MOT check: the full history of any UK car, free
Enter a registration and you will see every MOT test the car has had since 2005: whether it passed or failed, what the tester noted, the mileage on the day, and when the current certificate runs out. The record comes straight from the DVSA, the agency that runs the MOT scheme, and we show all of it without asking you to sign up.
What the MOT check shows
An MOT check tells you two things at once. The first is the car's status today: whether it has a valid MOT, the expiry date and how many days are left. The second is the history behind it, which is where the useful information for a buyer lives.
For each test you get the date, the result, the mileage recorded by the tester, and every item they wrote down. Those items fall into set categories: advisories, which are things to keep an eye on; minor defects, which pass but should be fixed; and major or dangerous defects, which fail the car. We show them in the tester's words, then group the ones that recur so you can see at a glance whether the same corner of the car keeps coming up.
The mileage from each test is drawn as a chart. Mileage should only ever go up, so a reading that falls, or a long gap followed by an unlikely jump, is the first sign of a car that has been clocked or has had a replacement instrument cluster. Our mileage check page explains what to do about it.
What the record cannot do is tell you the car is in good condition. An MOT is a minimum safety standard on one day of the year, and a long run of clean passes says the car met that standard on those days and nothing more. We say that on every report, and we do not use the phrase "MOT clean" anywhere on this site.
How to read an MOT history
Read it in three passes. Start with the failures: what failed, how far apart, and whether the same system failed twice. A brake pipe that fails for corrosion, is repaired, and fails again three years later tells you about the underside of the car. Next, read the advisories for patterns rather than individual lines. Tyres worn on one edge at three consecutive tests suggests the tracking has never been corrected; corrosion advisories that move from "slight" to "moderate" tell you where the car is heading. Last, look at who fixed what. A failure followed by a pass the same day means the garage repaired it there and then; a failure followed by a pass a month later at a different test station is worth a question.
Our reading does this for you and sets out the questions worth asking the seller. It is always separated from the record itself, so you can see which words are the tester's and which are ours.
When is my MOT due?
A car's first MOT is due three years after it was first registered, and every year after that. The expiry date on the report is the date the current certificate runs out; you can have the next test done up to a month before, less a day, and keep the same anniversary. There is no grace period. Driving without a valid MOT can bring a fine of up to £1,000, and the only exception is driving to a pre-booked test. If you want a reminder, save the car on the report and we will email you a month before the date.
MOT check questions
How do I check the MOT history of a car?
Enter the registration above. The full test history from the DVSA appears on one page, free, with nothing hidden behind an account. You can also use the GOV.UK MOT history service, which shows the same tests without the mileage chart or our reading.
How far back does MOT history go?
To 2005 for cars tested in England, Scotland and Wales, and to 2017 for Northern Ireland. A car under three years old will have no tests yet, and a car imported into the UK will have no history before its first UK test.
Why does the MOT history show no mileage for a test?
Older tests sometimes recorded no reading, and a small number record the mileage in kilometres. Where the unit is kilometres we say so beside the figure.
What is an MOT advisory?
An item the tester noticed that is not yet a defect but will need attention. Advisories do not fail the car, but a pattern of them is the most useful thing in the record for a buyer.
Can I check the MOT history of a car I am thinking of buying?
Yes. You only need the registration, which is on the advert or the plate. Nothing about the keeper is shown, because neither the DVSA nor the DVLA releases keeper details through these services.
Is the MOT check really free?
Yes, and it stays free. The paid part of this site is the full history check, which covers finance, theft and write-offs, none of which appears in an MOT record.
Last updated 9 November 2026. MOT data: DVSA MOT history service. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.