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What does my MOT advisory mean?
Paste the wording from your certificate. We’ll translate it, price the repair at an independent garage, and tell you how often that exact advisory turns into a failure.
Independent garage pricesDVSA test data70 advisories decoded
An MOT advisory is a note from the tester about wear that has not yet reached the failure threshold — your car passed and nothing obliges you to act. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, the exact wording decides the odds: a track rod end with slight play fails on the same joint at the next test 18.6% of the time, while brake fluid close to the minimum mark fails 0.3%.
How often does an advisory become a failure?
No garage can tell you this. We followed each advisory wording to the same vehicle’s next MOT, across 166,165,845 pairs of tests, and counted how many failed on the same part. The wording on your certificate is what matters, not the section it sits in.
The twelve most likely to fail next time
And the four least likely
“Fails next test” means a major or dangerous defect under the same code, naming the same component, on either side of the vehicle, at the next test 180 to 730 days later. Testers do not always name a part the same way twice, so each figure is a floor. Full figures, tester notes and the models most affected are on each advisory’s page.
18.6%
of track rod end advisories fail on the same joint next time — the highest of the 70 we measured
40.1%
of deteriorated number plate advisories are simply written down again a year later — for a fix that costs a few pounds
16.0% vs 7.4%
a ball joint with play and a worn bush in the same suspension arm: same part of the car, twice the risk
Ball joints are the ones to act on. A joint with play has metal moving on metal, and it does not settle down. The track rod end, the suspension arm ball joint and the drop link fill the top of the chart. Rubber bushes on the same parts sit far lower, because rubber degrades slowly and testers give it time.
The section on the certificate tells you little. Within the suspension section alone, advisories range from 16.0% for a ball joint to well under one in a hundred for surface rust on a component. That is why every wording here has its own page and its own figure, rather than a category average.
Cheap fixes get ignored as often as dear ones. A deteriorated number plate is re-advised 40.1% of the time, in the same league as corroded brake pipes and a rusty subframe. The pattern is about what people notice, not what it costs.
How the odds change with the age of your car
The same section of the certificate does not carry the same risk on a five-year-old car and a fifteen-year-old one. Pick an age. These are figures by defect category, so they describe the group an advisory belongs to; each advisory’s own page has its own age table.
Same dataset, broken down by vehicle age at the time of the advisory, for the five defect categories where the breakdown has been calculated. Category figures are group averages and an upper bound for any single wording inside them. Beyond twenty years most curves fall again, which reflects which cars are still on the road rather than any improvement in the parts.
Every advisory we decode
70 phrases, grouped by the section of the inspection manual they come from. Prices are fitted at an independent garage and match the page each row links to. “See page” means the page explains the job without publishing a range, because the spread by model is too wide to be honest.
Suspension
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension arm ball joint has slight play | Arm with joint, per side | £140–£280 | Fix soon | 16.0% |
| Corrosion within 30cm of a mounting | Rust near a structural point | Inspect first | Now | 10.2% |
| Anti-roll bar linkage has slight play | Drop link joint wearing | £40–£90 | Watch | 10.0% |
| Shock absorbers has a slightly worn bush | Bush, top mount, or pair of shocks | £150–£360 | Fix soon | 8.9% |
| Wheel bearing slightly noisy | New bearing or hub unit, one wheel | £120–£300 | Fix soon | 8.3% |
| Shock absorber has light misting of oil | Damper seal starting to weep | £150–£360 | Watch | 7.9% |
| Suspension arm pin or bush worn | Rubber bush perishing in an arm | £140–£280 | Soon | 7.4% |
| Shock absorbers has a reduced damping effect | Pair of shocks, same axle | £150–£360 | Plan it | 6.8% |
| Wheel bearing has slight play | Bearing starting to wear | £120–£300 | Soon | 5.8% |
| Coil spring corroded | Spring steel pitting with rust | £130–£320 | Soon | 5.0% |
| Anti-roll bar linkage pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement | New link, per side | £40–£90 | Low priority | 4.8% |
| Axle swivel pin and/or bush slightly worn | Rear axle bushes, both sides | See page | Plan it | 4.7% |
| Anti-roll bar pin or bush worn | New D bushes, as a pair | See page | Cheap, plan it | 4.5% |
| Shock absorbers has slight external damage to the casing | None yet. Pair of shocks if it leaks | £150–£360 | Monitor | 4.3% |
| Leaf spring has slight wear in a shackle pin and/or bush | Shackle bushes, pins and often the shackle plates | See page | Plan it | 4.2% |
| Sub-frame pin or bush worn | Subframe bushes, usually all four | See page | Plan it | 3.2% |
| Suspension arm corroded but not seriously weakened | Clean and treat. Arm only if it spreads | £140–£280 | Monitor | 3.0% |
| Suspension component pin or bush slightly worn | Depends on the part | £140–£280 | Identify first | 2.7% |
| Sub-frame corroded but not seriously weakened | None now. Clean and protect if keeping the car | See page | Monitor | 2.0% |
| MacPherson strut pin or bush worn | New top mounts, as a pair | £40–£90 | Do it with the shocks | 2.0% |
| Macpherson strut corroded but not seriously weakened | None now. Pair of struts if the seat goes | £150–£360 | Monitor | 1.6% |
| Suspension component corroded but not seriously weakened | Nothing to repair at this stage | See page | Note only | 0.4% |
| Ball joint dust cover damaged | Boot split, joint exposed to water | £70–£160 | Soon | — |
Steering
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track rod end ball joint has slight play | Outer steering joint wearing | See page | Soon | 18.6% |
| Steering linkage ball joint has slight play | New inner tie rod, or drag link end, plus alignment | See page | Replace the joint | 3.2% |
| Steering rack has slight free play detected at steering wheel | Inner rack end, or track rod end. Rack only if it is the rack | See page | Find the joint | 1.9% |
| Power steering component has slight seepage | Watch the level. Reseal or replace if it drips | See page | Check the level | 1.8% |
| Steering column universal joint has slight wear or play | Replace the joint or the lower column section | See page | Monitor | 1.2% |
Brakes
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parking brake efficiency only just met | Adjustment first, then cable, shoes or caliper | See page | Fix soon | 12.3% |
| Brake pipe corroded | Metal brake line rusting | See page | Soon | 10.1% |
| Service brake binding but not excessively | Free off and service, or new caliper | £170–£380 | Fix soon | 9.3% |
| Brake pads wearing thin | Pads have life left, but not much | £90–£220 | Soon | 7.2% |
| Service brake fluctuating, but not excessively | New discs and pads on that axle | £200–£330 | Plan it | 5.9% |
| Brake hose slightly deteriorated | New flexible hoses, as an axle pair | See page | Plan it | 5.1% |
| Brakes imbalanced requirements only just met | Free off or replace the weak side's caliper | £150–£340 | Fix soon | 4.8% |
| Brake disc worn, pitted or scored | Disc surface deteriorating | £180–£460 | Soon | 3.7% |
| Brake cable damaged but not to excess | New handbrake cable | See page | Plan it | 3.5% |
| Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule | None now. New hose if the rust swells or flakes | See page | Monitor | 3.4% |
| Parking brake lever defective but can be satisfactorily operated | Handbrake adjustment | See page | Adjust it | 3.3% |
| Brake disc worn, but not excessively | Discs and pads, same axle | £200–£330 | Plan with next pads | 2.6% |
| Brake pedal wearing smooth | New pedal rubber, a DIY job on most cars | See page | Easy fix | 1.4% |
| Brake fluid close to minimum mark | Usually new brake pads, not more fluid | £90–£150 | Check the pads | 0.3% |
| Brake fluid contaminated | Fluid has absorbed water | £50–£90 | Soon | — |
Tyres and wheels
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords | New tyre | £70–£100 | Fix soon | 10.8% |
| Tyre worn close to legal limit | Tread near 1.6mm | £60–£120 each | Now | 10.0% |
| Tyre slightly damaged/cracking or perishing | New tyre, often a pair | £70–£100 | Fix soon | 9.2% |
| Valve stem slightly damaged | New valve, fitted when the tyre is off | See page | Cheap, do it | 3.5% |
| Road wheel slightly distorted | Often nothing. Straighten or replace if it leaks or vibrates | See page | Monitor | 1.0% |
| Tyre worn on inner or outer edge | Alignment or suspension fault | £100–£200 | Soon | — |
Body, structure and exhaust
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhaust has a minor leak | Small blow in a joint or section | £60–£300 | Soon | 9.0% |
| Prop shaft bearing has slight play | Centre bearing, UJ, coupling or CV joint | See page | Depends which | 6.0% |
| Exhaust mounting defective | New rubber hanger or bracket | £10–£40 | Cheap, do it | 5.5% |
| Vehicle structure is corroded | None yet. Clean, treat and protect | See page | Get it looked at | 4.9% |
| Structure or chassis corroded within 30cm of a mounting | Clean, treat and protect. Weld if it spreads | See page | Treat this year | 4.7% |
| Bumper mountings corroded but not likely to become detached | New clips, bracket or a plastic repair | £10–£40 | Clips and screws | 3.0% |
| Engine mounting damaged but not to excess | Replace the worn mount | See page | Fix when it clunks | 2.2% |
Exhaust, emissions and noise
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhaust emits excessive smoke or vapour | Depends on the colour | See page | Diagnose it | 9.4% |
| Oil leak, but not excessive | Seepage without dripping | £150–£800 | Watch | 1.2% |
| Exhaust noisy | Usually nothing. Refit the baffle or standard system if it is close | See page | Your call | 0.9% |
| Undertray not fully secure | New clips or screws, sometimes a new tray | £10–£40 | Clips | 0.6% |
Lamps
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direction indicator slightly discoloured | New amber bulb, usually a pair | £10–£40 | Change the bulb | 6.1% |
| Non-obligatory stop lamp not working | Bulb, or the whole lamp if LED | £10–£40 | Bulb or unit | 5.1% |
| Headlamp has a product on the lens | Lens restoration, or new headlamp units | See page | Restore or replace | 5.0% |
| Position lamp slightly affected by the operation of another lamp | Clean or replace the earth connection | See page | Earth fault | 3.9% |
| Headlamp aim too high or low | Beam pointing wrong | £20–£40 | Soon | — |
| Number plate lamp not working | Bulb out | £10–£25 | Watch | — |
Seat belts and airbags
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is corroded | Weld a repair section into the sill | See page | Repair before winter | 12.6% |
| SRS warning lamp does not illuminate | Bulb, cluster fault, or a fault someone hid | See page | Find out why | 4.7% |
| Seat belt webbing slightly damaged or frayed | New seat belt, that seat only | See page | Replace the belt | 3.1% |
Registration plate
| Advisory phrase | What it means | Cost to fix | Urgency | Fails next test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate deteriorated but not likely to be misread | New plate, two screws or sticky pads | £10–£40 | Cheap fix | 3.7% |
Independent garage prices, parts and labour. Main dealers typically charge around 50% more. These are estimates — final quotes come from garages.
How these figures were calculated
Every number on this page comes from the same place, and we would rather show the working than ask you to take it on trust.
Our source is the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. We processed 350,943,111 test records, matched each advisory to the same vehicle’s next test between 180 and 730 days later, giving 166,165,845 test pairs with an advisory, and tracked what happened to each of the 70 wordings on this page.
| Term | How we define it |
|---|---|
| Fails next test | A major or dangerous defect at the next test under the same defect code, naming the same component, on either side of the vehicle. Because testers do not always name a component identically twice, this is a floor. |
| Fails under the same code | Any major or dangerous defect at the next test under the same three-level defect code, whichever component. Shown on advisory pages where the two figures differ materially. |
| Advised again | The same advisory wording recorded again at the next test. |
| By vehicle age | The same calculation, split by how old the vehicle was on the day the advisory was written. |
| Per 1,000 tests | How often the wording appears across all tests, and for each model with at least 60,000 tests in the record. |
Two limits worth stating plainly. We do not publish a “fixed” rate: the advisories that neither fail nor recur include cars that failed on something else, cars that left the record, and tester notes without a code, so it is not a measure of repairs. And the age slider above works at the level of DVSA defect categories, which are group averages; the per-wording figures on each advisory page are the ones to use for a specific line on a certificate.
Free to reference and cite
This analysis is free for journalists, researchers and other publications to use. If you use the figures, please credit PriceMyRepair and link back to this page. The charts are free to reproduce on the same terms.
Need the underlying tables, a breakdown we haven’t published, or a comment for a piece you’re writing? Email info@pricemyrepair.co.uk and we’ll reply the same day.
What an MOT advisory actually is
An advisory is a note from the tester saying something is wearing out but has not yet reached the point of failure. Your car passed. Nothing on the certificate obliges you to act — but the tester wrote it down because, in their judgement, it will need attention before long.
The wording is the problem. Advisories are written in the language of the inspection manual, not the language of a garage invoice, so “suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement” tells you nothing about whether you are facing £60 or £600. That gap is what this tool closes. What the MOT checks explains the sections the wordings come from.
Advisories are also the most useful thing on the certificate for planning. A pass with three advisories is a car telling you what next year’s bill looks like, and every one of them is cheaper dealt with now than after it has failed and taken something else with it.
Advisory, minor, major: what is the difference?
Advisory is a note, not a defect. Your car passed and there is no obligation attached — the tester is flagging wear that will need attention eventually.
Minor is a defect that does not affect safety and does not fail the test. It appears on the certificate as a minor defect and should be repaired as soon as possible, but you drive away with a pass.
Major fails the test. So does dangerous, which additionally means the car should not be driven at all until it is fixed. The line between an advisory and a major is often just a measurement — a tyre at 2mm is an advisory, at 1.5mm it is a fail.
The advisory that keeps coming back
One advisory is information. The same advisory three years running is a countdown. If “suspension arm pin or bush worn” appeared on the nearside front in each of the last three tests, that bush has not stabilised — it has been getting worse while nobody looked, and the tester has been telling you so.
Repeating advisories are also the cheapest to act on, because they are the ones you have had the most warning about. The bush flagged three times is still a bush; left until it fails, it is a bush plus whatever it damaged on the way — a tyre worn on one edge, a ball joint that took the extra movement, or a fail and a retest fee.
How the decoder works
It matches your text against a dictionary of the phrases DVSA testers actually use. No guessing and no AI — if we recognise the wording you get the answer we would give you ourselves, and if we do not, we say so rather than inventing something.
Testers write in a fairly fixed vocabulary because the inspection manual gives them the words, which is why matching works. What varies is the position — nearside, offside, front, rear — and that does not change what the part is or what it costs, only which corner of the car it is on.
Prices come from the same tables as the rest of this site: independent garage rates, parts and labour, for the specific job. Where a repair varies a lot by car — an exhaust section on a supermini versus a full system on a diesel estate — we give the range rather than pretending to a precision we do not have.
MOT advisory FAQ
Do I have to fix an MOT advisory?
No. An advisory is a note, not a requirement — your car passed and you can legally drive away without touching it. But the tester wrote it because something is wearing out, and every advisory is cheaper to deal with before it becomes a failure.
Will an advisory fail my next MOT?
It depends which one. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, a track rod end with slight play fails on the same joint at the next test 18.6% of the time, a worn suspension arm bush 7.4%, and brake fluid close to the minimum mark 0.3%. Each advisory page on this site gives the figure for that wording.
What does "nearside" and "offside" mean on an MOT?
Nearside is the passenger side of the car — the side nearest the kerb. Offside is the driver's side. Testers use these instead of left and right because they don't change meaning depending on which way you're facing the car.
Can I sell a car with MOT advisories?
Yes, and they're public — anyone can look up the MOT history from the registration, so a buyer will see them whether you mention them or not. Being upfront tends to work better than being found out, and fixing the cheap ones first is usually worth more than the repair costs.
What does "corrosion but not excessive" mean?
Rust the tester has judged not yet serious enough to fail. It matters where it is: surface rust on a bracket is one thing, corrosion within 30cm of a suspension mounting or seat belt anchorage is another, because that's structural and only gets worse.
Is a shock absorber "misting" a problem?
Not yet. Misting means a fine film of oil on the damper body — the seal is starting to weep but hasn't given up. It becomes a failure when it's "leaking", so misting is your warning to budget for a pair rather than a reason to book immediately.
How long do MOT advisories stay on record?
Permanently. Every advisory from every test since the records went digital is available on the government's MOT history service and stays there — which is why a repeating advisory is so visible to a buyer, and why clearing one is worth doing properly.
Should I check MOT advisories before buying a used car?
Always. The MOT history is the most honest document about a used car you can get for free — it shows what's been flagged, what was fixed, and what's been quietly ignored for three years. A car with the same advisory repeating is a car with a bill attached.
Which MOT advisories are most likely to become a failure?
Ball joints with play. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, a track rod end with slight play fails on the same joint at the next test 18.6% of the time and a suspension arm ball joint 16.0%. A corroded seat belt anchorage fails 12.6% and a handbrake that only just met its efficiency figure 12.3%. At the other end, brake fluid close to minimum fails 0.3%.
Which MOT advisory is most often ignored?
A deteriorated registration plate. 40.1% of cars given that advisory get the same advisory again at the next test, for a fix that costs a few pounds. Corroded brake pipes and a corroded subframe are re-advised at similar rates, and those are expensive to repair, which makes the number plate the odd one out.