Import & export
Some cars arrive from overseas with problems that don’t follow them home.
An imported vehicle may have been written off, stolen, or subject to a recall in its country of origin — none of which necessarily shows up on UK databases. We check the DVLA export register and flag anything that looks out of place.
340k
vehicles imported to UK annually
8%
flagged with overseas discrepancies
1 in 20
imports have undisclosed damage
How it happens
A car is written off in Ireland, repaired, and imported to the UK with a clean V5C. Or a stolen vehicle is shipped from mainland Europe and re-registered. UK databases only know what’s been reported here — the overseas history is invisible unless someone checks.
What we check
Whether the DVLA has flagged the vehicle for export. Whether there’s an ART (Approved Treatment Facility) end date suggesting the vehicle was previously scrapped. Whether the registration history suggests the car has been re-imported.
Why it matters
An import isn’t automatically a red flag. Many perfectly good cars are brought into the UK by relocating owners or specialist dealers. But knowing a car has been imported — and when — lets you ask the right questions and verify the overseas history independently.