MOT advisory explained
“Bumper mountings corroded but not likely to become detached”
The wording says corroded. What testers mostly mean is that the bumper is loose, cracked at a corner, or has lost a fixing, and it is the only line on the testing system that fits. It is the last advisory in our list, the rarest, and one of the easiest to clear.
The tester pushed and pulled the bumper and found it not quite firmly attached: a mounting bracket rusted, a plastic clip broken, or a corner pulled away from the wing. It is still on the car and not about to come off, so it passes.
3.0% fail on the bumper mountings at the next test and 13.0% are advised again. A loose bumper corner tends to get pushed back on, catch again, and eventually crack the mounting lug, at which point the fix stops being a clip.
For a bumper that has lost fixings. A rusted steel bracket costs a little more and a cracked bumper is a bodyshop job priced by model.
“damaged” and “loose” are the two most common notes, well ahead of anything about rust. If your bumper is hanging at a corner after a kerb or a car park scrape, that is what this line is describing, and a scrape strong enough to loosen it can also have bent the bracket behind.
A “bumper mountings corroded but not likely to become detached” advisory means the bumper is not fully secure, because a bracket has rusted, a clip has broken or a corner is loose, but it is not about to fall off, so the car passes. Testers use it for loose and damaged bumpers as well as rusty ones. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, 3.0% of 54,443 such advisories followed to the next test failed on the bumper mountings.
What is holding the bumper on
Clips, screws and brackets. A modern bumper is a plastic skin held by a row of clips along its top edge, screws in the wheel arch, and a plastic or steel bracket at each corner where it meets the wing. Older cars and 4x4s have steel brackets or arms bolted to the chassis. The corner brackets take the strain when anything touches the bumper, and they are what testers find loose.
Corroded or damaged. The MOT wording only offers corroded, so testers write it for everything. “damaged” leads the notes at 3,099, then “loose”, “insecure” and “bumper damaged”. Actual rust is the exception, and mostly on cars with steel bumper brackets. The plastic corner lugs on a modern bumper crack rather than rust.
Why the front. Front positions account for more than half of these. The front bumper is lower, meets kerbs and parking blocks, and on small cars sits close enough to the ground for a steep driveway to catch it.
Will it fail next year?
One wording, recorded 147,170 times, with 54,443 followed to the same vehicle’s next MOT.
| What happened at the next test | Share |
|---|---|
| Failed on the same component | 3.0% |
| Same advisory recorded again | 13.0% |
According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair: 54,443 advisories followed to the same vehicle’s next test. Rows can overlap.
Three in a hundred is low, and it is in the same range as other minor body advisories: a deteriorated number plate at 3.7%, a loose undertray at 0.6%. A bumper that is loose today is not much looser next year unless it is hit again.
The repeat rate is low too. A loose bumper is visible from across the car park, and most people have it pushed back on.
| Advisory wording | Fails on same part | Advised again | Followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direction indicator slightly discoloured | 6.1% | 19.6% | 1,901,107 |
| Exhaust mounting defective | 5.5% | 23.3% | 1,459,563 |
| Registration plate deteriorated | 3.7% | 40.1% | 4,283,862 |
| Bumper mountings corroded | 3.0% | 13.0% | 54,443 |
| Engine mounting damaged | 2.2% | 13.6% | 101,134 |
| Brake pedal wearing smooth | 1.4% | 26.2% | 320,684 |
| Undertray not fully secure | 0.6% | 8.6% | 83,373 |
Uncommon at every age. It rises from 0.2 per 1,000 tests at 7–9 years to 1.3 at 20 years and over, and the share that fail next time stays around three in a hundred throughout. Plastic clips age and steel brackets rust, but the bumper only gets flagged when something has knocked it.
| Age of car | Per 1,000 tests | Fails on same part | Followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7–9 years | 0.2 | 2.6% | 7,460 |
| 10–12 years | 0.4 | 2.9% | 11,678 |
| 13–15 years | 0.7 | 3.2% | 13,113 |
| 16–19 years | 1.0 | 3.5% | 10,743 |
| 20 years and over | 1.3 | 3.2% | 5,768 |
On most cars the corner is held by a plastic guide bracket screwed to the wing, into which the bumper slides. If the bumper has popped out, it usually clips back in with firm pressure. If it will not stay, the guide bracket is broken and needs replacing, which is a cheap part and one screw.
If the bumper itself has cracked where it meets the bracket, a plastic welder can repair it from behind for far less than a new bumper. Ask a bodyshop or a mobile repairer.
A bumper that has come loose after an impact can hide a bent bracket or crushed crash absorber behind it. If the gap between bumper and wing is uneven on one side, have someone look behind before simply clipping it back.
Exact wording on your certificate
One advisory and one failure. The failure is a bumper that is likely to come off, or has a sharp edge that could injure someone.
| Line on the certificate | Result | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Bumper mountings corroded but not likely to become detached | Advisory — pass | 6.1.4 (a) (i) |
| Bumper mountings corroded, insecure or damaged and likely to become detached | Major — fail | 6.1.4 (a) (ii) |
“front” and the two front corners together account for more than half. The nearside front is the kerb side, the corner that meets parking blocks and pavements.
| Position written by the tester | Share of all instances |
|---|---|
| Front | 25% |
| Nearside front | 17% |
| Rear | 16% |
| Offside front | 14% |
| Offside rear | 10% |
| Nearside rear | 9% |
From 147,170 recorded instances. Testers can add their own note after the standard wording. The most common on this advisory: “damaged” (3,099), “loose” (609), “both sides” (593), “damage” (560), “bumper damaged” (331), “insecure” (316), “slightly damaged” (171), “slightly loose” (165).
What it costs
| Job | Price fitted | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Clips, screws or a corner guide bracket, DIY | £10–£40 | The usual repair on a modern bumper |
A rusted steel bracket is priced by model and is usually modest. A cracked bumper lug can be plastic-welded from behind by a bodyshop or mobile repairer for a fraction of the cost of a new painted bumper, which is the expensive outcome. Other prices are on the repair costs index.
Can I still drive with this advisory?
Push the loose corner back in and check it after any further scrape. If it starts to flap at speed or the gap opens up, have it looked at before it catches on something.
Enter your reg to see your car’s full MOT record, including whether the same bumper corner has been noted before.
Which cars get this advisory most?
The all-vehicle rate is 0.4 per 1,000 tests. On the models below it is two and a half to four times that.
| Model | Per 1,000 tests | Vs all cars | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peugeot 107 | 2 | 4.0× | 1,292,695 |
| Toyota Prius | 1 | 3.3× | 1,441,205 |
| Mitsubishi Shogun | 1 | 3.2× | 420,039 |
| Toyota Yaris | 1 | 3.2× | 4,619,042 |
| Citroen C1 | 1 | 3.0× | 1,686,560 |
| Honda Civic | 1 | 2.8× | 3,259,563 |
| Nissan Micra | 1 | 2.8× | 2,941,349 |
| Toyota Corolla | 1 | 2.8× | 1,166,652 |
| Toyota Avensis | 1 | 2.7× | 878,561 |
| Toyota Auris | 1 | 2.5× | 1,541,174 |
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.
Toyota takes six of the ten places, with the Toyota Prius, Toyota Yaris, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Avensis and Toyota Auris, and the Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 are the same small car built alongside a third Toyota. Long-lived cars whose plastic corner clips have had many years to go brittle, and small cars whose front bumpers meet a lot of kerbs.
The spread is narrow. The top model is only 4.0 times the average, which says this is about parking more than design.
What to do next
- Find which corner and push it. If it clicks back in and stays, you may be done.
- Look for the broken bit. A plastic guide bracket on the wing, a snapped lug on the bumper, or a rusted steel arm. Each has a different fix.
- Replace clips and brackets by registration. Cheap parts, one screw each, and they differ between years of the same model.
- Get a cracked lug plastic-welded. Before it spreads and the whole bumper needs replacing and painting.
Bumper mountings advisory FAQ
What does bumper mountings corroded but not likely to become detached mean?
The bumper is not fully secure, because a mounting bracket has rusted, a clip has broken or a corner has come loose, but it is not about to fall off. It is an advisory and the car passes. Testers use this wording for damaged and loose bumpers as well as rusty ones.
Is a loose bumper an MOT fail?
Only if it is likely to become detached, or has a sharp edge that could injure someone. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, 3.0% of 54,443 such advisories failed on the bumper mountings at the next test.
How do I fix a bumper that has come loose at the corner?
Push it back into its guide bracket. If it will not stay, the bracket or the bumper’s mounting lug is broken. Brackets are cheap and screw on; a cracked lug can be plastic-welded from behind.
How much does it cost?
Clips and a corner guide bracket cost £10–£40 and are a DIY job. A plastic weld repair is a modest bodyshop charge. A new painted bumper is the expensive outcome and is priced by model. These are estimates and final quotes come from garages.
Why does the front bumper get this advisory more than the rear?
It sits lower and meets kerbs, parking blocks and steep driveways. The nearside front, the kerb side, is the single most common corner in DVSA records.
Which cars get this advisory most?
The Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1, at three to four times the average rate, and a run of long-lived Toyotas including the Toyota Prius, Toyota Yaris and Toyota Corolla.
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 147,170 times; 54,443 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.