What Your MOT Advisories Mean and What to Do About Them

Written by the MOT Check Now editorial team and checked against GOV.UK and DVSA guidance. Last updated 3 November 2026. Read our editorial policy and how we get our data.

MOT advisories are the notes a tester adds to a passed test to tell you that something is wearing but has not yet failed. They are easy to skim past, yet they are some of the most useful lines on the whole result. This guide explains all five defect categories used on a modern MOT result (dangerous, major, minor, advisory and PRS), shows what the wording looks like on a record, and helps you decide when an advisory deserves a repair, a quote or just a watching brief. It also covers how to read advisories when you are buying a used car and how to follow them from one year to the next.

Key facts at a glance

The five defect categories

Since 20 May 2018, every defect recorded at an MOT test is placed in one of the categories below. The category, and not the wording alone, tells you whether the car passed.

PRS is the shortened form of “pass after rectification at the test”. It appears in the DVSA data when something quick to fix, such as a bulb or wiper blade, was dealt with during the appointment, so the car could pass. For the full detail of every category, see our guide to MOT defect categories.

Dangerous defects

This is the category that carries legal weight beyond the test result. If a tester lists a dangerous defect, the vehicle must not be driven. That applies even if your previous MOT certificate is still in date. Driving a vehicle with a dangerous defect can bring a fine of up to £2,500, a driving ban and 3 penalty points. The practical advice is to arrange for the vehicle to be repaired where it stands or moved by recovery. Our guide on what to do after a failed MOT sets out the sequence.

Illustrative wording you might see on a record: Brake pipe excessively corroded and likely to fail, or Tyre cord exposed in the tread. Testers write their own text, so wording varies, but a dangerous item is always recorded under the dangerous heading. In the DVSA inspection manual, tread depth below the legal minimum is graded dangerous, so a tyre that has been an advisory for being close to the limit can move straight to dangerous once it passes the line.

Major defects

A major defect is a failure. The car does not get a pass certificate until the item is repaired and the car is retested. Unlike a dangerous defect, a car with only major defects may be driven away if its existing MOT is still valid, but you should repair promptly because the vehicle is below the test standard.

Illustrative wording: Headlamp aim too high, Windscreen damaged in the swept area directly in front of the driver, or Offside mirror missing. Several of these start life as something much milder. A windscreen chip recorded as an advisory one year can spread and fail the next.

Minor defects

A minor defect is present, and the tester has put it on the record, but it is not serious enough to fail. It is part of the passed result. Minors are the least dramatic category, although a long list of minors on an older car can tell you it has been neglected in small ways. GOV.UK advises that minor defects should be repaired as soon as possible.

Illustrative wording: Number plate lamp slightly dim, or Exhaust has a minor leak that does not affect the emissions result. In the DVSA manual, an obviously underinflated tyre and a mirror that is only slightly damaged or loose are both minor defects.

Advisories

An advisory says a component has not reached the point of failing but could become more serious. It is a prediction and a warning, written down so that you and any future buyer can see it. The car passes. GOV.UK says to monitor an advisory and repair it if needed.

Illustrative wording: Nearside front tyre worn close to legal limit, Oil leak, but not excessive, Brake pads wearing thin, Slight play in front suspension bush, Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened, or Corrosion on rear subframe, not seriously weakened.

Notice how advisories describe a trend. The words “close to”, “slight”, “wearing” and “not excessive” all signal a component moving toward the limit and not yet over it. That is exactly the situation in which a small decision now can avoid a failure later.

PRS: pass after rectification

If a defect was found and corrected at the test centre before the end of the test, the record shows it with a PRS marker. It tells you the car failed an item at first inspection and was fixed straight away. One PRS entry for a bulb is of no concern. A pattern of PRS entries across several years for the same item is worth noticing, because it shows that something keeps needing attention at the last minute.

How to read the wording of an advisory

Testers write short phrases, and a few words carry most of the meaning. The table below lists common signals. It describes how to interpret the language, and it is not a quotation from any official list.

What testers can and cannot tell you

A tester can only record what is visible and testable on the day. Some parts are not inspected at all, and some are inspected but not graded. For example, the DVSA manual says defects on a spare wheel or tyre are not graded, and the tester should advise the presenter instead. That means a worn spare tyre may be mentioned in conversation without appearing in the official record. Equally, the MOT does not check the general mechanical condition of the car, and the engine, clutch and gearbox are not tested according to GOV.UK. A car can therefore pass with no advisories at all and still have a tired clutch. For what is covered, see the MOT test checklist.

What advisories mean for ownership cost

An advisory is a free preview of a future repair bill. Nothing in the MOT rules forces you to act on one, and no one is going to fine you for ignoring a tyre advisory while the tyre is still legal. The cost implication is practical. Most advisories describe wear items such as tyres, brake pads and discs, suspension components, wipers and small leaks. These wear in a predictable direction, and they do not improve on their own.

It helps to sort them into three groups.

1. Act soon. Anything that affects braking, steering, tyres or visibility. If the advisory is about brakes or a tyre close to the limit, a safety issue exists now regardless of the test result.
2. Plan for the next service or test. Items like a light oil weep, slight play in a bush or minor corrosion that is described as not seriously weakening. Get a quote and set a date.
3. Monitor. Cosmetic or stable items that describe condition and not a trend. Read next year’s result to see whether the wording has changed.

When you do act, it often saves money to bundle the work. If two or three advisories sit on the same corner of the car, such as the front axle, one visit to a garage can cover them. Ask for a written quote and keep the invoice, since it helps when you sell the car.

Triage by system

Can an advisory become a fail next year?

Yes. By definition an advisory covers something that could become more serious. If the part keeps wearing and passes the line before the next test, the same item can come back as a major defect and fail the test. An example is brake pads described as wearing thin one year, which can be recorded as a major defect the next year if they have worn further. Equally, if the item was replaced, the advisory disappears from the new result.

An advisory is not a guarantee of a fail, and the absence of an advisory is not a guarantee of a pass. The tester can only record what is visible and testable on the day. Use advisories as a risk indicator and not as a prediction of the next result.

A worked example across four tests

The record below is invented to show how advisories read over time. It is not a real vehicle.

Illustrative example: a hatchback followed for four years

A buyer reading this would conclude that the oil weep has never been cured, that the suspension bush is a live issue, and that the owner tends to deal with problems only when they fail. Those are the questions to put to the seller. None of the entries is alarming alone. The pattern is what carries the information.

How buyers should read advisories in a car’s history

When you are buying a used car, the advisories on past tests tell you how the car has been looked after. Open the MOT history for the registration and read each test from oldest to newest. Ask three questions.

• Was it fixed? An advisory in one year that has vanished the next suggests work was done. Ask the seller for the invoice.
• Did it get worse? The same item reappearing with stronger wording, or turning into a major defect, shows deterioration.
• Is there a pattern? Many unrelated advisories on a young car, or a similar set every year, can indicate neglect.

Use these findings in negotiation, and for a deeper walk-through see our guide to how to read MOT history. The used car checklist puts the history alongside the physical checks you should make in person. If two cars are on your shortlist, the compare cars tool puts their MOT records side by side, and the seller claim checker compares an advert with the official record.

Recurring advisories as a warning sign

One advisory is information. The same advisory across several years is a signal. Repeated notes about a corroded component, a leak or a worn suspension part suggest that nobody has addressed the cause. For a buyer, that raises the question of why the work was not done. For an owner, it is a prompt to take the car to be properly looked at, since a repair put off for years usually costs more once it has damaged neighbouring parts. The free advisory tracker follows each advisory through every recorded test and shows whether it disappeared, remained or became a failure. The paid Full Vehicle Report costs £3.99 and highlights advisories that kept recurring across the test timeline in a PDF, if you would rather have them gathered for you.

Selling a car with open advisories

If you are the seller, advisories are visible to every buyer who looks up your registration. It is better to be ready than to be caught out. Check your own record with the MOT check, decide which advisories you will fix before selling, and keep invoices for work done. Buyers tend to value evidence of repair. If you choose not to fix an item, be open about it, because an honest note in the advert is better than a buyer discovering it in the history and wondering what else is missing. Remember also that you are responsible for not driving a vehicle in a dangerous state, whatever the paperwork says.

Questions to ask a garage about an advisory

When you take a car in to deal with an advisory, a few questions help you get a fair and clear answer.

• Can you show me the part and explain what is wrong with it?
• Is it a safety item now, or can it wait until the next service?
• What happens if I leave it for six months or until the next test?
• Can I have a written quote that separates parts from labour?
• Is there anything else in the same area that would be cheaper to do at the same time?
• Will you give me an invoice that names the part and the date, so I can show it later?

If you are unsure about the answer, a second opinion is reasonable for a larger job. Treat anything touching brakes, steering and tyres as a priority, and ask for the work to be done to a standard you would be comfortable describing to a buyer. Keep in mind that the MOT tester recorded the advisory on one day, and the garage doing the repair is making its own judgement, so differences of opinion do happen and are worth discussing.

Advisories on the certificate and in the online history

The paperwork you receive at the end of a test lists the result and any defects recorded, including advisories. The same information goes onto the DVSA system, which is where the online history comes from. The online record is the one that stays with the vehicle. If you lose the paper copy, the details are still there, and a future buyer sees exactly what you would see. Our guide to the MOT certificate explains what the document shows and how to get a replacement. Because the history runs back to 2005, an advisory from many years ago is still visible, which is why it is worth reading the older tests as well as the latest one.

A simple yearly routine for advisories

Advisories become manageable when you treat them as part of an annual routine and not as a surprise. One approach is as follows.

1. On the day of the test, ask the tester or garage to point out each advisory and where it is on the car.
2. Within a week, write down the advisories, sort them into act soon, plan and monitor, and put a date against each.
3. Within a month, book the act-soon items and keep the invoices.
4. At the next service, ask the garage to look at the plan items again.
5. When the next window opens, read the history again and run a quick home check, using how to prepare for an MOT.

Following the same routine each year means that when the next test arrives, the advisories have either been dealt with or you know exactly why they have not.

Where to see your own advisories

Your current and past advisories are on the official online record, which anyone can look up with a registration number: GOV.UK has its own service at https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history. You can see the same data on our free MOT check, which also shows the expiry date, and if you want a prompt before the test is due, use the MOT reminder. For guidance on what testers examine, read MOT failure reasons.

What our free tools show, and what they cannot

The data comes from the DVSA MOT history service and the DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service. Our how we get our data page explains the sources, and the mileage chart on the mileage check places each advisory against the odometer reading at that test.

Common mistakes

• Treating a pass with advisories as a clean result.
• Ignoring a tyre or brake advisory because the car passed.
• Confusing a minor defect with an advisory. A minor defect exists now. An advisory describes a trend.
• Assuming no advisories means no problems. The tester records only what is visible on the day.
• Believing a tester’s wording is standard. Two testers may describe the same wear differently.
• Reading PRS as a failed test. It is a pass with a fix made on the day.
• Selling a car without looking at its own record first.
• Assuming a vanished advisory means a repair. Always ask for the invoice.

Edge cases

An advisory that appears once and never again

This could mean the part was repaired, or it could mean a different tester judged the same wear to be within normal limits. The history cannot tell you which. Ask for evidence of work.

Advisories on a young car

New cars can still gather advisories for tyres, wipers or damage. They are less worrying than the same advisories on an old car, but a repeated pattern on a three-year-old car is still a question for the owner.

Advisories on a voluntary test

Owners of exempt vehicles can take a voluntary MOT, and the result, including advisories, is recorded in the same history. See MOT exempt vehicles for which vehicles qualify.

An advisory that is also a dangerous risk

If an advisory describes something that you can see is getting dangerous, for instance a tyre with visible cords, do not wait for the next test. The law on driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition does not depend on the MOT. The penalties for a dangerous vehicle can include a fine of up to £2,500, a driving ban and 3 penalty points.

Vans, motorcycles and Northern Ireland

The same grades apply across vehicle classes. Use the van MOT check or motorcycle MOT check for those records. Northern Ireland results are in a separate DVA service, as explained in MOT in Northern Ireland.

Next steps

1. Look up your registration on the MOT check and read each recorded advisory.
2. Sort the advisories into act soon, plan and monitor.
3. Get written quotes for the act-soon items and keep the invoices.
4. Prepare for the next test with how to prepare for an MOT.
5. Set the free MOT reminder so you know when the next test is due, and check how early you can get an MOT to book inside the window.

Glossary

• Advisory. A note on a component that is not yet defective but could become more serious. The car passes.
• Dangerous. The most serious grade. A fail, and the vehicle must not be driven.
• Major. A fail grade for a defect that may affect safety, endanger others or harm the environment.
• Minor. A pass grade for a defect with no significant effect on safety or the environment.
• PRS. Pass after rectification. A defect fixed and rechecked during the test.
• Presenter. The person who brings the vehicle for the test.
• Failure document. The paperwork listing the defects when a vehicle fails.
• Inspection manual. The DVSA document that tells testers what to inspect and when to reject.
• Recurring advisory. The same item noted at several tests in a row.

Sources and further reading

• GOV.UK, MOT changes from 20 May 2018 (DVSA news story), which sets out the defect categories
• GOV.UK, Getting an MOT, sections on test results and retests
• GOV.UK, MOT inspection manual for private passenger and light commercial vehicles (DVSA)
• GOV.UK, Car parts checked at an MOT
• GOV.UK, Check the MOT history of a vehicle

MOT Check Now is independent and is not affiliated with DVLA, DVSA, GOV.UK or any government body. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.