MOT Advisories Explained
Quick answer
An advisory is something the tester noticed that is not yet bad enough to fail the test — a tyre near the limit, a slightly corroded brake pipe, a weeping shock absorber. It does not have to be repaired for the car to pass. What matters is not the count but the pattern: the same advisory returning year after year is a maintenance story, and a single advisory on a safety-critical part is a repair bill.
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Since May 2018 an MOT records defects in categories. Only major and dangerous defects fail the test, so a pass can still carry a list of things worth reading.
| Category | Test result | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Dangerous | Fail | An immediate risk to safety or the environment — do not drive it away. |
| Major | Fail | Must be repaired and the vehicle retested. |
| Minor | Pass | A defect that exists now but is not serious. Repair it soon. |
| Advisory | Pass | Not yet a defect, but heading that way — a tyre at 2mm, light corrosion. |
Two cars can carry the same number of advisories and be worlds apart. This is roughly how they sort by cost and seriousness.
- Cheap and routine: bulbs, wiper blades, washer fluid, tyres approaching the limit
- Moderate: brake pads and discs, suspension bushes, anti-roll bar links, exhaust mountings
- Expensive or serious: corrosion near mounting points and brake pipes, structural rust, worn steering components, anything described as "excessively"
- Read the tester's wording: "slight" and "beginning to" are different from "excessively" and "badly"
A long list fixed straight away is a car that got looked after. The same advisory appearing three years running is a car whose owner read the advisory and did nothing — and corrosion advisories in particular tend to escalate from a note into a failure.
- Did the same item come back at later tests, in stronger language?
- Was an advisory followed by a failure on the same part?
- Did a fail become a pass within days, suggesting the work was actually done?
- Do the advisories match the mileage — high-mileage wear on a supposedly low-mileage car?
- Can the seller produce invoices for the work the advisories implied?
The free buyer summary groups recurring wording into fault families using the text in the official MOT record, so a repeated theme is visible without reading ten tests. It is a screening aid, not a mechanical diagnosis: an advisory describes what one tester saw on one day.
- What is an MOT advisory?
- A note about something the tester noticed that is not yet serious enough to fail the test, such as a tyre near the legal limit or light corrosion.
- Do MOT advisories have to be fixed?
- Not for the car to pass. They tend to become failures if ignored, so they are best treated as a repair budget rather than a formality.
- What is the difference between an advisory and a minor defect?
- A minor defect already exists but is not serious. An advisory warns that something will probably become a defect. Both appear on a pass certificate.
- Should I avoid a car with lots of advisories?
- Not automatically. Look at what they are, whether they recur, and whether they were repaired. A long list that was fixed is a better sign than one advisory ignored for three years.
- Do advisories affect a car's value?
- They should affect what you pay, because they are work someone has to do. Price the tyres, brakes and suspension you can see coming.
- Why do the same advisories appear every year?
- Because nothing was done about them. It is one of the clearest signals in the MOT record that a car was maintained to pass rather than to keep.
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Turn the guide into a check on the car
Advice is useful, but the decision is about one registration. Check its official record free, then add the paid provenance report before money changes hands.
Free: vehicle identity, tax/SORN, MOT history, mileage and buyer red flags.
Full history: adds outstanding finance, stolen, insurance write-off and other paid provenance checks.
The full report is optional. Review the free official record first if you are unsure. Payment is completed securely on the next screen.