AutoSpect vs carVertical: which UK car check is worth paying for?

At a glance

Prices seen 26 Aug 2026 on carvertical.com/gb/pricing.

What carVertical is genuinely good at

Say it plainly: carVertical has data AutoSpect doesn’t. Its report is assembled from records in 45+ countries — auction photos, damage reports, odometer readings taken at services and inspections abroad. For an imported car, or a UK car that was previously registered in Ireland, Germany or the Netherlands, that history is invisible to a UK-only check and carVertical will often show you a photograph of the damage the seller forgot to mention.

It also has scale: 23,056 Trustpilot reviews, a 4.8-rated app, and a company reporting €75m a year in revenue. Those are real advantages over a product launched this year with no reviews at all.

Where the carVertical report stops

The same Trustpilot page tells the other half of the story. 42% five-star, 35% one-star, and the complaints cluster on three things:

• Thin UK reports. For a car that has never left Britain, the international data has nothing to add, and buyers report paying £37.99 for a report with empty sections. carVertical’s answer is a credit back, not a refund.
• No MOT history. The UK’s richest free source of a car’s condition — every test, every advisory, every failure since 2005 — is not in the carVertical report. It is the single biggest gap for a UK buyer.
• The 30-day expiry. The report you paid for stops being viewable a month later. Credits bought in a bundle expire after six months.

There is also no section on what the car is known to go wrong with. Here is what that section looks like in AutoSpect’s report, taken from the example Decision Report on a diesel Golf:

Those are the faults that decide whether the car is a bargain or a liability, and they are not in any register.

What AutoSpect does that carVertical doesn’t

Reads the MOT history back to you, with estimated prices. Every advisory in the car’s DVSA record is translated from tester shorthand into what it means, how urgent it is and roughly what it costs to put right. “Offside rear tyre worn close to legal limit” becomes a line you can put in front of the seller. The translations and the cost ranges are AI-generated guide figures — typical UK ranges rather than quotes, and they can be wrong — so treat them as the starting point for a conversation with the seller or a garage, not the final word.

Knows the engine. The report lists the faults that variant is known for at its mileage, with typical repair costs — the section above.

Goes to the car with you. The guided walkaround runs on your phone in the seller’s driveway. It tells you what to look at on this model, in order, and ends in a Purchase Score.

Ends in a number. A price to offer, built from the history, the advisories and what you found at the car. On the example Golf, that is £650–£1,100 off the asking price, with the reasons listed. carVertical’s Score is a rating; it isn’t an offer.

Doesn’t expire. One report, for that car, yours for as long as you want it.

What AutoSpect doesn’t do

• No history from outside the UK. If the car was imported, carVertical is the better buy and we’d say so.
• No photos from the car’s past. Our provenance data is the licensed UK registers; it does not include auction imagery.
• No financial guarantee. We refund in full if the report fails, never arrives or is materially wrong about the car — but that is a refund, not £30,000 of cover. carVertical has neither. HPI and Total Car Check do, at HPI and Total Car Check do, at £9.99–£19.99, and if a guaranteed finance check is all you need, they are cheaper than either of us.
• No reviews yet. We launched in 2026. carVertical has 23,056. You should weigh that.

Who should buy which

Buy carVertical if: the car is an import or has foreign history; you want to see photographs of previous damage; you are buying an EV and want the battery section; you plan to check several cars and the three-pack works out.

Buy AutoSpect if: it’s a UK car; you want the MOT history explained, not just listed; you want to know what this engine is known to fail on; you’re going to view it and want something to do at the car; you want a price to offer rather than a score.

Buy both if: it’s an import you’re serious about. carVertical for what happened abroad, AutoSpect for the UK record, the known faults and the price. Together it’s still a quarter of an engineer’s inspection.

Frequently asked

Is carVertical worth it in the UK?

For imported cars or cars with foreign history, often yes — its 45-country data can surface damage photos a UK check can’t. For a car that has only ever been in the UK, buyers frequently report thin reports; it also omits MOT history and expires after 30 days. Its Trustpilot score is 3.6 from 23,056 reviews (26 Aug 2026).

Does carVertical check outstanding finance in the UK?

Yes. The UK report includes outstanding finance, write-off category and stolen status, though carVertical says finance data may be delayed by several days. There is no financial guarantee attached.

How much is carVertical in the UK?

£37.99 for one report, £51.98 for two, £62.97 for three, seen 26 Aug 2026. AutoSpect’s Decision Report is £29.99 for one car.

Does carVertical show MOT history?

No. The carVertical UK report does not include the DVSA MOT test history. AutoSpect’s free check shows the full MOT history and the Decision Report translates every advisory with a repair-cost range.