left trying to recover your money from whoever sold it to you, if you can find them.

Stolen cars are often sold with their identity changed: plates from another car of the same model, or a VIN plate swapped from a wreck. So the check is two-part. Check the records for the plate, then check the car in front of you is the car those records describe.

• Find the VIN on the car. It is usually stamped in the engine bay or on a plate or label in the door jamb, and often visible through the bottom of the windscreen. It should match the rego papers exactly.
• Look at the plate and VIN labels for scratched rivets, fresh paint, glue or stickers that look newer than the car.
• Check the seller's name and address against the rego papers and their licence. A seller who cannot show either is a seller to walk away from.
• Be wary of a price well under the market, a seller in a hurry, or a meeting place that is not their home.

Written-off cars

An insurer writes a car off when repairing it would cost more than it is worth. That happens after crashes, but in Australia it also happens after floods and hail storms, which can write off thousands of cars in one event. For cars under about 15 years old, the write-off is recorded against the car as one of two types. Older cars often are not, so a clean record on an older car tells you less.

Statutory write-off

Damaged so badly it can never be registered again, anywhere in Australia. It can be sold for parts or scrap. If a car on the road shows up as a statutory write-off, something is seriously wrong: walk away and consider telling police.

Repairable write-off

Damaged enough that the insurer would not pay to fix it, but repairable. Depending on the state it may be repaired, inspected and registered again, and the write-off stays on its record. Many are fixed properly. Some are fixed cheaply, and hail and flood cars in particular can hide problems: corroded wiring, damp carpets, electrical faults that appear months later.

Signs of a repaired write-off you can see

• Panels that are a slightly different shade, or have overspray on rubber seals and trim.
• Uneven gaps between the bonnet, doors and boot.
• Rippled or dimpled roof and bonnet panels, the usual mark of hail.
• A musty smell, water marks or silt under the carpets or in the spare wheel well, which point to flood.
• Warning lights on the dash, or electrics that don't all work.

Those signs tell you to look harder. They do not prove a write-off, and a car can have a write-off record with none of them. The record is the reliable part, and then the faults the model is known for: the Toyota Corolla, Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai i30 pages list what to check on each.

A KickTyres Vehicle Check reads the official records for one Australian plate: money owing (with the lender named), written-off history, stolen status and registration status, alongside the documented faults for that model and engine. A$17.90, or A$28.90 with the guided inspection.