The short answer
A typical ten-year-old car arriving for its MOT shows about 75,800 miles (the middle reading across 10,784,057 tests in 2021 to 2025). Half of all ten-year-olds sit between about 54,700 and 100,400 miles. Cars run at roughly 7,500 miles a year through their first decade, then slow down: the typical car passes 100,000 miles at fifteen, and the yearly average drifts to about 6,700 by then.
So an advert for a ten-year-old car at 54,700 miles sits right on the lower quarter: on the low side, but one ten-year-old in four shows less. One at 100,400 sits on the upper quarter, which is a reason to read the history closely, not a reason to walk away.
What the data shows
Each row is the odometer reading recorded at the first MOT test of the year for cars of that age, across every class 4 test in Great Britain from 2021 to 2025. The lower quarter is the reading a quarter of cars sit below; the upper quarter is the reading a quarter sit above. The figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
| Age at test | Lower quarter | Typical (median) | Upper quarter | Rough miles a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 15,000 | 22,600 | 33,000 | 7,500 |
| 5 years | 26,000 | 37,500 | 52,200 | 7,500 |
| 7 years | 37,800 | 53,400 | 72,600 | 7,600 |
| 10 years | 54,700 | 75,800 | 100,400 | 7,600 |
| 12 years | 63,800 | 87,600 | 114,600 | 7,300 |
| 15 years | 74,100 | 100,600 | 130,100 | 6,700 |
| 18 years | 76,700 | 105,200 | 137,100 | 5,800 |
| 20 years and over | 67,800 | 98,500 | 135,200 | 4,900 |
Two patterns are worth knowing. First, the spread widens with age: the gap between the lower and upper quarter grows in every row of the table. The older the car, the less its age alone tells you about its mileage. Second, the median falls back after twenty years. The highest-mileage old cars leave the road, and the ones that stay are increasingly the lightly used and the cherished.
How to use the table against an advert
- Find the row for the car's age. Use the year it was first registered, not the plate style. A car registered in 2016 is ten at a 2026 test.
- Place the advert's mileage. Inside the two quarters is ordinary. Below the lower quarter is low; above the upper quarter is high. Neither is good or bad on its own.
- Look up the car's past tests. On GOV.UK check MOT history every test since 2005 lists the mileage recorded that day. The trail should rise steadily. A reading that falls, or a jump of tens of thousands in one year, needs an explanation.
- Match low mileage to the advisories. A car far below the lower quarter that carries corrosion, suspension or tyre-age advisories has spent years parked. Standing is not kind to a car.
- Match high mileage to the service record. A car above the upper quarter with a full record and clean tests is a car that has been driven and maintained. That is often the better buy.
Why this matters now
With fewer three-to-five-year-old cars on the market, more buyers are looking at cars of ten years and older, where the mileage range is widest and the pass rate lowest: 68.9% at ten years and 57.6% at fifteen, against 87.8% at three. A benchmark stops a seller's "low mileage for the year" being the only reference point in the conversation. It also helps the other way: a car at the upper quarter is not a worn-out car, it is a car that has done what the typical car does, a little sooner.
What this does not mean
These are readings for the whole fleet, not a rule for any one car. A delivery driver's five-year-old far above the upper quarter and a retired couple's fifteen-year-old far below the lower quarter are both real and both normal for their owners. The table says where the middle is, not where a car ought to be. A reading that does not fit the trail on the MOT history is a question for the seller; if you suspect the odometer has been altered, Action Fraud is the place to report it.
Frequently asked questions
About 75,800 miles is the middle reading at the MOT, with half of ten-year-olds between roughly 54,700 and 100,400 miles, across 10,784,057 tests in 2021 to 2025. Anything in that range is ordinary.
About 7,500 a year through the first decade, judged by the median reading divided by the car's age. The yearly figure eases to about 6,700 by fifteen years and 4,900 for cars of twenty and over, because high-mileage old cars leave the road.
It is the typical reading for a fifteen-year-old and the upper quarter for a ten-year-old, so it is not unusual. What matters is the history: a steady mileage trail, a service record and the advisories on past tests tell you more than the number alone.
Survival. The cars still being tested at twenty years and over are increasingly the lightly used and the well kept; the hardest-worked ones have already been scrapped. The median falls back to about 98,500 and the lower quarter to 67,800.
Sources and method
Readings are the odometer value recorded at class 4 first tests, 2021-2025 pooled, by vehicle age at test (test year minus first-used year); readings under 100 or over 400,000 excluded. Lower quarter, median and upper quarter are rounded to the nearest 100; the miles-a-year column is the median divided by the age and is a rough guide only. Tests with a reading: 10,551,951 at age 3; 12,155,725 at 5; 12,945,909 at 7; 10,784,057 at 10; 8,899,796 at 12; 6,828,540 at 15; 3,841,162 at 18; 7,973,867 at 20 and over. Pass rates quoted are passes divided by first tests for cars of that age, all years pooled.
- DVSA anonymised MOT results, class 4 first tests, 2021-2025
- GOV.UK: Check the MOT history of a vehicle
- Action Fraud: report fraud
About these figures. Figures are computed by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (class 4, first tests only, test years 2021-2025), published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Pass rate = passes divided by first tests, with pass-after-rectification counted as a fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Test class 4 only, first tests only; retests are excluded. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. Alias spellings of a make are counted under one make name and all trims of a model under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables.
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.
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