Licence plate lookup systems of New Zealand

Section 236 and 237 of the Land Transport Act 1998 (LTA) allows public access to the Motor Vehicle Register maintained by the NZ Transport Agency. The Motor Vehicle Register records information about vehicles used on New Zealand roads and the persons responsible for their use. The information from the Register can be sourced directly from the NZTA as well as from third parties who include the information with their vehicle information reports.

Services provided directly by the New Zealand Transport Agency are listed on the official website [1]

Run by the police this allows the public to check whether a vehicle has been reported stolen.[2]

Multiple vehicle report providers allow to check basic vehicle information free of charge by entering the registration plate number.

Although the personal information of vehicle owners is not available to the public, the ownership can generally be confirmed by entering the name or driver's license number of the owner. Some of the vehicle report providers (including CarJam, Checka, That Car) allow to confirm the owner free of charge.

Before purchasing a vehicle, buyers can conduct a search of the Personal Property Securities Register to ensure there is no money owing on it.

Most vehicle manufactures attach a VIN to their vehicles for identification purposes. This can be used to identify a vehicle's particular characteristics for parts ordering and fluid type during maintenance. A License Plate Lookup returns the vehicle's VIN and other data, removing the need for a tradesman to physically locate and record this 17-digit code.

With the influx of Japanese Import vehicles VINs were being attached at the NZ border and not by the manufacturer. As a result, much of the information contained in the VIN for parts purchasing purposes is absent and many vehicles still require a tradesperson to physically identify a particular chassis and engine type. VINs attached at the NZ border start with the characters 7A.

One solution adopted by companies such as Repco and PartMaster to identify vehicle characteristics without using a manufacturer's VIN is with an algorithm that analyses other data on the Motor Vehicle Register. The problems include data inconsistencies and prohibitive laws that restrict data analysis of the Register. As a result, the majority of these part lookup systems have been restricted for use by an experienced tradesperson.

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