MOT Advisory Items When Buying a Used Car: Worry or Not

What an advisory means, and what it doesn't

The MOT test sorts problems into categories, and only two of them stop a car passing. An advisory sits below that line: the tester noticed early wear worth watching but not yet bad enough to fail the car on the day. It's a note for the next twelve months, not a defect the car is currently driving around with.

Why a few advisories can be a good sign

Here's the part most buyers get backwards. A ten year old car with zero advisories across its last three tests isn't necessarily pristine, it can just as easily mean the previous keeper did the bare minimum to scrape a pass and left everything else unrecorded. Tyres, brake pads, and bushes wear on a schedule. A car that's covered real mileage should show some of that wear somewhere in its history.

What actually worries a mechanic is the opposite pattern: a spotless record on a car where the mileage and age say wear should exist. That's the file worth a longer look, not the one with a page of minor notes.

Safety critical advisories versus cosmetic ones

Not every advisory carries the same weight. The tester's wording tells you which category it falls into, and the two groups deserve very different reactions from a buyer.

• Brakes: pad or disc wear close to the limit, a slight fluid leak, uneven wear between sides.
• Steering and suspension: a bush showing play, a shock absorber with a slight leak, a track rod end starting to wear.
• Tyres: tread nearing the legal limit, a sidewall showing early cracking.
• Corrosion: surface rust noted on a sill or a subframe, not yet structural.

The first three groups are safety related and worth pricing into an offer even when they're only advisories, since they tend to become failures within a year. Cosmetic notes, like a cracked wing mirror casing or a worn interior trim, cost nothing towards safety and barely move a fair price.

Checking the full history before you even view the car

The government's free MOT history checker covers every test a car has had since 2005, advisories included, and it needs nothing more than the reg plate. No login, no fee, and it works from a phone in the seller's driveway if you didn't check it beforehand.

1. Go to the free check MOT history service on gov.uk and enter the registration.
2. Read every test in order, not just the most recent one, to see whether the same advisory repeats and worsens.
3. Note the mileage recorded at each test to confirm it's rising consistently, a break in that pattern is worth asking about.
4. Cross check any repeated brake or suspension advisory against what the seller says has been fixed since.

Turning advisories into a lower offer

Once you've read the history, add up what the open safety related advisories would realistically cost to sort at an independent garage, tyres, pads, a bush or two. That figure becomes a concrete number to bring to the negotiation, far stronger than a vague ask for money off. Our guide on negotiating a used car price covers how to present that kind of number so it actually lands.

What to check before you sign anything

Pull the full MOT history first, price the safety related advisories into your offer, and use our used car checklist for the parts a test certificate can't tell you, like how the car actually feels on a drive. A quick free valuation alongside the history check confirms the asking price still makes sense once the repair costs are factored in.