When you're shopping for a used car, finding a vehicle with a clean MOT pass feels reassuring. But what about a car that's passed with a string of advisories? Should you walk away — or is it perfectly normal?
The honest answer is: it depends entirely on what those advisories say. Some are trivial notes about cosmetic wear. Others are early warnings of expensive, safety-critical problems. Knowing the difference can save you hundreds of pounds — or stop you making a costly mistake.
What are MOT advisories?
An MOT advisory is a note from the tester flagging something that isn't serious enough to fail the car, but could become a problem in the future. The car still passes. You're still legal to drive. But the tester is telling you — and any future buyer — to keep an eye on it.
If you're not familiar with how advisories work, our guide on what MOT advisories mean covers the basics in detail.
The important thing to understand as a buyer is that advisories vary enormously in severity. A windscreen chip outside the driver's line of vision is worlds apart from structural corrosion on a load-bearing component.
Advisories you can safely ignore
Some advisories are simply a fact of life for older vehicles. If you're buying a car that's five years old or more, you should expect to see a few of these:
- Surface rust on non-structural panels — light corrosion on exhaust heat shields, non-structural brackets, or cosmetic panels. This is normal wear and almost never becomes a problem.
- Windscreen chip outside the driver's zone — a stone chip that's away from the swept area directly in front of the driver. Worth getting filled (often free on insurance), but not a concern.
- Slight discolouration on headlamp lenses — UV damage to plastic lenses. Cosmetic only and easily polished.
- Minor oil seep — a very slight weep from a gasket or seal, with no dripping. Common on high-mileage engines and usually stable for years.
These kinds of notes shouldn't put you off a car. They show the tester was thorough, which is actually a good sign.
Advisories to monitor (and budget for)
The next tier of advisories describes components that are wearing out but haven't failed yet. These are items you'll probably need to address within the next 6-12 months:
- Brake discs worn but not excessively — expect to replace them before the next MOT. Budget around £150-£300 per axle for discs and pads.
- Tyres worn close to the legal limit — you'll need new tyres soon. At £60-£120 per tyre for a typical family car, that's £240-£480 for a full set.
- Slight play in a wheel bearing — not yet bad enough to fail, but wheel bearings don't get better. Budget £150-£250 per corner.
- Exhaust has a minor leak — may worsen and eventually fail on emissions. A patch repair might buy time, but a section replacement could cost £100-£300.
None of these are reasons to walk away, but they are reasons to negotiate. If the car needs four tyres and front brake discs within six months, that's potentially £500-£700 of work the seller hasn't done. Factor it into your offer.
Advisories to negotiate hard on
Some advisories signal genuinely expensive repairs ahead. If you see these, you should either reduce your offer significantly or reconsider the purchase:
- Suspension bush worn or perished — worn bushes affect handling and tyre wear. Replacing them can cost £200-£400 per corner depending on the car, and some require specialist tools.
- Corroded or weakened springs — a coil spring that's corroded enough to be noted is likely to snap before the next MOT. Replacement costs £150-£300 per spring, plus alignment.
- Brake pipe corroded — corroded brake pipes are a safety issue. Replacing a full set of brake lines can cost £300-£600, and partial repairs often lead to further leaks elsewhere.
- Drive shaft boot split or deteriorating — once the boot splits, the CV joint gets contaminated and wears rapidly. A boot replacement is cheap (£80-£150), but if the joint has already worn, you're looking at £200-£400.
- Subframe or mounting corrosion — corrosion on structural mounting points can be extremely expensive to address and may render the car uneconomical to repair.
If you do decide to proceed with a car carrying these advisories, get a quote from a garage before agreeing a price. The seller can't reasonably argue with a written estimate.
Advisories that should make you walk away
Some patterns in the MOT history are genuine red flags. These don't just suggest a single repair — they suggest a car that's been neglected, bodged, or is simply at the end of its life:
- Structural corrosion on a load-bearing member — if the tester has noted corrosion on the chassis, sills, or structural crossmembers, the car may be approaching the point where it's beyond economical repair. Welding repairs are possible but expensive, and corrosion is often worse than it appears from underneath.
- Multiple recurring advisories that never get fixed — if the same brake, suspension, or corrosion advisories appear year after year without being addressed, the previous owner wasn't maintaining the car. If they skipped these visible items, what else has been neglected?
- A pattern of failures followed by suspiciously quick repairs — a car that fails its MOT and then passes a retest the same day may have had the cheapest possible fix rather than a proper repair.
- Mileage inconsistencies alongside advisories — if the mileage drops or stalls between tests and the car also has wear-related advisories, you may be looking at a clocked vehicle. Our guide on how to spot a clocked car explains what to look for.
Why recurring advisories matter more than one-off notes
A single advisory on one MOT test is usually nothing to worry about. But the same advisory appearing across two, three, or four consecutive tests tells a very different story.
Take "front suspension arm bush worn" as an example. If it appears once, the tester noticed early wear — fair enough. If it appears three years running, the previous owner has been told about it repeatedly and chosen not to fix it. That bush is now significantly more worn, the repair may be more involved, and you have to question what else has been left.
Recurring advisories are one of the most reliable indicators of a neglected car. They're free to check and available for any UK vehicle going back to 2005.
How to check a car's MOT advisory history
You can view the complete MOT history for any UK vehicle — including every advisory, failure, and mileage reading — for free. Simply enter the registration number on Free Plate Check or use our dedicated MOT history check.
Our tool groups advisories by type and highlights patterns across tests, making it easy to spot recurring issues at a glance. You'll also see mileage plotted across tests, so you can check for consistency.
The bottom line
MOT advisories aren't inherently bad. Every older car accumulates them, and a few cosmetic or minor wear notes are perfectly normal. What matters is the type, severity, and pattern.
Before you view any used car, check its MOT history for free and read through the advisories carefully. A few minutes of research can save you from an expensive mistake — or give you the confidence to negotiate a better deal.
If you're in the process of buying, our complete used car checks guide covers everything else you should verify before handing over any money.