DETAILS OF A VEHICLE COPY OF RECORDS Vehicle Logbook Verification Result Details;
All the information you get from a car ownership search in Kenya

What is A Vehicle Copy Of Records (CoR)

Details Contained in Vehicle Copy Of Records (CoR) Essential Information Within The Copy Of Records Printout

The 'PARTICULARS OF VEHICLE' Details

• 1. Registration Number;
  This is the Plate Number of the vehicle, as aforementioned, it is the unique identifier of the vehicle. There are other details that can be used as unique identifiers of a vehicle, but they are not easily visible or accessible as the registration number is.
  
• 2. Date of Registration;
  This is date in which the vehicle was first registered in Kenya, that is, the day, month and year in which the vehicle was entered into the Kenyan government records.
  
• 3. Chassis/Frame Number;
  This is a manufacturer’s (for example Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda et cetera) issued unique identification number for the vehicle’s chassis or frame onto which the body of a particular vehicle is built. On both eCitizen and mVerified one can enter this number instead of the government’s issued Vehicle Registration Number to perform a search for the vehicle.

• 4. Customs Entry Number;
  

  This is the number issued by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for the vehicle with respect to the tax known as import or customs duty charged on the vehicle’s arrival into the country.

• 5. Type of Vehicle;
  Vehicles are mainly categorized into three types; MOTOR VEHICLE, MOTOR CYCLES and TRAILERS.

  ‘Motor Vehicle’ Type have Registration Numbers consisting of six or seven alphanumeric characters beginning with three alphabetic characters that start with the Letter “K”. The first three alphabetic characters are followed by a ‘space/blank’ then three numeric characters and finally an alphabetic character.
  The exceptions are the ‘Motor Vehicles’ bearing Diplomatic Plates or National and County Governments Plates, and various short-term number plates commonly known as ‘Green Plates’. The ‘Green Plates’ have Registration Numbers consisting of six alphanumeric characters beginning with two alphabetic characters that start with the Letters “KD” or “KG”.

  ‘Motor Cycles’ Type have Registration Numbers consisting of eight alphanumeric characters beginning with four alphabetic characters that also begin with the Letter “K”. The first four alphabetic characters are followed by a ‘space/blank’ then three numeric characters and finally an alphabetic character.

  ‘Trailers’ Type have Registration Numbers consisting of six alphanumeric characters beginning with two alphabetic characters that start with the Letter “Z”. The first two alphabetic characters are followed four numeric characters with no ‘space/blank’.

• 6. Body Type;
  The ‘Body Type’ of a vehicle will depend on the ‘Type of Vehicle’ it under as explained in the previous point.
  

  ‘Motor Vehicle’ Type have only ‘MOTOR CYCLE’ as Body Type and ‘Trailers’ Type only have ‘TRAILER’ as Body Type. However, ‘Motor Vehicle’ Type have ‘S.WAGON’, ‘SALOON’, ‘LORRY/TRUCK’ and ‘VAN/PICKUP’.

  This is a commonly overlooked aspect of the logbook that many fraudsters can be exposed with. For instance, one can find for ‘Motor Vehicle’ ‘Type of Vehicle’ written simply as ‘VAN’ or ‘LORRY’ instead of how the exact format the Government uses, that is, ‘VAN/PICKUP’ or ‘LORRY/TRUCK’.

• 7. Date of Manufacture;
  This is what is commonly referred to as “Year of Manufacture” in the Kenya auto industry.
  

  In actual sense, it is not a date with Day and Month that is recorded or given here but just the “Year”. For instance; Date of Manufacture: 2024. This is a very critical detail to consider especially for those wanting to ensure that the car they are purchasing is freshly imported.

  In Kenya one can not import a car that is seven years old from the year it was manufactured. That is, as it is 2024 currently, importation is only allowed for cars manufactured not later than 2017. The ‘Month of Manufacture’ though not shown on the Logbook or the Copy of Records, is available to importers and on Import/Custom Duty documentations.

  Some dealers take advantage of this fact and do risk importing cars that are just a month away from the 7-year mark, for instance, in August 2024, importing a car whose year of manufacture is July 2017, and giving themselves a month for the importation process. This is usually because such units tend to be cheaper at the car auctions abroad in countries such as Japan or Singapore.

• 8. Body Colour;
  

  This is simply the colour of the vehicle. In some instances, people do change the colour, but without applying for ‘change of particulars’ and getting approval for changing of the colour, the new colour will not reflect in the logbook or the Copy of Records (CoR).

  Buyers should be very cautious of being told that the colour was changed if it appears different than it is on the logbook or the Copy of Records (CoR) because they can find themselves arrested or the vehicle impounded as it is illegal to change the colour without approval.

• 9. Make;
  

  This will be the manufacturer’s brand, for instance; Toyota, BMW, Bhachu (for Trailers), Isuzu et cetera.

• 10. Vehicle Model;
  

  This will vary from one manufacturer to the next, some give a ‘code’ and some a ‘name’, for instance ‘F900XR’ or ‘HILUX’, for Trailers, this will simply be given as “ENCLOSED BODY”. In some case this would be blank, it should not be a concerning issue if that is the case.

• 11. Engine Number;
  

  This is a manufacturer’s (for example Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda et cetera) issued unique identification number for the vehicle’s engine.

• 12. Number of Axles, Tare Weight(Kgs), Load Capacity(Kgs), and Number of Passengers;
  

  These are details that are indicative of the carriage capacity and limits of the vehicle.

• 13. Fuel Type;
  

  This is the type of fuel that the vehicle uses. The most common being either Petrol or Diesel, but there are also others such as Electric or Hybrid.

• 14. Rating(cc);
  

  This the size or capacity of the engine of the vehicle. “CC” stands for “cubic capacity” or “cubic centimeters”, which is the measure of the amount of fuel/gas that the engine can hold or loaded into the engine.

• 15. Vehicle Under Caveat;
  

  This will have only one of two values; “NO” or “YES”. If you are seeking to purchase and have ownership of the vehicle transferred to you, it is critically important to first confirm if the vehicle is under caveat or not.
  A Vehicle Caveat is a legal (lawfully binding) restriction or claim placed on a vehicle to prevent its sale and/or transfer from its current ownership without the consent or approval of all the parties identified as owners in the official government records. For a comprehensive understanding of Vehicle Caveat in Kenya, read this article; Kenya Vehicle Caveat Guide.

• 16. Condition;
  

  There are two options for this category; “USED” and “NEW”. USED means that the vehicle you are verifying the logbook for is either a “foreign” or “locally” used unit. NEW means the vehicle of your logbook search has not been used/driven abroad or locally; these units/vehicles are normally referred to as a “zero-milage” units, they are exclusively purchased from the manufacturer’s local or regional registered dealer.

• 17. Drive Side;
  

  This refers to the side within the vehicle that its steering wheel is positioned, and will be indicated as either “LEFT” or “RIGHT”.

• 18. Logbook Number and Logbook Serial Number;
  

  These are two very vital information and unique to each government issued logbook certificate.
  The “Logbook No.” is a nine-digit alphanumeric starting with an alphabet letter, mostly “K” or “N”, followed by seven numbers and finally a letter. The “Logbook Serial No.” is numeric consisting of at least 12 digits.

Then finally, on tabulated section of its own, the ownership details of the vehicle are listed on the Copy Of Records (CoR) acquired from a logbook verification on mVerified Kenya or eCitizen with the heading;

• 19. CURRENT OWNER(S)
  

  Here the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) PIN and the name of the owner(s) as they appear on their National Identification Card are given. If there are any financiers still having part ownership of the vehicle, their details will be listed under the table titled CURRENT OWNER(S), with the heading; “CHARGES”.

  On the SMS received from mVerified Kenya containing the summary of the details of the vehicle’s Copy of Records (CoR), the “CHARGES” section is titled; “Financier(s)”, for the searcher of a vehicle ownership to easily know if the vehicle is still under a loan obligation and by who.

  
  

  How can you verify if a logbook certificate is genuine or not

  Details You Can Use To Verify If A Logbook Is Genuine And Up-To-Date;

  Important information to note before performing an online motor vehicle ownership search is how can you know that what you have searched for is from legitimate official government records. To ensure that the information is credible and authenticated, you can use the NTSA eCitizen platform, or alternatively and in a more streamlined way you can use mVerified Kenya Platform for the search of a motor vehicle’s Copy of Records, or Logbook Verification, or Ownership Details.

  Fraudulent car sellers have been found to provide fake physical logbooks to unsuspecting buyers, who due to excitement for a deal or ignorance of the precautions to take during purchase of a vehicle, commonly known as due diligence, end up losing a lot of money.

  Even with a physical logbook presented to a buyer, the buyer should still use mVerified Kenya to perform a search that he or she can use to authenticate the document to verify if it is genuine or not. Most buyers just check to see if the document presented looks like an original logbook, but this is usually not very brilliant thing to do or rely on as most of those who intend to con unsuspecting buyers will use a document that is very similar to a genuine logbook.

  After you perform a motor vehicle ownership search online, use the Copy of Records (CoR) that you receive on your email from mVerified or have downloaded from eCitizen, to validate the authenticity of a vehicle’s logbook using the critical and unique aspects of it as detailed in this article in the "THE 'PARTICULARS OF VEHICLE' DETAILS" section. These include the; Chassis/Frame Number; Customs Entry Number, Logbook Number and Logbook Serial Number.

  The Chassis/Frame Number; Customs Entry Number, Logbook Number and Logbook Serial Number are unique to every vehicle. With the Logbook and the Copy of Records at hand, you need to check to see if these details match. You can further check to see if the Chassis Number engraved on the vehicle is the same as that on the Logbook and the Copy of Records (CoR).

How to Get Ownership Details Of A Vehicle Ways you can use to get a Vehicle Copy of Records

DO A QUICK ONLINE VEHICLE SEARCH IN KENYA VIA MVERIFIED

• 1. Go to mverified.co.ke/ntsa-vehicle-logbook-search
• 2. On the form on the landing page
• a. Go to your M-Pesa menu
• b. Select 'Lipa na M-PESA'
• c. Select 'Buy Goods and Services'
• d. 'Enter till number': 804 3525
• e. 'Enter amount': 940
• f. 'Enter PIN': Your four digit secret PIN
• g. Confirm by selecting 'OK'
• h. Fill the required details on the form