A car’s MOT certificate tells you if it is currently roadworthy, but the MOT history check tells you its entire life story, revealing secrets the seller wants to keep hidden.
Any shrewd buyer knows that simply checking if a car has a valid MOT is not enough. To truly gauge a vehicle’s mechanical condition, negotiate a fair price, and accurately predict future repair costs, you need to run an MOT check by reg and learn how to decode the advisory notes and, crucially, spot mileage clocking.
Using a full mot history check report is your primary defence against hidden maintenance debt and mileage fraud, protecting your investment long before a mechanical breakdown occurs.
The Dual Threat: Mileage Fraud Exposed by MOT Data
The MOT history is the single greatest tool for exposing the illegal practice of mileage clocking. Every MOT test records the exact mileage at the time of the inspection.
The Clocking Indicator: When you use a service like Rapid Car Check, the system scans every MOT record and looks for a simple, yet damning, pattern: a mileage figure that is lower than a previous year’s entry.
- Seller Deception: Fraudulent sellers use cheap electronic tools to roll back the odometer, sometimes by tens of thousands of miles, to falsely inflate the car’s perceived value.
- The Consequence: A clocked car is priced like a low mileage vehicle but has the wear and tear of a high mileage one. You pay a premium for a car that is due expensive maintenance immediately (e.g., timing belt, major service).
While many competitor checks provide the raw MOT data, Rapid Car Check focuses on flagging these mileage inconsistencies clearly, turning raw data into actionable fraud protection.
Why Raw DVSA Data Is Not Enough: Deciphering Advisories
The raw MOT data available from the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) provides the pass/fail result and the advisory notes. However, a basic look is often misleading. Sellers often dismiss advisories as “minor issues.”
Advisory notes are not failures, but they are explicit warnings from a certified inspector. They are the MOT tester telling the owner, “This component is fine for now, but it will certainly need attention soon.” These notes are often ignored by dishonest sellers, passing the inevitable repair bills onto you.
When analysing your mot history check, look for these red flag patterns:
| Advisory Note Type | What It Means for the Buyer |
| Recurring Corrosion | If corrosion is noted year after year on structural areas, it indicates the seller has avoided expensive welding or bodywork repair, potentially compromising safety. |
| Same Suspension Wear | If the same advisory (e.g., “suspension arm pin worn”) appears for multiple years, the owner has ignored a persistent, high cost mechanical fault. |
| Tyres Near Limit | An easy indicator of immediate cost. If tyres are close to the legal limit, you will face an immediate, mandatory replacement bill. |
Export to Sheets
The Competitive Edge: A premium car check by reg synthesises this data. It is not just about listing the advisory; it is about alerting you when a specific advisory has been ignored for two or more years, providing clear evidence of owner neglect.
The Current Categories of Failure: Dangerous, Major, and Minor
Since the MOT test rules were updated in 2018, failures are categorised based on severity. This is vital when reviewing a car’s history:
- Dangerous: The vehicle must not be driven until the fault is fixed. The car is an immediate safety hazard.
- Major: The car has failed and cannot be re tested until the fault is repaired.
- Minor: The car passes, but the fault is recorded and noted.
When you run your check, note the failure type. A string of Major failures suggests the car is poorly maintained and the owner waits for things to completely break before fixing them, indicating a general pattern of neglect.
Final Word: Safety and Negotiation
Running a full mot history check using a car check by reg is your key to safe driving and smart negotiation. The total cost of outstanding repairs flagged by persistent advisories can be substantial and gives you the verifiable leverage required to knock hundreds of pounds off the asking price.
Do not just look for a ‘Pass’ mark on the last test. Look for a clean, consistent history that proves the car has been maintained correctly and is not hiding massive mileage fraud.
