HPI Checks - Paying too much

[PrestigeDiesels 5]

Just found out today that our HPI check price had gone up in March and we were not informed. Currently we are paying £3.65, If id known I would have reverted back to Autotrader's Experian check through dealer portal which is at £3.50 (I also noticed you can add a CAP valuation for 60p and Glasses for 50p)  As you can imagine HPI will not budge on price so they've lost our business...

Now we have the RAC as a new player on the market, so for you dealers that are unaware, the cheapest option which offers the same service is the RAC passport check... This is priced for us at £2.99 as we do under 5,000 checks 

Pricing -1 - 5,000 £2.99

5,000 - 10,000 £2.49

10,000 - 25,000 £1.99

25,000 - 50,000 £1.49

50,000+POA

https://www.rac.co.uk/business/commercial-services/car-passport/Home/Index?ReturnUrl=%2Fbusiness%2Fcommercial-services%2Fcar-passport%2F

 

Hope this has saved at least one of you guy's some money!

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by PrestigeDiesels

[umesh 336]

Thanks for sharing

 

[jimreidvehicle 255]

In my humble opinion I wouldn't be without Hpi to be honest it is by far the best for correct historic data and spec check!

If you are doing 500 checks this would be a £325 saving for you if you are doing 1000 checks then you would save £650 annually however with Hpi spec checker all you have to do is price one car wrong that has £7500 worth of extras from new to miss it at auction which is likely worth a gross profit of approx £2500, so for that reason I will be staying with the industry's trusted brand. 

As I say just my opinion, 

Jim

 

[umesh 336]

HPI Spec check is the BEST Thing I ever found out about .. In fact I rave about it  Can't buy a car without using it ( I.e. Audi, BMW, Mercedes especially ) 

[Steve92 80]

Spec check isn't always 100% accurate is it ? It also has some quirks where it list them as options when in fact they are standard equipment - usually black edition Audis 

[Jamie Edmonds 28]

@jimreidvehicle and @umesh I'm glad you like Spec Chek - it was a product I developed and launched when I was at HPI so it's nice to see positive comments about it from users.  @Steve92 If there are things you think aren't right then click on the 'report a problem' link and they will be investigated and fixed.  If we sort a problem out it fixes it for all cars with that option so we really appreciate the feedback.

 

Regarding the difference between the check providers, in most cases you get the same data from them all, however there are some differences.  Private plates are tricky and the companies are not always in sync depending on the amount of manual processing and work they do behind the scenes.  The other big thing is warranty, hopefully most customers will never need to use it but do check the small print - some companies will refuse to pay out if the finance co hadn't updated their records leaving you liable for the bill even thought he car showed as clear when checked.

[Steve92 80]

Jamie, I think it crops up on the occasional Black Edition Audi, we had an A6 where it listed things like black trim, Bose etc as extras but these are standard equipment on the black editions. Otherwise its very useful.

[Rory RSC 596]

I use hpi and for the benefit of having driveaway cover i think it is very good value. 

 

I did did call up to negotiate a rate a short while back and found them to be quite helpful and flexible and certainly had a saving at the end of the call. 

In contrast to my other bills HPI is not one that massively concerns me and I feel value is represented. 

[TDB 31]

We use HPi and Experian......over 28 years we have had to make one claim via HPi....REJECTED......two claims with Experian......APPROVED.

[PrestigeDiesels 5]

We are finding the RAC certificates a lot more user friendly and easier for the customers to understand - any each to their own!

 

If you guys are doing spec checks you can get them for free here - http://carinfo.kiev.ua/cars/vin/ You need to translate from Russian!

 

You need to know what could possibly be the extra spec on the cars you are selling to work out the extras as they are bundled in with all the spec. I have just checked a Mini with over 6k extras which originally we had done a spec check on and all the extras that are included in the list after I searched against the VIN number

 

Cant promise it will work every time but it a handy site to know!

[Steve92 80]

http://www.bmwvin.com

For BMWs although if you ring customer services they will tell you, they will also confirm the P11d price should you need it.

 

[PrestigeDiesels 5]

Thanks Steve - Thats handy!

[c_cars 56]

9 hours ago, umesh said:

HPI Spec check is the BEST Thing I ever found out about .. In fact I rave about it  Can't buy a car without using it ( I.e. Audi, BMW, Mercedes especially ) 

Didn't even realise we had it even though I've used HPi for years; great tool and given me some useful information today! 

[Tom 164]

I rather just use HPI as it's the known brand for checks. 

[Steve92 80]

I assume everyone knows how to check if a BMW has a service pack ?

[Tom 164]

12 hours ago, Steve92 said:

I assume everyone knows how to check if a BMW has a service pack ?

Nope! I know the servicing is stored on the key 

[Steve92 80]

https://www.bmw-service.co.uk

put the registration number in and the mileage, it will then tell you if the car has a service pack. It won't tell you it's history. There is another one for mini.

[whitestone679231 113]

Thanks for that Steve, I have never seen or used this before but just discovered that 3 of my BMW,s have service plans on them ;-) IT PAYS TO SHARE ;-))

[Steve92 80]

If a car doesn't have a service pack you can add them .... But .... It has to be paid for before its first service and it's not at the same price as when new but it is still a bit cheaper