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Contacting The DVLA For Car Information

The registration plate archive for UK cars, bikes and vans registered between 1903 and 2001

Track Down Your Old Car! Find Out If It's Still Around
🚗 Find Out Everything You Can About A Used Vehicle

If your car appears on the DVLA website then this means they do have location information about it, and there's a chance you might be able get hold of that.

Information from the DVLA may cost you £5.00.

Instant Car Check report

You should only contact the DVLA if the vehicle is listed as either having an MOT or Vehicle Tax record.

IF THERE IS NO INFORMATION FOR YOUR VEHICLE FOR EITHER VEHICLE TAX OR MOT THEN DON'T BOTHER FOLLOWING THIS PART OF THE GUIDE - THE DVLA HAVE NO INFORMATION AND YOU WILL WASTE YOUR TIME, THE DVLA'S TIME AND A FEE!

What you need to do is download form V888 from the DVLA website.

You will need to complete the "Other" section in Option B and we recommend enclosing a fee of £5.00 when you apply for information.

We sell this whole guide as a downloadable document, together with template documents and a more in-depth procedure for completing the DVLA form.

You can download it here for £3.00 and your purchase helps keep the national archives of RegArchive and VRegs online.

There is no guarantee that the DVLA will honour your request, and further to this, the current or last owner of the vehicle you are trying to trace may not want to make contact, so please be prepared to not hear anything by exploring this avenue. We have heard from people that have followed this method - some have been successful and some haven't - it's not an exact science.

We hope you manage to track down your old vehicle. It can take time and motivation, but it can be worth it, especially if there are other older photos of your pride and joy out there!

Good luck!

🚗 Find Out Everything You Can About A Used VehicleList of contents:
  1. Track Your Vehicle Down
  2. The British Newspaper Archive
  3. The British Newspaper Archive - Continued
  4. Is Your Car Still Insured?
  5. The DVLA Websites: Look Up Your Car
  6. Your DVLA Car Records
  7. SORNed Or Scrapped Car?
  8. Commercial Vehicle Reports
  9. What The Car Data Looks Like
  10. How Many Left
  11. Use RegArchive And VRegs In Depth To Trace Cars
  12. Contacting The DVLA For Car Information

Just tell us about your favourite car. Was it your first car? Did you drive it to festivals or around Britain? Did it have a name? Tell us your memories and we'll publish the best ones on RegArchive.

Don't forget to tell us the car registration number or we can't publish it.


RegArchive is the online archive for all UK vehicle registration plates. Use the search box above or below to see if your car, bike, van or other vehicle has been added with photos and comments. If not, consider uploading your car photos and/or add comments and memories - it's easy and free.