MOT history check
Enter a registration and read the full DVSA record for the car — every test on file, whether it passed or failed, the mileage clocked at each one, advisories from the tester, and the expiry date on the current certificate. Handy before you buy, book, or sell.
No account, no card, no V5C reference. The registration is used once to make the lookup and isn't stored by us.
We can't see anything about you from your reg: it returns the vehicle, not the keeper. Only DVLA holds the registered keeper's details.
You can also see the official record free at GOV.UK →
Tests on record
No MOT tests on record yet
DVSA holds no tests for this vehicle. That's normal for a car under three years old, or one registered or tested outside Great Britain. Check the registration is right — a single wrong character looks up a different car.
Full test history (newest first)
Mileage
- (advisory) (dangerous)
Outstanding safety recall on this vehicle
DVSA has a recall recorded against this car. Recalls are fixed free of charge by a franchised dealer, whatever the age of the vehicle.
Anything flagged you'd rather not deal with yourself?
We're attached to a Glasgow MOT station. Whether it's an advisory on the last test or a fail you need put right, ring the team and we'll sort the test and the work in one visit.
What DVSA holds on this car
- Make
- Model
- Colour
- Fuel
- First used
- MOT expiry
- Recall
Before you buy a used car
- Mileage should climb steadily. A drop, or a huge jump then a drop, is the classic clocking tell.
- Advisories repeat. The same tyre or brake advisory three years running says the owner ignored it.
- Fails stay on the record for good, even after they're fixed — a cluster of dangerous defects is a car to walk away from.
- Gaps of over a year with no test can mean the car was off the road, stored, or exported and brought back.
What an MOT history actually tells you
Every MOT in Great Britain is stored on the DVSA MOT history service, and this tool reads that record straight from DVSA. Cars, motorcycles and vans in Great Britain go back to 2005; Northern Ireland from 2017; HGVs, buses and trailers from 2018. The most recent test shows your current expiry date; the ones before it form a timeline of how the car has been maintained.
The single most useful column is mileage. Because it is recorded at each test, the history is effectively a free mileage log. If the number ever falls between two tests, or jumps unrealistically in a short window, ask hard questions before you part with money. A smooth, believable annual rise is exactly what a well-used, honestly-presented car looks like.
Advisories and defects are the other half. A failure means no certificate was issued until the fault was fixed; an advisory means the tester saw something worth watching — a tyre near its limit, a brake disc starting to pit, early corrosion. A dangerous defect is the most serious of all: the vehicle must not be driven on the road until it is repaired. Reading the last two or three tests together shows which items keep coming back.
MOT history questions
How do I check my MOT history by registration number?
Type your registration into the box above and press Check free. The tool looks your vehicle up in the DVSA MOT history service and shows every test on record — the date, whether it passed or failed, the mileage recorded at that test, the expiry date of any certificate, and any advisories or defects the tester noted. There's no login and no V5C reference needed; the registration is all you need.
What does the mileage on an MOT history tell me?
Every MOT records the odometer reading at the time of the test, so the history is a chronological mileage log for the car going back to 2005. If the mileage ever goes down between two consecutive tests, or jumps unusually far in a short period, that is worth a question — it can point to a clocked odometer or a period the car spent off the road. A steady, plausible year-on-year rise is the sign of an honest, normally-used car.
What is the difference between an advisory and a fail on an MOT?
A failure means the car did not meet the standard and the certificate was not issued — the defect is listed on the tester's record and must be fixed before a pass is issued. An advisory means the tester noticed something that was not bad enough to fail but is worth watching, such as a tyre approaching the legal limit. A dangerous defect is the most serious: the car must not be driven on the road until it is fixed.
Why does my vehicle show no MOT history?
A car needs its first MOT three years after it is first registered, so a newer vehicle will legitimately have no tests yet. A vehicle that was registered or tested outside Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or one that has been off the road, can also have little or no DVSA history. If you expected a history and see none, check the registration is typed correctly first — a single wrong character will look up a different car.
Can I check the MOT history of a car before I buy it?
Yes, and you should. Running the registration through this tool before buying shows whether the car has passed or failed recent tests, how the mileage has climbed over the years, and what a tester flagged as an advisory or a dangerous defect. Combined with the printed service record it is one of the simplest ways to spot a car that has been neglected or one whose mileage does not add up. It costs nothing and takes a few seconds.