V888 vehicle history forms are go again!

[trigger]

Now this could be old news but incase it isn't, whilst I was browsing the internet for porn 'cars' I stumbled cross a car forum where some members were arguing that you couldn't apply for a V888 (vehicle history check) anymore and another member was saying they were wrong and that you could.

I decided that for the sake of £5 it was worth the risk of sending a form in and seeing what happened so printed the form of the DVLA site and filled it out explaining that I wanted the cars history for my personal records, wrote a cheque (remember those?) for £5 and posted it off to the DVLA.

About 3 weeks passed and I hadn't heard anything until just over a week ago when I got a email from the DVLA to tell me that they couldn't give me the previous owners addresses and did I still want to carry on with the service, obviously I emailed back saying yes and waited, until today when I got a brown envelope in the post full of photocopied V5's!

 

As you can see the addresses have all been blanked but they give the dates, towns, mileages and even the supplying dealer still so still definitely worth £5 if you have little history with your car!

[LightBulbFun]

Neat! I helped someone do this with an Invacar a few years back and he did get get a list of "general locations" for each of the previous keepers

but it was not in depths as to what you got as he was mostly interested in plate change details (as he did not believe me at first when I told him about the plate history of his Model 70!)

but someone else I know with an Invacar Mk12, sent off a V888 a little while back (in late 2024) but with very specific wording along the lines of "tell me *everything* about the vehicle, every keeper change its had, any colour changes its had, tell me any time it was taxed, very in detail stuff, and he similarly got a wealth of info back, including much to my surprise a photocopy of its original buff logbook, (sadly with the keeper details censored as above) which was extra surprising because this perticular Mk12 was one that had dropped off the main system and was only unarchived many years later (much like @egg's Mk12 was) and I always thought that when a vehicle was archived off the system, only very basic data about the vehicle was retained, so to see that a photocopy of the buff logbook did survive in the archives was quite exciting in itself

so its very much something I have been meaning to try again with, but I have not yet figured out which Invacar I want to try V888 next! in that which one of all the ones I know of in preservation today is likely to return the most historically important/interesting info to be worth wrangling with the DVLA to get  which is why I have *not* done this with REV because I know all of her previous keepers etc, she is one of the few Invacars out there that does have some known history. 

 

its nice to see the sucess that you had to see someone else try this outside of Invacar circles, to know its not just a fluke!

39 minutes ago, trigger said:

As you can see the addresses have all been blanked but they give the dates, towns, mileages and even the supplying dealer still so still definitely worth £5 if you have little history with your car!

the supplying dealer/person doing the initial first registration is something I wondered if could be included in one of these V888's, as above I have done a couple of these for Invacars, but the only one that was in detail as this, was for an Invacar Mk12, so instead of the V55/1 we (much to our pleasant surprise) just got a full photo copy of its old buff logbook, which was quite neat in itself!  so I am curious to try for REV now and see if I can get the original V55/1, but again I know that the registering dealer is more then likely going to "just be" Invacar Ltd! so it would not really tell me anything new other then it would be neat to see the original form

but as an aside to all of this one thing we noticed with the Invacar Mk12, was that for the keepers where it was registered to a company/not a private individual, the DVLA did not block out the details, so we could see which approved repairer it was registered too for a time, which was quite neat in itself  

so if someone has a commercial vehicle they want to know the keeper history of a V888 could still yeild quite a nice bit of info  

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, trigger said:

Now this could be old news

Crikey no Trig this is new news to me as I thought for a decade-ish now that the V888 was put to bed by GDPR

Sending off a fiver tomorrow for the P6B Rover as I heard back from the P6club that they have no record of it…(!? wot)

Watch this space, as for all we know it was owned by Princess Anne to pootle about in when a Scimitar was borked. Probably.

[Zelandeth]

Intriguing...You can bet I'll be sending one of those in for the P4 tomorrow as well.

[LightBulbFun]

29 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Intriguing...You can bet I'll be sending one of those in for the P4 tomorrow as well.

no love for TPA?  wonder if you can do multiple at the same time, and if they want £5 each or will they take £5 for all of em

I know you can V62 for multiple vehicles (read: Model 70's) on one £25 cheque at the same time at least  

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

no love for TPA?  wonder if you can do multiple at the same time, and if they want £5 each or will they take £5 for all of em

I know you can V62 for multiple vehicles (read: Model 70's) on one £25 cheque at the same time at least  

True, should put one in for TPA as well.  Just been pondering the Rover a lot given aside from a couple of old MOTs we don't really have much on it.  If we can see where it was originally registered that could be useful for the stamp on the eventual replica tax disc if nothing else.

[worldofceri]

That’s surprisingly good value for a fiver to be fair. Given that (presumably) someone has had to go through and manually redact all personal details from those old scans. Five quid won’t buy much of a civil servant’s time, plus the stamp and envelope, they are making a loss on this, which makes you wonder why they bother. I suppose as a public body they have to make their records available to anyone with a legitimate interest. Still… get those beige forms in before they put the price up.

[danthecapriman]

Most importantly though, you now know your car came from Rotherham - which means you need to carefully and meticulously sanitise it or burn it to the ground😆

Seriously, that’s a great value service. Well worth a fiver.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

What's the 'previous name and address details' section all about, then? 

[Dave_Q]

I guess that's just if you have moved recently, or the DVLA have a different address for you than your current one?

[MrBig]

This is great news, thank you! Always regretted I didn't do it before the GDPR kicked in!

What did you write in section 2? Just that it's your car and you would like to know it's history for your own records?

[EyesWeldedShut]

Feck me, I was just about to ask about this as I have just got the V5 through on the SLK and it shows 13 previous keepers - the service history suggests three, maybe four tops. Puzzled
I do have a chequebook to hand.....  

[edit] sorted - thanks for the heads up

[colino]

I'd suggest anyone wanting this better fill their boots now before they actually tot up how much this is costing them in admin and processing!

[Datsuncog]

17 minutes ago, colino said:

I'd suggest anyone wanting this better fill their boots now before they actually tot up how much this is costing them in admin and processing!

DVLA, tomorrow morning:

[LightBulbFun]

9 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

True, should put one in for TPA as well.  Just been pondering the Rover a lot given aside from a couple of old MOTs we don't really have much on it.  If we can see where it was originally registered that could be useful for the stamp on the eventual replica tax disc if nothing else.

UO is Devon, who's records are most thankfully almost completely fully intact (they are actually on my "when I get a round tuit" hit list, becuase all the Stanley Mk7 invalid cars where Devon registered ) 

https://kitheadtrust.org.uk/england-wales#UO

so you would be able to get much more early history by going directly the source  (remember the Rover P4 was registered long before the DVLC/DVLA vehicle record computer existed, so the DVLA's own record would "only" go back to the late 70's at best, or maybe if you get lucky like we did wth the Invacar Mk12 there *might* be an old photocopy of the buff logbook)

[calebaaront]

@HMC might be worth doing one for the VP  

[Brigsy]

Its a shame they wont give out the p/o addresses like years ago.

Tempted to send a couple in but dont have a cheque book 😅  i cant believe dvla not gone digital on these yet

[Dick Cheeseburger]

4 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

DVLA, tomorrow morning:

LBF doing DVLA's work for them

EFA

[flat4alfa]

DVLA, after a few weeks, sent back a response

COMPUTER SAID NO.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

8 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

DVLA, after a few weeks, sent back a response

COMPUTER SAID NO.

Gutted. I reckon they'll turn around and say the same for my Lambretta in that case. 

[LightBulbFun]

45 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

DVLA, after a few weeks, sent back a response

COMPUTER SAID NO.

36 minutes ago, Dick Cheeseburger said:

Gutted. I reckon they'll turn around and say the same for my Lambretta in that case. 

the devils in the details, or specifically the wording in this case, you have to be much more specific then that, and state what exactly it is you want history on

On 07/07/2025 at 21:39, LightBulbFun said:

but someone else I know with an Invacar Mk12, sent off a V888 a little while back (in late 2024) but with very specific wording along the lines of "tell me *everything* about the vehicle, every keeper change its had, any colour changes its had, tell me any time it was taxed, very in detail stuff, and he similarly got a wealth of info back, including much to my surprise a photocopy of its original buff logbook, (sadly with the keeper details censored as above) which was extra surprising because this perticular Mk12 was one that had dropped off the main system and was only unarchived many years later (much like @egg's Mk12 was) and I always thought that when a vehicle was archived off the system, only very basic data about the vehicle was retained, so to see that a photocopy of the buff logbook did survive in the archives was quite exciting in itself

the problem with @flat4alfa's is clearly they think he is wanting *full* keeper history which obviously cannot be provided because of GDPR, but if tell them that your not looking for that, that you only want as much keeper detail that is allowed by GDRP or that your not interested in exact keeper locations, then they will generally comply  

 

[trigger]

I wish I kept a copy of what i wrote now but it was along the lines of wanting a paper trail of the previous history of the car for my personal records I think

[flat4alfa]

My computer was called ‘Gethin’.

Maybe!  if we could gather the names of the successful returns (e.g. cover letter from  ‘Mifanwy’ and then mark the future applications FAO:  MIFANWY - VEHICLE CASEWORK UNIT

Gethin can GF

[HMC]

I had that cover letter response with the rolls royce.

I wonder what the exact wording was for @trigger’s application. It seems quite open to interpretation wether you get a dear john cover letter like we did- or an actual result like @trigger

It feels like a flawed  system if 2 people with the same basic request can have very different outcomes. Whats the magic password?!

[flat4alfa]

Ah!  So what we could* do is attach a photo of our face wearing a @trigger mask; to every submission.

I might have just realised that, after all, he is *much* better looking than I (to  the typical Swansea employee, that is).

Or perhaps it’s just that ‘Gethin’ just didn’t fancy me on the day?

Either way, ‘Gethin’ can still GF.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

I had that cover letter response with the rolls royce.

I wonder what the exact wording was for @trigger’s application. It seems quite open to interpretation wether you get a dear john cover letter like we did- or an actual result like @trigger

It feels like a flawed  system if 2 people with the same basic request can have very different outcomes. Whats the magic password?!

its the wording, you specifically have to ask for the details that your looking for, such as the vehicles taxation record, and details about changes the vehicle record might of had, repaints, engine size/number changes, dates of those changes, taxation class changes, who the original registering dealer was, also you should not include too much flavour text at the start, the KISS principle applies

so @flat4alfa can still rightful respond back to that letter saying that they are not looking for any sort of exact keeper detail names/address, that they are just looking for a general history on the vehicle, the general towns its been registered in over the years, how the vehicle was first registered, who was the registering dealer, a copy of its original V55/1, and any other documents the DVLA may be able to provide regarding the vehicle and its history over time, so that one can have the vehicles history on file for personal reference 

 

 

 

[trigger]

If it helps this was the initial response I got back, I just had to confirm that I was happy for them to go ahead without the addresses

[flat4alfa]

So computer ‘Rhian’  could be a good bet

‘She’ is in this FOI request, so seems to actually try to help:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/current_owner

Also mentioned here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/147152085994997/posts/902396460470552/

Note: this is not an attempt at doxxing. But it could* be the start of an appreciation society, and a potential OBE award.

(Excluding computer ‘Gethin’ though, because he can GF)

[flat4alfa]

10 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

so @flat4alfa can still rightful respond back to that letter saying that they are not looking for any sort of exact keeper detail names/address, that they are just looking for a general history on the vehicle, the general towns its been registered in over the years, how the vehicle was first registered, who was the registering dealer, a copy of its original V55/1, and any other documents the DVLA may be able to provide regarding the vehicle and its history over time, so that one can have the vehicles history on file for personal reference 

Fair enough. It’s been well over ten years since I last bothered.  What I did do is simply paraphrase the words from a forum thread I found elsewhere, where they had been successful 

My sloppy handwriting can’t have helped either.  I mean, look at it.

2/10 must try harder

Ok I will resubmit, typed out tidily, also adding some BS that I am the nominated secretary for the ASSASS (Auto Shite Society for Archive Selection and Submission; to add a touch of credence, like

[New POD]

On 07/07/2025 at 21:39, LightBulbFun said:

Neat! I helped someone do this with an Invacar a few years back and he did get get a list of "general locations" for each of the previous keepers

but it was not in depths as to what you got as he was mostly interested in plate change details (as he did not believe me at first when I told him about the plate history of his Model 70!)

but someone else I know with an Invacar Mk12, sent off a V888 a little while back (in late 2024) but with very specific wording along the lines of "tell me *everything* about the vehicle, every keeper change its had, any colour changes its had, tell me any time it was taxed, very in detail stuff, and he similarly got a wealth of info back, including much to my surprise a photocopy of its original buff logbook, (sadly with the keeper details censored as above) which was extra surprising because this perticular Mk12 was one that had dropped off the main system and was only unarchived many years later (much like @egg's Mk12 was) and I always thought that when a vehicle was archived off the system, only very basic data about the vehicle was retained, so to see that a photocopy of the buff logbook did survive in the archives was quite exciting in itself

so its very much something I have been meaning to try again with, but I have not yet figured out which Invacar I want to try V888 next! in that which one of all the ones I know of in preservation today is likely to return the most historically important/interesting info to be worth wrangling with the DVLA to get  which is why I have *not* done this with REV because I know all of her previous keepers etc, she is one of the few Invacars out there that does have some known history. 

 

its nice to see the sucess that you had to see someone else try this outside of Invacar circles, to know its not just a fluke!

the supplying dealer/person doing the initial first registration is something I wondered if could be included in one of these V888's, as above I have done a couple of these for Invacars, but the only one that was in detail as this, was for an Invacar Mk12, so instead of the V55/1 we (much to our pleasant surprise) just got a full photo copy of its old buff logbook, which was quite neat in itself!  so I am curious to try for REV now and see if I can get the original V55/1, but again I know that the registering dealer is more then likely going to "just be" Invacar Ltd! so it would not really tell me anything new other then it would be neat to see the original form

but as an aside to all of this one thing we noticed with the Invacar Mk12, was that for the keepers where it was registered to a company/not a private individual, the DVLA did not block out the details, so we could see which approved repairer it was registered too for a time, which was quite neat in itself  

so if someone has a commercial vehicle they want to know the keeper history of a V888 could still yeild quite a nice bit of info  

If you know the dealer / repairer that owned it and its a Ltd company you can also search the company and find out the name of the directors and their address (or the address of their accountant.