Vehicle Report FAQs

What is a VicRoads Vehicle Report?

The VicRoads Vehicle Report is a useful tool for potential second-hand vehicle buyers that will provide them with an extensive report outlining the value, condition, and specifications of a vehicle they are considering purchasing. The report is designed to alert them to potentially significant information about a vehicle, so they are well-informed about the vehicle they wish to buy. 

Why should I get a VicRoads Vehicle Report?

A VicRoads Vehicle Report is designed to give you greater confidence when buying a second-hand vehicle. Having a thorough understanding of the history of the vehicle allows you to be well-informed to make a better purchasing decision. Produced by VicRoads, the State’s registration and licensing operator, the VicRoads Vehicle Report is the only report that includes Victorian registration, transfer and electronic roadworthy data. 

How much is the VicRoads Vehicle Report?

The Vehicle Report is available online at vicroads.vic.gov.au for $27.63 (inclusive of GST and credit card fee) for consumers, making it an affordable report available in Victoria.

What is a PPSR report?

A Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) report is a document that provides details about a vehicle at a specific point in time. This report is obtained from the PPSR, which is managed by the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) at a national level. It contains important information about the vehicle, such as whether it has any finance owing or whether it has been recorded as stolen or written-off.

Will purchasing a VicRoads Vehicle Report guarantee that I'm not buying a stolen car?

The VicRoads Vehicle Report will access data from third parties (including the PPSR) that will contain information on whether a car has been recorded as stolen or written off. However, this will not include vehicles that may be stolen which have yet to be recorded.

My report is incomplete. Am I entitled to a refund?

It is possible that a section of your Vehicle Report may return a “No record found” message. This simply means that no records of that type were found for that vehicle.

If however your Vehicle Report shows any field as ‘unavailable’, this may indicate an error in generating your Vehicle Report and you may be entitled to a refund. If you believe you're entitled to a refund, please contact customer service centre on 13 11 71.

What do I do if there's an error in the report?

If there is an error in your report, please contact our customer service centre on 13 11 71. 

What does it mean if finance interest has been reported on the vehicle?

If financial interest is reported on the vehicle, this means that there is a lender who has registered security interest (or financial debt) against the vehicle, which can be enforced and any subsequent purchaser of the vehicle unless it has been discharged prior to sale.

Going ahead with the purchase of a vehicle with a recorded security interest can put you at risk of having your car repossessed if someone still owes money on it. 

What is a written-off vehicle?

A statutory write-off is a vehicle that has been so badly damaged that it would be unsafe to repair it. Such vehicles cannot be repaired or re-registered in Australia, but their parts may be used to fix other vehicles. 

Repairable write-offs are vehicles that have been assessed as being too costly to repair, but subject to state laws may be re-registered for road use if they have passed a vehicle safety and identity check.

Do you have a sample report that I can see?

Yes, you can view a sample of the Vehicle Report.

The report that was generated isn't the vehicle I was looking for, what do I do?

If the report generated is not for the intended vehicle, please check that you’ve entered the correct details for the vehicle you're purchasing (ie. VIN, Victorian registration number or chassis).

If you believe that the report may not be correct, please contact our customer service centre on 13 11 71.

Does the Vehicle Report provide any information about modifications that may have been made to the vehicle?

The information provided in the Vehicle Report assumes the vehicle is in its original factory specifications. Therefore it won't contain any information in relation to potential after-market modifications that may have been made to the vehicle. 

Why is VicRoads charging for this information?

If you simply require information about the current registration status of a vehicle registered in Victoria, you can access our free registration check service. 
 
The VicRoads Vehicle Report provides a large number of useful datapoints from numerous data sources in a comprehensive and easy to understand report. Whether a consumer chooses to purchase the report or not is entirely up to their own individual needs and preferences.

I just want to find information on the registration status of a vehicle. Do I need to purchase a Vehicle Report?

No, VicRoads offers a free registration check on our website.

How do I purchase a VicRoads Vehicle Report?

The Vehicle Report is only available to purchase online at vicroads.vic.gov.au and requires an email address for delivery of the vehicle report. If you don't have access to the internet, the vehicle report can be purchased using the iPads at Victorian service centres.

What information do I need to generate a VicRoads Vehicle Report?

To run a VicRoads Vehicle Report, all you need is one of the following identifiers:

• Victorian registration number
• VIN number
• chassis number.

What is a VIN?

A Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is a unique serial number made up of 17 unique characters used by the automotive industry to identify individual vehicles. The VIN can also be known as the chassis number. 

Where can I find the VIN?

A vehicle's VIN can typically be found in the following places:

• stamped on the dashboard near the windscreen (on the driver's side of the vehicle)
• on a plate sticker on the driver's side door jamb
• stamped on the engine firewall
• on your insurance card and insurance policy
• on your vehicle registration.

Currently, the VicRoads Vehicle Report is only available for vehicles that have been registered in Victoria at some point in time, including interstate or unregistered vehicles that have previously been registered in Victoria.

Importantly the Vehicle Report will only include registration and transfer information relating to the period in which the vehicle was registered in Victoria and available electronic roadworthy information during that time.

How long does it take to generate a Vehicle Report?

The Vehicle Report is created using data from multiple sources, which can take a few minutes to generate after confirmation of payment. 

Why is my report taking so long to generate?

The Vehicle Report is created using data from multiple sources, which can take a few minutes to generate.

Occasionally, we may encounter technical issues that can cause a delay in the generation of your report. Once the system is functioning properly, your report will be automatically generated.

If you haven't received your report within 24 hours, please contact us at 13 11 71 to inquire about the status of your report.

How can I pay for my report?

The Vehicle Report is only available to purchase online. Payment for the Vehicle Report can be made using a credit card or debit card.

Do I receive a tax invoice with each Vehicle Report purchase?

Yes, you will receive a tax invoice with each Vehicle Report. It will be emailed to the email address you provided or found in the transaction log in your myVicRoads account.

Can I order a Vehicle Report for other vehicles like bikes or trucks?

Yes, you can buy a Vehicle Report on the following types of vehicles:

• light vehicle
• motorcycles
• caravan or trailer
• heavy vehicle (greater than 4.5t GWM).

How does the VicRoads Vehicle Report compare with the existing registration check available on the VicRoads website?

The VicRoads website offers a registration check service that allows users to access the current registration details of any registered Victorian vehicle for free. However, if you wish to obtain more comprehensive information about the vehicle's history, we encourage you to purchase a Vehicle Report. 

A Vehicle Report is a point-in-time report which is date and time stamped when it's generated. This means that the Vehicle Report will not contain any information recorded against the vehicle after the Vehicle Report was generated.

What makes the VicRoads Vehicle Report different from the existing reports on the market?

The VicRoads Vehicle Report stands out as the most comprehensive report in Victoria, as it currently includes exclusive data points that only VicRoads can provide.

These datapoints include Victorian registration, transfer history and roadworthiness history.

With these additional inclusions, Victorians can now have greater peace of mind when purchasing a second-hand vehicle.

When my report was returned it was missing information. How do I get the full report?

In some instances, we may experience a data error which means certain parts of the report show as ‘unavailable’. If there's been a data error and you've contacted us, then you may be entitled to a refund.

However, there are also instances where there may not be any information recorded for the vehicle, for example Victorian registration and transfer history, or odometer history. As such, our report might not contain all registration and transfer records, particularly for vehicles that were registered or transferred interstate, or vehicles that have been unregistered for a period of time. 

What if my internet connection is lost before I view my report?

As long as your purchase was completed successfully, your report will still be available via the link in your ‘Report Generated’ email. If you hadn't yet finished the purchase, you won’t have been charged, so please try again.

How can I get a report I previously ordered?

You can continue to use the link provided to your report in the future. If you have registered a myVicRoads account under the same email address, your reports will also be accessible via your notifications history on the myVicRoads portal.

Will the report provide vehicle owner information?

No, the report will not disclose any personal information about the vehicle’s registered operator, but it will provide information about the vehicle’s current Victorian registration status.

Why do you ask for my email address?

We require your email address to send you the link to access your Vehicle Report.

Why are you asking for an odometer reading?

The odometer reading can be used to compare against any historical odometer data that we may have for the vehicle of interest.

It gives extra context on the vehicle and its position in the market to help you make a decision but it's not required to complete the transaction. 

Why are you requesting the vehicle's asking price?

Providing the vehicle’s asking price can allow us to include in the Vehicle Report a comparison of the seller’s asking price to real past sales of similar vehicles in Victoria over the last three months. It gives extra context on the vehicle and its position in the market to help you make a decision but isn't required to complete the transaction.

Where does the information contained in the Vehicle Report come from?

The Vehicle Report contains information from multiple sources including the Victorian registration, transfer and roadworthy databases as well as third-party sources such as the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) and RedBook.

What roadworthy history information is included in my Vehicle report?

The VicRoads Vehicle Report contains Victorian vehicle roadworthy history sourced from electronic data held by VicRoads since 2018. It does not contain information from paper-based roadworthy certificates received by VicRoads.

What about my privacy?

At VicRoads we take your privacy very seriously. The only personal information we require from you is the email address where we will send the invoice and the report. For further details, please refer to our privacy policy and collection notice.