How do I find my old car?

For some people a car is just a means of transport, but for some of us it’s so much more. You can’t help but develop an attachment to certain cars you’ve owned for the way they look or drive, or the journeys or memories you made in them – and that leads some of us to seek out our old cars, to try and recapture those feelings.

Thankfully, modern technology has made it easier than ever to trace your old car, particularly if you have the right information to hand. While there’s no guarantee your car is still out there – one failed MoT is, unfortunately, all it takes to scrub a lot of cars from the road – our guide below explains how you can at least go about finding out how your old car is getting on.

Check whether your car is still on the road

This may feel like a very simple place to begin your search, but it could be the most important. The easiest way to see if the vehicle is still on the road is by visiting the Government’s ‘check if a vehicle is taxed’ page. 

Once you get there, you’ll be asked for the vehicle registration number, which will bring up a page with a few details, such as the make and colour of the car. If everything is correct, click yes and move on to the next page.

Here you’ll learn more crucial information such as whether the car is taxed, when its last MoT was and the date the last V5C was issued. You can also check its MoT history through a checker such as the one on the GOV.UK website or another MoT history check website.

If it’s been a long time since its last MoT, then the chances are the car has sadly gone to the great scrapyard in the sky. If you’re lucky, though, it may just be SORN’d, meaning it’s under a Statutory Off Road Notification – the official declaration that a car is untaxed and being kept off the public road. It might be sitting on a pile of bricks in someone’s garden, covered in moss and home to stray cats, but at least it’s still around.

Get vehicle information from DVLA

Once you’ve done a quick search of the registration to see whether the car still has an MoT, and you find it’s still around, then your next port of call should be the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency).

It isn’t as simple as calling up for a chat with DVLA staff, but with the right details, you can request more information from the service that could help you track down your old car.

To do so, follow these simple steps to request those details from the DVLA:

1. Download a V888 request form. This is the DVLA’s ‘request by an individual for information about a vehicle’ form.
2. Fill out the form with your personal information and contact details, along with details of the previous vehicle, such as its registration number, make and model.
3. Explain what information you require, why you require it and how you intend to use it. Naturally, there are a lot of privacy hurdles when it comes to accessing information that could be connected to other individuals or addresses, so the DVLA will want to make sure you have a legitimate reason for seeking it.
4. Sign the declaration at the bottom of the form, stating that you’ll only use the information for the stated purpose and won’t pass it on to others.
5. There’s a £5 fee that you’ll need to pay to access this information. The simplest way to do this is by writing a cheque payable to “DVLA Swansea”. If you don’t have a cheque book, you can request a postal order for £5 when you go to the Post Office. Make sure it’s payable to “DVLA Swansea”, keep the receipt and put the postal order in the envelope with your V888 form.
6. Post the completed form and payment to the DVLA. I’d recommend sending it Signed For so you have proof of delivery. This costs £3.80 at the time of writing. The address for the DVLA is: DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AB.

While there’s certainly no guarantee the DVLA will be able to provide the information you’re after. If it works, the V888 form is an effective way of tracing people who might have more knowledge of your old car.

Other methods to find an old car

Whether the DVLA information request above works or not, there are several other ways you can potentially trace your old car, including those detailed below.

Contact previous buyers or dealerships

If you manage to obtain suitable information on your old car from the DVLA, you can also use some of this information to get in touch with previous owners, some of whom may be happy to provide you with more information.

Ask owners clubs

You might consider owners clubs a little old-fashioned in this day and age, but they remain one of the best resources for really in-depth knowledge on particular makes and models. If you’re looking for a particular car, then a club may be able to put you in touch with either a registrar for your old model, or some of the owners, who might know of its whereabouts – or if you’re lucky, one might even be the current owner of that car you used to own 20 years ago.

Use social media

Social media is a megaphone for many of society’s ills, but it’s also a powerful tool for making connections with anyone across the world. We’ve seen people on social media quickly track down stolen cars before, and with just a photograph and a little asking around, a little sleuthing from friendly car enthusiasts can unearth a car you used to own, too. Sites like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook have large car enthusiast communities. Post a photo of your old car, and a few details you know about its last whereabouts, and you might be surprised how quickly others are able to join the dots and track it down.

Search the registration number online

This sounds almost too simple to be feasible, but the sheer volume of information uploaded to the internet means something as simple as your car’s registration number may turn up hits for your old car. 

This might be because someone has uploaded a photo of it and search engines have identified the numberplate in the image, or it might be that an owner on a forum has mentioned the numberplate somewhere. You can also trawl websites like DriveArchive, where subsequent owners may have uploaded a picture and a few details of an old car.

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