The MOT advisories most often recorded, by car age: how to read an advisory list when buying

The short answer

An advisory is the tester's note that something is on its way to failing. On a car aged 10 to 14, the commonest one is tyre tread close to the legal limit, recorded on almost 1 in 5 first tests (18.1% of 44,980,002 tests carried out 2021 to 2025). Worn brake discs follow at 10.3% and thinning pads at 7.6%. On a car aged 15 and over, an engine oil leak is noted on 12.2% of tests and corroded brake pipes on 11.5%.

So when a seller's MOT history shows three or four advisories, the question is not whether there are any. Most cars past six years have some. The questions are whether they are the ones that fit the car's age, and whether anyone has acted on them since. GOV.UK's MOT history service lists every advisory on every test, free, from the registration alone.

The advisories recorded most, by car age

Each cell is the share of all first tests in that age band that carried the advisory, pooled across 2021 to 2025. A dash means the item was outside the five most recorded for its area in that band.

Read down a column and you have a profile of a normal car at that age. A three-year-old collects tyre and pad notes, because those wear with miles. From ten years the notes move underneath: bushes, springs, pipes, oil. A few more belong in the picture for an older car: an exhaust leak advisory on 4.9% of tests at 15 and over, a leaking shock absorber on 3.4% at 10 to 14, play in a track rod end on 2.0% at 15 and over, and a clouded headlamp lens on 2.7% at 15 and over.

How to read an advisory list when you view a car

1. Pull the full history before you travel. Read every test on the GOV.UK service, not just the last one. The pattern across years tells you more than any single list.
2. Check the age fit. The table is what normal looks like. A three-year-old car with corroded brake pipes is unusual and worth a question. A fifteen-year-old with no advisories at all has either been looked after or recently had the work done; ask which.
3. Look for repeats. The same advisory on three tests in a row means nobody acted on it. A tyre note that vanishes the next year means a tyre was changed.
4. Ask for the paper. An advisory followed by a fix should have an invoice. If the seller says it was done, the receipt says when and by whom.
5. Match the list to the car in front of you. Tread you can measure with a gauge. A tear or bulge in a tyre you can see. An oil leak leaves a mark where the car is parked.
6. Price the open ones. Pads, tyres and a spring are routine jobs. Corroded brake pipes or a deteriorating disc are bigger. An open advisory list is a negotiating list, and the car's next test is at most £54.85 plus whatever is still on it.

If you buy from a dealer and a fault appears afterwards, Citizens Advice explains what you can ask for and when fair wear and tear applies.

What an advisory is, and is not

GOV.UK puts it plainly: a test result may also carry a list of minor or advisory problems to monitor or fix in the future, and the car fails only if the result lists dangerous or major problems. A car with ten advisories has still passed. An advisory is not a guarantee either way: it is what the tester saw on the day, and the next test may record the same item as a fail once it crosses the line. A pad noted as wearing thin this year is, under the inspection manual, a dangerous defect once it is below 1.5 mm. That is the whole point of the note.

If the car does fail on a tyre or a lamp, those are on the list of items retested free at the same centre before the end of the next working day; most other items need a partial retest within 10 working days, for which a fee may be charged.

What this does not mean

These are fleet figures for every car tested, pooled across every model with 500 or more tests. They say what is commonly noted at each age, not what is on the car you are looking at, and an advisory count by itself says nothing about a car's value or safety. A high-mileage car with careful owners can carry more notes than a low-mileage car that has been neglected, because careful owners use testers who write things down. The record shows what was noted, not why, and not whether it was fixed the following week.

Sources and method

Each figure is the share of all class 4 first tests in the age band, 2021-2025, that recorded the named advisory (33,793,352 tests aged 3-5, 50,103,915 aged 6-9, 44,980,002 aged 10-14, 31,405,150 aged 15 and over), taken from the five most recorded advisories in each of eight defect areas. An advisory is recorded against the same item as the equivalent fail (for example the tread-depth item), and means the tester judged the item to be approaching, not at, the fail point. A test can record several advisories, so rows do not add up, and a dash means the item was outside the top five for its area in that band. National context: 72.3% of 33,210,951 first tests passed in 2025.

• DVSA anonymised MOT results, class 4 first tests, 2021-2025 (data.gov.uk)
• GOV.UK: Check the MOT history of a vehicle
• GOV.UK: MOT test result
• GOV.UK: MOT test fees
• GOV.UK: MOT retests after a repair
• GOV.UK: MOT inspection manual, section 1, brakes
• Citizens Advice: Problems with a used car

This article is general information drawn from published test records. It is not professional, mechanical or legal advice, and an MOT pass or a clean MOT history does not guarantee that a car is roadworthy today. If you are unsure about a car, have it inspected by a qualified mechanic. You can check any vehicle's MOT history free on the official GOV.UK MOT history service.