How to read a car's MOT history | Used Cars Isle of Wight

The short version

Every MOT since 2005 is on GOV.UK for free. All you need is the registration.
The mileage should only ever go up. A drop, or a big unexplained gap, needs a good answer.
The same advisory year after year means a problem that's getting worse, not one that's been fixed.
On island cars, corrosion advisories on brake pipes, sills and suspension matter most.

An MOT history is the closest thing to a free, independent inspection report you'll get for a used car. It shows every test the car has had since 2005, what failed, what the tester warned about, and the mileage each time. It takes two minutes to read, and it's worth doing before you travel anywhere to view a car.

Car pages on this site show the MOT history for you, with a mileage check, whenever the dealer gives us the registration.

Where to find it

Get the registrationIt's in most adverts and photos. If it isn't, ask. A seller who won't give it to you has something to hide.
Go to GOV.UKUse Check the MOT history of a vehicle. It's free, with no sign-up, and it isn't the same as the paid history checks.
Check the make, model and colour matchIf the result shows a different car, the plates may be cloned. Walk away.

New cars and classicsIn England, Scotland and Wales, a car's first MOT is due when it's three years old, so a younger car has no history yet. Most cars over 40 years old don't need an MOT at all.

What the results mean

Since May 2018, every problem a tester finds goes into one of these groups:

Category	What it means	Should it worry you?
Dangerous	An immediate risk. The car fails and shouldn't be driven until it's repaired.	Only if it's recent and there's no record of a pass afterwards.
Major	Could affect safety or the environment. The car fails.	Check it was fixed: there should be a pass soon after.
Minor	No big effect on safety. The car passes, but it should be repaired.	Ask whether it's been done.
Advisory	Something to keep an eye on. It could become a problem.	Yes, if the same one keeps appearing.

Before 2018 there were just fails and advisories, so older records read a little differently.

Check the mileage tells a sensible story

Each test records the mileage. Put them side by side and you get a picture of how the car has been used, and whether anyone has wound the clock back.

Normal versus suspicious. A steady climb is what you want. A gap followed by a lower reading can be a typing mistake by the tester, a replaced instrument cluster, or a clocked car. Ask for proof, such as invoices showing the mileage, before you go any further.

It never goes down. A small drop can be a tester's typo, and the record usually notes a correction. A big one needs paperwork to explain it.
No long gaps. A missing year can mean the car was off the road (SORN), abroad, or driven without an MOT. Ask which.
The yearly miles suit the car's story. Many island cars cover far fewer miles than the UK average of roughly 7,000 a year. Low miles are good, but a car that has barely moved for years can have seized brakes, perished tyres and a tired battery.
The advert matches. The mileage today should be a bit higher than at the last MOT, not lower.

Quick mileage check

Type the mileage from each MOT, oldest first, one per box. We'll show the miles between tests and flag anything odd. Nothing is sent anywhere.

1st test 2nd test 3rd test 4th test 5th test 6th test

Enter at least two readings.

Reading the advisories

Advisories are the most useful part of the record. A tester has seen something that isn't bad enough to fail yet. The trick is to look for patterns:

Usually fine

A one-off advisory that doesn't come back the next year
Tyres "close to the legal limit" followed by no tyre advisory next time
Minor oil misting on an older engine
Small stone chips in the windscreen

Ask questions

The same corrosion advisory two or three years running
"Brake pipes corroded" or "subframe corroded"
Oil leaks that get worse between tests
A fail, then a pass a day later at a different test centre

Advisories that matter more on the island

Sea air speeds up corrosion, especially on cars parked by the shore. These are the words to look out for in island MOT records:

Advisory mentions	Why it matters
Brake pipes corroded	A cheap fix early on. Left alone, it becomes a fail and can be dangerous.
Sill, floor or subframe corrosion	Structural rust is expensive to repair properly, and can make an older car uneconomic to fix.
Suspension springs or arms corroded	Springs can snap. Arms can weaken where they mount to the body.
Brake discs pitted or scored	Common on cars that sit still near the sea. Usually just new discs and pads, but worth pricing in.
Exhaust corroded or leaking	Usually a straightforward repair, but a sign of how the rest of the underside may look.

The salt air and rust guide shows where to look on the car itself.

What an MOT history can't tell you

An MOT only checks the car's condition on the day of the test, and only against the MOT rules. It doesn't cover:

The engine, clutch and gearbox, beyond emissions and obvious leaks.
Outstanding finance, write-offs or theft. For those you need a paid history check, usually £10 to £20 online.
Servicing. Ask for the service book or invoices.
Anything that's happened since the last test.

Island tipWhen you ask the seller about an advisory, ask to see the invoice for the repair. Island garages are small and local, so a genuine repair is easy to prove. "It's been done" with no paperwork is not the same thing.

See the MOT history on the car page

Cars on this site with a registration show their MOT history and a mileage check.

Browse used cars