MOT advisory explained
“Brake disc worn, but not excessively”
A disc that has worn thinner and grown a lip at its edge, but still has metal to spare. It is an ordinary wear item doing what wear items do, and it shows up on cars as young as three or four years old.
Brake pads press on the disc thousands of times a year and both wear. The tester saw a disc with a noticeable wear lip around its outer edge, or a visibly thinned braking face, and judged it still within limits.
Only 2.6% fail on a disc at the next test, the lowest of the common brake wear advisories. The reason is practical: discs are nearly always replaced with the next set of pads, and that usually happens before the next MOT.
Both sides of the axle, parts and labour, at an independent garage. Discs are never changed singly, and new discs always get new pads.
Different from “worn, pitted or scored”, which is about the condition of the surface. This line is about how much metal is left. A lipped disc with a clean, smooth face is simply part-way through its life.
A “brake disc worn, but not excessively” advisory means a brake disc has visibly thinned or developed a wear lip at its edge but is still within limits, so the car passes. It can normally wait until the pads next need changing. Front discs and pads cost £200–£330 fitted at an independent garage. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, 2.6% of 3.7 million such advisories followed to the next test failed on a brake disc.
How a tester judges a disc
The lip. Pads do not reach the very edge of the disc, so as the braking face wears down a raised rim is left behind. “lipped” is one of the most common notes testers add to this advisory, 97,442 times. The taller the lip, the more metal has gone.
The minimum thickness. Every disc has a minimum thickness, usually stamped on its edge or hub as MIN TH with a figure in millimetres. Below that it cannot absorb heat properly and can crack or warp. A tester cannot measure it with the wheels on, so the advisory is a visual judgement. A garage with the wheel off can measure it in a minute.
The side you cannot see. The inner face of a disc runs hotter, gets less airflow and sits in more road spray than the outer, and it often wears or corrodes faster. “inner face” appears 24,223 times in the notes. A disc that looks fine through the wheel spokes can be worse on the back.
Will it fail next year?
From 9,520,898 recorded instances, 3,690,262 can be traced to the same vehicle’s next MOT.
| What happened at the next test | Share |
|---|---|
| Failed on the same component | 2.6% |
| Same advisory recorded again | 12.9% |
According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair: 3,690,262 advisories followed to the same vehicle’s next test. Rows can overlap.
Compared with the two brake advisories it usually travels with, this is the mild one. Pads wearing thin fail 7.2% of the time and a pitted or scored disc 3.7%. Plain wear comes in under both.
It also has a low repeat rate: 12.9% are advised again, against 31.2% for pitted or scored discs. Surface rust and scoring can be lived with for years. Wear cannot, because the pads run out first and the garage changes both.
| Advisory wording | Fails on same part | Advised again | Followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake pipe corroded, covered in grease or other material | 10.1% | 44.4% | 7,889,073 |
| Service brake binding | 9.3% | 14.4% | 2,418,487 |
| Brake pad(s) wearing thin | 7.2% | 16.9% | 13,888,197 |
| Brake hose slightly deteriorated | 5.1% | 33.8% | 735,057 |
| Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, | 3.7% | 31.2% | 15,014,091 |
| Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule | 3.4% | 32.0% | 1,265,734 |
| Brake disc worn, | 2.6% | 12.9% | 3,690,262 |
This is one of the few advisories that is common on nearly new cars. At 3–4 years it already appears on 16.7 of every 1,000 tests, because a car’s first set of discs is reaching the end of its life around then. It peaks at seven to nine years and then becomes less common, not more. The share that fail next time edges up with age, from 1.9% to 3.3%.
| Age of car | Per 1,000 tests | Fails on same part | Followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3–4 years | 16.7 | 1.9% | 481,511 |
| 5–6 years | 22.6 | 2.2% | 673,995 |
| 7–9 years | 24.1 | 2.7% | 956,452 |
| 10–12 years | 22.5 | 3.2% | 699,857 |
| 13–15 years | 20.4 | 3.3% | 446,384 |
| 16–19 years | 18.8 | 3.1% | 244,941 |
| 20 years and over | 13.7 | 2.6% | 66,613 |
Disc wear follows miles driven, and cars cover fewer miles each year as they get older. An old car that does four thousand miles a year takes a very long time to wear a disc, and its discs are more likely to be advised for rust than for wear.
So on a young, high-mileage car this advisory is simply the service schedule arriving. On an old, low-mileage car it is less expected, and worth a measured check.
If you feel a pulsing through the brake pedal, or a judder through the steering wheel when braking from speed, the disc has worn unevenly. Have it measured now and do not wait for the pads.
Exact wording on your certificate
Discs and drums share one code. The failure wording describes wear that is obvious without measuring.
| Line on the certificate | Result | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Brake disc worn, but not excessively | Advisory — pass | 1.1.14 (a) (i) |
| Brake drum worn, but not excessively | Advisory — pass | 1.1.14 (a) (i) |
| Brake disc significantly and obviously worn | Major — fail | 1.1.14 (a) (i) |
About seven in ten are front discs. The front brakes do most of the stopping, so they wear two to three times faster than the rears. Testers mostly record the axle and not the side, because discs on an axle wear together.
| Position written by the tester | Share of all instances |
|---|---|
| Front | 40% |
| Rear | 15% |
| Nearside front | 14% |
| Offside front | 14% |
| Offside rear | 5% |
| Nearside rear | 5% |
From 9,520,898 recorded instances. Testers can add their own note after the standard wording. The most common on this advisory: “both” (481,002), “both sides” (313,697), “both front” (98,320), “lipped” (97,442), “both side” (65,556), “nearside and offside” (48,109), “both rear” (35,212), “both fronts” (28,483).
What new discs and pads cost
| Job | Price fitted | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Front discs and pads, both sides | £200–£330 | The standard job for this advisory |
| Front pads only | £90–£150 | Only if the discs measure well above minimum |
Independent garage prices for a typical car, parts and labour. Rear discs and pads are usually a little cheaper than fronts, except on cars with an electric parking brake. Performance and heavy vehicles cost more. Prices by model are on the brake pads and discs cost page.
Can I still drive with this advisory?
Ask for the discs to be measured at the next service. Bring it forward if the pedal pulses, the steering shakes under braking, or you can see a deep lip or grooves through the wheel.
Enter your reg to see every brake advisory your car has had. Pads and discs flagged on the same axle in the same year usually means one job, not two.
Which cars get this advisory most?
Overall this appears on 20.3 of every 1,000 tests. The models at the top see it about twice as often.
| Model | Per 1,000 tests | Vs all cars | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vauxhall Crossland | 46 | 2.3× | 343,986 |
| Peugeot 2008 | 45 | 2.2× | 1,020,413 |
| DS DS3 | 45 | 2.2× | 297,746 |
| Citroen DS3 | 40 | 2.0× | 864,893 |
| Kia Xceed | 38 | 1.9× | 77,940 |
| Peugeot 208 | 37 | 1.8× | 1,829,846 |
| Toyota Proace | 34 | 1.7× | 113,356 |
| Citroen C3 | 34 | 1.7× | 2,369,957 |
| Volvo XC40 | 34 | 1.7× | 325,871 |
| Mercedes-Benz CLA | 34 | 1.7× | 461,216 |
Model families are grouped by the first word of the DVSA model name, so “Transit” covers every Transit variant. Only models with at least 60,000 tests are ranked.
Seven of the ten come from one group. The Vauxhall Crossland, Peugeot 2008, both DS3 entries, the Peugeot 208, Toyota Proace and Citroen C3 are all Peugeot and Citroen designs or built on their platforms, and they share brake components. Whatever the cause, their discs are being flagged for wear more often than anyone else’s.
It is a young list as well. Most of these models are recent, which fits an advisory that arrives with the first set of discs.
What to do next
- Get the thickness measured. Ask for the figure and the minimum. Then you know how long you have, in millimetres and not in opinions.
- Check the pads at the same time. If the pads have under a third left, do both together. It is one lot of labour.
- Replace by the axle. Both discs and a full set of pads on that axle. Mixing old and new on one axle causes a pull.
- Bed the new brakes in. Gentle braking for the first couple of hundred miles. New discs that are overheated early can judder for the rest of their life.
Brake disc worn advisory FAQ
What does brake disc worn, but not excessively mean?
A brake disc has visibly worn, usually shown by a raised lip around its edge, but it is still within limits. It is an advisory, so the car passes.
How long do worn brake discs last after an advisory?
Usually until the pads next need changing, which is when most discs are replaced. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, only 2.6% of 3.7 million such advisories failed on a disc at the next test.
How much do new brake discs and pads cost?
Front discs and pads cost £200–£330 fitted at an independent garage for a typical car. Discs are always replaced in pairs with new pads. These are estimates and final quotes come from garages.
Can I replace the pads and keep the worn discs?
Only if the discs measure comfortably above the minimum thickness stamped on them. New pads on a lipped or thin disc bed in badly and the disc may not last the life of the pads.
Is it safe to drive with worn brake discs?
At the advisory stage, yes. Braking is unaffected. Have them measured soon if you feel the pedal pulsing or the steering shaking when you brake.
Which cars get this advisory most?
The Vauxhall Crossland, Peugeot 2008 and DS3, at around 2.3 times the average rate. Seven of the top ten are Peugeot and Citroen group models.
How these figures were calculated. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, from the DVSA anonymised MOT test results (Open Government Licence v3.0): 350,943,111 tests. This advisory was recorded 9,520,898 times; 3,690,262 of those were followed to the same vehicle’s next test between 180 and 730 days later. “Fails on the same part” means a failure at that next test under the same defect code and naming the same component, on either side of the vehicle. Testers do not always name a component the same way twice, so the figure is a floor. Method and how to cite.