Free MOT history check
MOT history check
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Quick answer
An MOT history check shows every MOT test a UK vehicle has taken since 2005, including passes, failures, the exact defects recorded by the tester, advisory notes and the mileage at each test. It is free, needs only the registration number, and comes directly from official DVSA records.
What you get
Enter a registration and you get the vehicle’s complete testing record, presented as a timeline rather than a wall of codes:
- Current MOT status — valid or expired, the exact expiry date, and how many days remain.
- Every test since 2005 — date, result, and the test certificate number.
- Every defect and advisory — in the tester’s own words, graded dangerous, major, minor or advisory, with a plain-English explanation and a typical repair cost.
- The full mileage record — every odometer reading ever taken at a test, plotted so the trend is visible at a glance.
- Automatic discrepancy detection — any reading lower than the one before it is flagged, which is the clearest public evidence of possible clocking.
Why the MOT record is the most useful free document on a used car
A seller writes the advert. A seller chooses which service invoices to show you. Nobody writes the MOT record: it is compiled independently by testing centres, submitted to DVSA, and cannot be edited after the fact by an owner or a dealer.
That makes it the one part of a car’s history you can take at face value. Read properly, it tells you how the car has been used, whether problems get fixed or merely deferred, and whether the mileage story holds together. Our guide to reading an MOT record for red flags walks through the patterns worth worrying about.
Advisories matter more than passes
Most people look at an MOT record to see whether it passed. The advisories are the more informative part. An advisory is a tester telling you, on the record, that something is wearing out and will become a failure before long.
A car with the same advisory repeated across four consecutive years has an owner who reads the certificate and does nothing. A car whose advisories appear once and then disappear has an owner who fixes things. That distinction is worth more than the pass rate. We decode each recorded defect into what it actually means and what it typically costs — see the MOT defect library for the most common items.
What is and is not covered
| Included | Not included |
|---|---|
| Test dates, results and certificate numbers | Outstanding finance |
| All recorded defects and advisories | Insurance write-off category |
| Odometer readings at every test | Stolen vehicle markers |
| Current status and expiry date | Number of previous keepers |
For finance, write-off and theft markers you need a paid provenance check. The MOT record is complementary to that, not a replacement.
Common questions
- Is an MOT history check free?
- Yes. MOT history is published by DVSA under the Open Government Licence and is free to access for any UK-registered vehicle. You do not need to own the vehicle, register an account, or provide any personal details.
- How far back does MOT history go?
- Records cover tests carried out in Great Britain from 2005 onwards, and Northern Ireland from 2017. Tests before those dates were not recorded digitally and are not available from any source.
- Can I see MOT history for a car I do not own?
- Yes, and that is the point of it. The registration number is all you need. This is what makes the record so useful when you are considering buying a used car, because the seller has no ability to edit or hide it.
- Does MOT history show who owned the car?
- No. The record contains no personal data at all. It shows the vehicle's test dates, results, recorded defects, advisories and odometer readings, but nothing identifying past or present keepers.
- What does an MOT history check not tell you?
- It does not show outstanding finance, insurance write-off status, or whether the vehicle has been stolen. Those require a separate paid vehicle history check. It also cannot show work done between tests, so a full service history is still worth asking for.
Related checks
- When is my MOT due? — expiry date and a countdown.
- MOT status check — is this vehicle road legal right now?
- Number plate check — look up a vehicle from its plate alone.
- MOT guides — the rules, the costs and the defects explained.