What MOT advisories mean, and which ones matter
An advisory is a pass: the tester saw something that is not a fault yet and noted it. Pick one below for how often it turns into a fail.
The most common MOT advisories
When a part goes past an advisory: the commonest MOT fails.
The four words on an MOT result
Since 20 May 2018 every fault a tester finds is put in one of three categories, and anything that is not yet a fault can be noted as an advisory. The word decides the result.
| Word | What the tester means | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Dangerous | A direct and immediate risk to road safety or a serious effect on the environment. | Fail. The car must not be driven until it is repaired, even to get it home. |
| Major | A fault that may affect safety, put other road users at risk or affect the environment. | Fail. Repair it, and retest, before the car is used. |
| Minor | A fault with no significant effect on safety or the environment. | Pass. Repair it as soon as possible. |
| Advisory | Not a fault today, but something that could become one. | Pass. Keep an eye on it, and repair it if it gets worse. |
Tests before May 2018 show only fails and advisories.
Which ones matter
| When | What | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Within weeks | Stopping and steering | Tyre close to the limit, pads or discs thin, play in a joint, brake pipe corroded |
| This year | Structure and suspension | Corroded sill or subframe, worn bush, shock absorber misting oil |
| When convenient | Small stuff | Exhaust slightly blowing, misted lens, small oil leak |
| Nothing to fix | Notes | Undertray obscuring components, non-standard parts |
If in doubt about any advisory, ask a garage.
Common questions
Do I have to fix MOT advisories?
No. An advisory is a pass, and no law makes you repair it. But the car has to meet the standard every day, so a tyre advised as close to the limit becomes an offence the day it crosses it.
Can a car fail its MOT on advisories?
Not on the advisories themselves. It fails on major or dangerous defects, which is often last year's advisory worn further.
Do advisories stay on the record?
Yes. Every test stays on the vehicle's MOT history for good, advisories included, for any buyer to read.
Read a car's advisories
The whole registration opens that vehicle's MOT history: every test, newest first, with its defects and advisories grouped by how much they matter, and the ones that repeat picked out.
Searches to start from
Part of a plate, or none of it, searches the record by its MOT state instead.
- 66 plates whose MOT has expired
- 19 plates whose last test was a fail
- Black cars whose MOT lapsed in the last month
- Ford Focuses holding a valid MOT
- 14 plates past 150,000 miles
- Silver Vauxhalls whose recorded mileage went down
- 24 plates not yet due their first MOT
The year identifier guide says which plate is which year, and searching by make, model and colour covers the filters with no plate at all.
A whole plate opens its history above. Part of one searches the record.