How to Check Car Ownership in Kenya Before You Buy

To check who owns a car in Kenya, order an NTSA motor vehicle copy of records from your own eCitizen account. You enter the registration or chassis number, pay KES 550 at the time of writing (October 2026), and download the record immediately. It names the registered owner and shows the chassis and engine numbers, so you can compare them with the seller and the car before any money changes hands.

Why check car ownership before buying in Kenya?

Because the register decides who the owner is. Section 8 of the Traffic Act (Cap. 403) says that the person in whose name a vehicle is registered is deemed to be its owner unless the contrary is proved. A seller who is not on the record cannot transfer the car to you on NTSA's system.

NTSA says the same in its e-logbook FAQs: buyers are encouraged to carry out their own verification, and the way to confirm ownership before buying is the motor vehicle copy of records, found under the services tab of your NTSA account.

What is an NTSA copy of records?

It is what most people call a logbook search or a vehicle search. NTSA describes it as a document containing detailed information on the motor vehicle, including:

• The chassis and engine numbers
• The details of the registered owner
• The make and model
• The year of manufacture and the date of registration

In April 2024, NTSA said in a statement reported by Capital FM that the record shows the owner's name and KRA PIN but not their email address, ID number or phone number. The same statement listed other details on the record, among them the logbook number, the entry number, the fuel type, charges and the caveat status. Those last two items matter most to a buyer, as explained below.

How do you do an NTSA vehicle search on eCitizen?

NTSA lists these steps on its copy of records page:

1. Log in to your eCitizen account.
2. Select the NTSA service portal.
3. Go to services and click on motor vehicle copy of records.
4. Enter the registration or chassis number, search, then submit.
5. Select a payment mode and complete the payment.
6. Go to your application history and click on view to download the copy of records.

NTSA gives the processing time as immediate. Run the search yourself, from your own account, rather than accepting a PDF or a screenshot sent by the seller. A file someone else downloaded proves nothing about the car in front of you today.

How much is an NTSA vehicle search?

KES 550 at the time of writing (October 2026), according to NTSA's copy of records page, paid through eCitizen. NTSA's own pages send users to ecitizen.go.ke and serviceportal.ntsa.go.ke for its services. If someone offers to do the search for you and asks you to send money to a personal number, decline: you can do it yourself in a few minutes.

What should you compare on the copy of records?

• The owner's name against the seller's national ID. If the seller is not the registered owner, stop and ask why.
• The number of owners. NTSA's system supports joint ownership. If two names appear, the other owner has to be part of the sale.
• The chassis and engine numbers against the numbers on the car itself. Ask your mechanic to locate them.
• The make, model and year against what the ad says.
• The registration number against the plates on the car.
• Any financier, charge or caveat on the record.

How do you check if a car has a loan in Kenya?

Look at the ownership record. Lenders register their interest in a car through what NTSA calls the asset financing in-charge process, and according to NTSA's e-logbook FAQs, financier interests and caveats appear in the vehicle ownership records. A vehicle with an active loan cannot be transferred: the e-logbook system flags the lien and blocks the transfer until the financier releases it digitally, through the discharge process.

Liens are not only for loans. NTSA says a lien or encumbrance is also registered when a vehicle is used as a bond in a court case, and anyone disputing ownership can write to NTSA to ask for a caveat. If the record shows a financier, a charge or a caveat, do not pay until it has been cleared on the system and a fresh copy of records shows a clean entry.

How do you verify a logbook or e-logbook?

NTSA's guidance for banks applies to buyers too: screenshots and printed copies should never be relied upon. Verification has to be a live check, through NTSA's official system or by scanning the QR code.

• E-logbook: NTSA says buyers can verify its authenticity by scanning its QR code.
• Paper logbook: physical logbooks are still used alongside e-logbooks. The NTSA service portal has a public Verify Logbook tool, which asks for the code obtained by scanning the logbook's QR code and for the chassis number.
• In both cases, the copy of records you ordered yourself remains the reference.

What red flags should stop the sale?

• The seller will not let you run your own search, or insists on sending one
• The name on the record is not the seller's and there is no clear explanation
• The chassis number on the car does not match the record
• A financier, charge or caveat appears and the seller wants payment first
• You are pushed to pay a deposit before viewing the car

Our guide on avoiding online scams in Nigeria and Kenya covers fake payment messages and deposit tricks.

What comes after a clean search?

Inspect the car with a mechanic, using our used car inspection checklist. Then put the price and the payment method in a written sale agreement. On the e-logbook system, NTSA says the seller initiates the transfer and the buyer accepts it from their eCitizen account. Our guide on how to transfer car ownership in Kenya walks through that step.

Buying or selling a car in Kenya?

Browse cars for sale on AfricaSoco and ask each seller for the registration number, so you can run the search before you travel to see the car. Sellers save buyers time by stating in the ad that the logbook is in their name and free of any loan.

When you are ready to sell, post a free ad for your car. Every ad is reviewed before it goes live, and buyers contact you directly on WhatsApp or by phone.