What is an MOT advisory?
An advisory is a note from the tester about something that passed today but is on its way to failing. The car is legal. The point of the note is that it may not be for long.
Updated 14 October 2026
Advisory, minor, major, dangerous
Since 2018 an MOT sorts defects into categories, and only two of them fail the test.
An advisory means the item passed but is worth monitoring: a tyre near the limit, a little corrosion, a bush starting to perish.
A minor defect also passes, but is recorded as a fault rather than a note. A major defect fails. A dangerous defect fails and means the car should not be driven away at all.
So an advisory is the gentlest category: nothing to fix today, something to plan for.
Which advisories are actually urgent
Anything about brakes, tyres or corrosion near a structural point. Those move from advisory to major faster than the rest, and they are the expensive ones.
"Tyre worn close to the legal limit" means you have weeks, not a year. The limit is 1.6mm across the central three-quarters, and below it each tyre is a £2,500 fine and three points.
Oil leaks and perished bushes are usually slower, worth quoting for, not worth panicking about.
The pattern matters more than any single note
One advisory tells you very little. The same advisory three years running tells you a great deal. That something has been quietly worsening while nobody dealt with it, and that the next test is likely to be the one it fails.
This is also how you read a car you are thinking of buying. A car with the same corrosion advisory in 2023, 2024 and 2025 is a car whose owner has been putting something off, and you are being invited to inherit it.
It is the difference between "it passed" and "it passed, barely, again".
Tracking them instead of rereading them
Odomint shows every advisory a car has ever received, free, from the registration, and Premium tracks them across years so a repeat shows up as a repeat rather than as three separate notes you have to line up yourself.
Fixing something while it is still an advisory is almost always cheaper than fixing it after it has failed a test and the car is off the road.
Common questions
Does an MOT advisory mean the car failed?
No. An advisory passes the test. It is a note that something may need attention before the next one.
Do I have to fix an MOT advisory?
There is no legal requirement to fix an advisory. But a car must be roadworthy at all times, and advisories about brakes, tyres or corrosion tend to become failures quickly.
Can I see advisories on a car I do not own?
Yes. MOT records including advisories are public for any UK registration since 2005, which makes them one of the best free checks before buying.
Check any car before you buy it
MOT history, every advisory and the full mileage record are free for any UK registration. An Odomint Check adds outstanding finance, insurance write-offs, stolen markers and salvage history, with a £10,000 data guarantee.