Frequently Asked Questions

The AutoCheck website is a fully automated web service, to request a Car History Report you simply follow the onscreen prompts. After the steps have been successfully completed the report will display in a popup window that opens over the top of the browser window. You can then save the certificate to your PC or Print the report.

Click here to view a sample certificate.

The Car History Report is a comprehensive report on the history of a used motor vehicle that has been registered in Australia. The Car History Report is designed to alert you to potentially significant information about a second hand vehicle BEFORE you buy.

You will require the following information to successfully complete a Car History Report:

• VIN (MANDATORY INFORMATION)*

*The VIN is the prime identifier of the vehicle and it is critical you provide the correct information when doing your Car History Report. A VIN is the identification number attached to motor vehicles manufactured on or after 1 January 1989.

Click here to read more about VIN or Chassis Numbers

NO - A 17 character VIN is required to generate a Car History Report.

If the VIN is not 17 characters long, we recomend you double-check to make sure that you have the right VIN and have copied it down correctly. If the VIN is still less than 17 characters long, the VIN is most likely from a pre-1989 vehicle. Prior to 1989, VINs varied in length from 11 to 17 characters.

YES - The VIN is the prime identifier of the vehicle and it is critical you provide the correct VIN number for the vehicle you are intending on completing the search on. It is strongly recommended that BEFORE you request a Car History Report that you personally inspect the vehicle you are intending on purchasing to ensure that the identifiers you have supplied are correct. Failure to provide the correct number may result in your Car History Report not being successful or the report being invalid and no refund will be issued as a result of incorrect information supplied.

The information presented in the report is current from Car History's various database sources only at the time that the report is obtained. In particular, it is important to note that encumbrance status on a vehicle is only valid on the day of purchase. To protect yourself, we recommend that you purchase a PPSR Certificate on the day you take ownership of the vehicle.

NO - Car History Reports do not confirm ownership of a vehicle.

YES - Every Car History Report include a PPSR Certificate (formally REVs Certificate) within the results confirming if there are any encumbrances on the VIN nominated.

NO - A Car History Report will not show how much money is owing on a vehicle. 

Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) awards a star rating from 1 to 5 for vehicles depending on level of occupant protection provided by vehicle in serious front and side crashes. The higher the ANCAP star rating the better the vehicle performed in the tests.

The physical vehicle details, including make, model, engine number, colour, fuel type, registration status, odometer reading and registration expiry date will only be returned and displayed on the Report if they have been recorded and are available. The information on a Car History Report is from a database that is comprised of many different data sources provided by industry or individuals. It is only as accurate and up to date as what has been entered into the government and other national databases and when we are reliant on the availability of this data from third party supplier data sources there will be occasions where vehicle data is not available.

Click here to view what the Car History Report offers you compared to a PPSR Certificate.

If you were unable to view / save or print your Car History Report at the time of transaction and need to retrieve the certificate again the AutoCheck website service allows members of the public to retrieve their certificates up to 3 days after the transaction was processed.

Click here to go to the Previous Certificates page of AutoCheck.

If you are still unable to retrieve your certificate successfully, you can contact AutoCheck Support Staff by email autocheck@registrationsolutions.com.au with the details of the vehicle and the date that the Car History Report was purchased and we will provide you with a copy of the Car History Report by return email.

Individuals have the ability to generate a PPS certificate via the AutoCheck website. The website offers a quick and simple way to generate a certificate for Vehicles and Boats, identified by a serial number. The certificate confirms if there are any security interests registered, as well as the write off and stolen status, all within one report. This report replaces the Government Security Registers reports including the State based REVs/ VRS registers and VCheck Service.

Click here for further to view a sample vehicle PPSR Certificate to understand the certificate terminology.

You will require the following information to successfully complete a PPSR Certificate:

• VIN (MANDATORY INFORMATION)*

*The VIN is the prime identifier of the vehicle and it is critical you provide the correct information when generating your PPSR. A VIN is the identification number attached to motor vehicles manufactured on or after 1 January 1989.

Click here to read more about VIN or Chassis Numbers

YES - The VIN / Chassis is the prime identifier of the vehicle and it is critical that you provide the correct number when generating a PPSR Certificate. It is strongly recommended that BEFORE you generate a PPSR Certificate that you personally inspect the vehicle you are intending on completing the search on to ensure the identifiers you are nominating are correct. Failure to provide the correct identifiers (numbers) may cause your PPSR Certificate to be invalid and no refund will be issued as a result of incorrect information supplied.

A PPSR Certificate provides a purchaser of a used vehicle confirmation of whether the vehicle is clear of any encumbrances. By purchasing a clear PPSR Certificate on the day that you are intending on purchasing the vehicle, you are protected against repossession. The PPSR Certificate is only valid on the date you purchase your certificate.

The current cost to obtain a PPSR Certificate is located on the home page of the AutoCheck website

A PPSR Certificate showing 'no security interest or other registration kind registered on the PPSR' is confirming that a search of the National PPSR database has been completed using the identifiers you have provided and no encumbrances have been recorded on these identifiers

A PPSR Certificate showing Recorded Interest Details is confirming that a search of the National PPSR Database has been completed using identifiers you provided and one or more encumbrance has been matched to these identifiers. The details of the financier or bank that recorded the interest (who are owed the money) have been returned.

This data is retrieved from NEVDIS and confirms that there is no Write Off or Stolen Status recorded for the search criteria provided.

As the Write off and stolen Status is recorded on NEVDIS database, if that particular serial number supplied does not produce a write off or stolen field on the certificate, it confirms that there is no record on NEVDIS. This does not confirm that there is no write off or stolen status.

NO - PPSR Certificates do not confirm the amount of money owed on a vehicle.

NO - PPSR Certificates do not confirm ownership of a vehicle.

NO - PPSR Certificates do not confirm current registration status of a vehicle.

The AutoCheck website is a fully automated web service; to request a PPSR Certificate you simply follow the onscreen prompts. After the steps have been successfully completed the Certificate will display in a popup window that opens over the top of the browser window. You can then save the certificate to your PC or Print the Certificate.

NO - The PPSR Certificate you have requested was completed by using identifiers you provided. If you have realised at a later stage that you have provided incorrect information, you will not be given a refund or credit.

If you were unable to view / save or print a PPSR Certificate at the time of transaction and need to retrieve the certificate again the AutoCheck website service allows members of the public to retrieve their certificates up to 3 days after the transaction was processed.



Click here to go to the Previous Certificates page of AutoCheck.



If you are still unable to retrieve your certificate successfully, you can contact AutoCheck Support Staff by email autocheck@registrationsolutions.com.au with the details of the vehicle and the date that the certificate was purchased and we will provide you with a copy of the certificate by return email.

You will require the following information to successfully generate a PPSR for a Boat:

•  HIN number (Also known as the Boatcode) (MANDATORY INFORMATION)*

*The HIN is the prime identifier of the vessel and it is critical you provide the correct information when doing your PPSR.

YES - The HIN is the prime identifier of the vessel and it is critical that you provide the correct number when generating your PPSR. It is strongly recommended that BEFORE you request a PPSR Certificate that you personally inspect the vessel you are intending on completing the search on to ensure the identifiers you are nominating are correct.  Failure to provide the correct identifiers (numbers) may cause your PPSR Certificate to be invalid and no refund will be issued as a result of incorrect information supplied.

A HIN is the ‘Hull Identification Number' consisting of a unique series of characters and numbers used to record and identify boats.  Legislation was introduced on 28th February 2001 that required:  Boat manufacturers to mark all new boats with a hull identification number (HIN) conforming to ISO 10087:1995(E) (the international standard)). 

Important information about the HIN:

• The HIN may also be referred to as the ‘Boatcode’
• The HIN should have between 14 and 17 characters
• The HIN is displayed in alphanumerical characters and upper case letters and is read left to right
• The hyphen in the HIN should not be entered/included when completing a PPSR on a boat

The HIN is often located on a metal plate that is fastened to the hull usually on the transom* at the stern or the HIN is moulded or engraved directly into the hull.  This is done either at the manufacturer or by a Boat Code Agents, if you have any problems finding these numbers on a boat, just ask at a marina service centre, or check with the manufacturer. In some instances the HIN may be located on the Australian Builders Plate affixed to the vessel.

YES - A second hand vessel purchased from a boat dealer does not carry the same clear title as a motor vehicle. The purchaser is advised to generate a PPSR Certificate for all boats before the actual purchase. If you purchase a vessel that does have money owing on it, you could end up with the item being repossessed.

The HIN is the prime identifier of a Jet ski and it is critical that you provide the correct number generating a PPSR Certificate. It is strongly recommended that BEFORE you request a PPSR Certificate that you personally inspect the Jet ski you are intending on completing the search on to ensure the identifiers you are nominating are correct.  Failure to provide the correct identifiers (numbers) may cause your PPSR Certificate to be invalid and no refund will be issued as a result of incorrect information supplied.

YES - A second-hand Jet ski purchased from a boat dealer or private individual does not carry the same clear title as a motor vehicle.  The purchaser is advised to generate a PPSR Certificate for a jetski before the actual purchase.  If you purchase a jetski that has money owing on it, and you could end up with the item being repossessed.

VCheck offered a purchaser of a second-hand vehicle, a quick and easy way to obtain important vehicle information prior to purchase. VCheck was available for Cars, Trucks, Caravans and Campervans, Trailers, Buses and Motor Cycles that have a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and were manufactured after January 1989. The VCheck Certificate enabled the purchaser to verify if the vehicle they are purchasing has a stolen status recorded against it. The VCheck Certificate also displayed if there is a repairable or statutory write off recorded. The VCheck Certificate also detailed the type of damage sustained (eg. Fire, water damage), plus the date and state where the vehicle was written off.

AutoCheck was an Authorised Broker for Queensland Transport and the Office of Fair Trading and was able to offer an interface to members of the public to enable them to generate VCheck Certificates via our website. This service ceased in February 2012. For enquiries, additional information or issues regarding VCheck Certificate results please contact Queensland Transport on 13 23 80.

The Register of Encumbered Vehicles (REVs) was a database where financial institutions who had loaned money for the purchase of a vehicle register their security. Vehicles on this register were generally referred to as encumbered or having an interest recorded against them meaning, that there could have been money owing on the vehicle or that the vehicle may not have been owned outright.

AutoCheck was an Authorised Broker and was able to offer an interface to members of the public to enable them to generate REVs Certificates via our website. This service ceased in 2012. For enquiries, additional information or issues regarding REVS Certificate results please contact the Queensland Office of Fair Trading on 13 13 04.