How to check MOT history before buying a used car
You can check MOT history before buying any used car, for free, on GOV.UK. All you need is the registration number. It shows every test result, the mileage at each test, and every defect and advisory the testers recorded. Before you buy a used car, it's one of the most useful five minutes you can spend, because it shows how the car's been looked after and what's probably due next.
How to check it
- Go to Check MOT history on GOV.UK.
- Enter the registration number from the advert or the number plate.
- Check the make, model and colour match the car you're looking at.
- Open each test to see the full list of defects and advisories.
It costs nothing and you don't need the seller's permission. Cars registered in Northern Ireland use a separate system.
What a good history looks like
A well-kept car typically shows:
- Tests roughly every twelve months, without long gaps.
- Mileage that goes up steadily each year.
- Advisories that appear and then disappear the following year, because someone fixed them.
- Few fails, or fails that were sorted and retested quickly.
A car with plenty of advisories isn't automatically a bad one. Older cars collect them. What matters is whether they get dealt with.
Warning signs
| What you see | What it might mean |
|---|---|
| The same advisory three or four years running | Nobody fixed it. Expect to pay for it yourself |
| Mileage lower than at an earlier test | Possible clocking, or a typing error. Ask, and get proof |
| A long gap between tests | Off the road, laid up or driven without an MOT. Ask why |
| Rust advisories growing year on year | Corrosion spreading. Look underneath before you buy |
| Failed and passed on the same day | Usually just repaired at the test centre, which is fine |
| Very low mileage per year on an old car | Could be genuine, but cars that sit can have their own problems |
The most useful line is the repeated advisory. If "brake pipe corroded" or "oil leak" has been there for years, you know what's due, and you can use it.
Using advisories to negotiate
If the latest test listed advisories that haven't been fixed, they're fair to bring up when agreeing a price. Paste the history into the MOT advisory decoder and it'll give you a rough repair cost for each item. A seller is far more likely to take money off for "two tyres close to the limit and a pair of front discs, roughly £400" than for "it's got a few advisories".
Don't treat the MOT history as the whole story, though. The test doesn't look at the condition of the engine, clutch or gearbox, and nothing is taken apart. A car with a clean history can still have a tired clutch. Get it inspected or at least have a proper test drive.
Advisories worth taking extra care over
Some advisories on a used car deserve a closer look before you hand over money:
- Structural corrosion on sills, floors or subframes. Welding can be expensive, and it can be worse than it looks. The underbody rust guide explains why.
- Brake pipes corroded. Not a reason to walk away, but budget for it.
- Oil leaks on an engine where the likely culprit is a rear crankshaft seal, because of the labour.
- Emissions or engine warning light fails in the past, especially on diesels with a DPF.
What to do now
Run the reg through the GOV.UK checker, read the last three or four tests, and put the latest list of advisories through the decoder to get a rough idea of costs. If anything on there is unclear, our guide to what MOT advisories mean is a good place to start.
Got more than one advisory?
Paste your whole MOT result into the decoder. It explains every line, sorts them by urgency and adds up a rough repair budget.
Decode my MOT