How to check a used car for money owing, write-offs and stolen status before you buy — what the official PPSR certificate shows, the $2 cost, and what a free VIN check can and can’t tell you.
The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) is the official Australian government register. A $2 vehicle search returns a certificate covering:
Whether a lender has a registered security interest in the car — the single biggest risk when buying privately.
Whether the car has been recorded as a statutory or repairable write-off, via the National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information (NEVDIS).
Whether the car has been reported stolen to police.
Make, model, model year and colour to confirm the car matches the seller's description and papers.
Free VIN check
Validates the 17-character VIN and decodes the manufacturer, model year and country of origin from the VIN itself. It does not access finance, write-off or stolen records. Use it as a free first sanity check. Run a free VIN check.
Official PPSR certificate — $2
The government record that actually shows money owing (security interests), written-off and stolen status. It costs $2 at ppsr.gov.au and certificate copies are free — there’s no need to pay a third-party reseller $20–$35 for the same data.
Find the car's 17-character VIN on the build plate, the driver's-side door jamb, or the registration papers. A PPSR vehicle search needs the VIN or chassis number — the number plate alone won't return a certificate.
Before you pay for anything, run the VIN through a free VIN check to confirm it's a valid 17-character VIN and to decode the make, model year and country of origin. It's a quick sanity check that the seller's details line up.
Go to ppsr.gov.au and run a “used car or vehicle search” with the VIN. The official search costs $2 — avoid third-party resellers that bundle the same government data for $20–$35.
The PPSR certificate shows any security interest (money owing / finance), whether the car has been written off or reported stolen (via NEVDIS), and basic vehicle details. Copies of your search result are free — keep the certificate as proof of what was registered at the time you searched.
If a security interest is registered against the car, the financier can repossess it even after you've paid and driven off. Either walk away, or have the seller clear the debt and re-run the search before any money changes hands.
OneBookPlus doesn’t sell PPSR reports — this is a guide. Run the official search at ppsr.gov.au for $2, and use our free VIN check and rego cost calculator to size up the rest.
An official PPSR search costs $2 at ppsr.gov.au, and copies of your search certificate are free. Third-party resellers often charge $20–$35 for the same government data bundled with extras — you can get the core check yourself for $2.
A free VIN check (like ours) validates the VIN and decodes the make, model year and origin from the VIN itself — it does not access finance, write-off or stolen records. A paid PPSR certificate ($2) is the official record that shows money owing, written-off and stolen status. Use the free VIN check to sanity-check the car, then the $2 PPSR search before you buy.
The car's 17-character VIN or chassis number. The registration plate on its own isn't enough for a vehicle certificate. You can find the VIN on the build plate, the driver's-side door jamb, or the rego papers.
If a car has a registered security interest (money owing) and you buy it, the financier can legally repossess it — you could lose both the car and your money. A clear PPSR certificate protects you, and you can rely on it if the search was done correctly.
Yes. The PPSR certificate draws on NEVDIS to show whether the vehicle has been recorded as a write-off or reported stolen, alongside any registered security interest.
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