Check MOT and annual test history

Enter a registration and see the vehicle's full test record — every pass and fail, the mileage at each test, and every defect and advisory the tester wrote down. Free, no sign-up, and it covers HGVs, trailers, buses and coaches, not just cars.

What this actually shows you

It's the government's own test record, not a guess or a scrape. For each test you get the date, whether it passed or failed, the odometer reading, the test number, and the full list of what the tester recorded — dangerous items, majors, and advisories that were noted but didn't fail it.

The advisories are the part most people skip and the part worth reading. An advisory is a tester telling you what will fail next time. On a bought-in truck or trailer it's the cheapest condition report you'll ever get.

What's covered, and what isn't

This is the one that catches people out: heavy vehicle and trailer tests only exist in this data from 2018. If you check an older lorry or trailer and get nothing back, that doesn't mean it was never tested — it means the record predates the published data. The same goes for a vehicle too new to have had its first test.

Using it before you buy

Read the record in this order and it tells you a story:

• Mileage across tests. It should climb steadily. A reading that drops, or barely moves for a year, is the thing to ask about.
• Repeat advisories. The same item advised three years running is a fault nobody has dealt with, not bad luck.
• Fail-then-pass on the same day. Normal — it was fixed at the station. Fail, gap, pass weeks later is a bigger job.
• Corrosion and brake items. On heavy vehicles these are the expensive ones. Read what was written, not just the pass.

A clean record isn't a warranty and a test isn't an inspection — a vehicle is only certified roadworthy at the moment it was tested. What keeps it legal between tests is your own maintenance regime and the driver's daily walkaround.