Frequently asked questions

Yes. REVS was the NSW Register of Encumbered Vehicles; it was folded into the national Personal Property Securities Register on 30 January 2012 along with every other state register. People still say “REVS check”, but the search that answers the question today is a PPSR search — which is exactly what a REVS Checker report is.

Yes. The PPSR is national, so a security interest registered in any state or territory shows up, wherever the vehicle is registered now. Number plate searches work for all eight states and territories — just pick the one the plate is registered in.

Yes. The PPSR itself only searches by VIN or chassis number, so once you've paid we match your plate and state to the vehicle through the national registration database and run the PPSR search on that vehicle's VIN. If the plate matches more than one vehicle, we stop and ask which is yours first.

That extra lookup is why a plate search is a one-off fee against a one-off fee by VIN.

On the build plate under the bonnet, stamped on the driver's door frame, in the lower corner of the windscreen on the driver's side, and on the seller's registration papers.

It is 17 characters and never contains I, O or Q — if you think you see an O, it's a zero.

Plates get transferred between cars, and a plate search finds the vehicle the plate is registered to now. If the plate matches more than one vehicle, we show you each one by the last characters of its VIN and you pick; the PPSR search does not run until you have. If it matters that it is one particular car, search by its VIN instead.

The most common cause is the wrong state — a plate registered in Queensland won't be found under Victoria. No PPSR search is run, so you are not charged for one. You can try another state on the same payment, switch to a VIN search, or take a refund.

Anything with a VIN or chassis number: cars, utes, vans, motorbikes, trucks, buses, caravans, campervans and trailers, anywhere in Australia.

Usually a minute or two. A PPSR search is three sequential calls to the register and the certificate has to be generated before it can be sent.

You don't have to wait on the page — the search runs on our servers and the report is emailed either way.^*

It records what the register said at the moment you searched, with the date and time. Under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 a buyer who searched before buying is in a materially different position from one who did not. Keep it.

Where your search found a registered security interest, we will re-check whether those details have changed, free, for 14 days. Deals take time and finance details can change while you are still negotiating.^†

It does not re-check stolen or written-off records — those come from NEVDIS and are not re-run.

Yes — add SMS at checkout — free. You get one text with the headline answer (finance, stolen, written off) and a link to your full report, sent the moment the result is ready.

If the finance position changes during the free 14-day re-check, we text you about that too. Australian mobiles only, and you can reply STOP at any time to opt out permanently.

Check your junk or spam folder first. If it isn't there, use the Find my report page: your reference opens the report straight away, and so does the VIN or plate you searched plus the email address you used.

No. A PPSR search is confidential. Nothing is sent to the owner, the dealer or the financier, and the search leaves no trace against the vehicle.

No. Payment is handled by our payment provider and card details never reach our servers.

No. We are a commercial search service. We source information from the PPSR to provide reports to you. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an agent of the Australian Government, the Australian Financial Security Authority or the Personal Property Securities Register.

See our Refund Policy. In short: if the search could not be run, you are not charged for a search that did not happen. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected by anything in our terms.