Used-car buying guides

How to Spot a Clocked Car From the MOT History

Key takeaway: A genuine car's MOT mileage only ever goes up. A reading that drops and stays below the earlier trend is the clearest public sign of a wound-back odometer — but a single dip that later readings rejoin is usually a keying error at the test centre, not fraud.

This guide walks through the year-by-year mileage trail on the MOT record, shows how to tell a one-off recording error from a confirmed rollback, explains the believable-annual-mileage test, and ends with a red-flags checklist to take to the viewing.

• Where to find the mileage recorded at every MOT test
• Recording error vs confirmed rollback — how the next reading decides it
• The believable-annual-mileage test (the UK average is ~7,000–8,000 miles)
• Red-flags checklist for the viewing

Read guide → · Related: What is the difference between a mileage discrepancy and a recording error?

Cat S, Cat N and Write-Off Categories Explained

Key takeaway: Cat A and Cat B cars must never return to the road. Cat S (structural) and Cat N (non-structural) cars can, and can be perfectly good buys — but only at a write-off price, with a proper repair, and with the history declared. Cat C and Cat D are the pre-2017 equivalents of S and N.

This guide explains what each category actually means, why a repaired Cat S is not automatically dangerous and a Cat N is not automatically fine, what evidence to demand before buying one, and why a write-off record never shows on the free MOT history — only on a full history check.

• Cat A, B, S and N — what each category actually means
• Why a Cat A or B car must never return to the road
• Buying a repaired Cat S/N: repair evidence, inspection, insurance and resale
• Why a write-off doesn't show on the free MOT history

Read guide → · Related: What do Cat S, Cat N, Cat A and Cat B mean?

Outstanding Finance on a Used Car: How to Check Before You Buy

Key takeaway: If a car still has finance owing, the lender — not the seller — may legally own it. Outstanding finance does not appear on the V5C or the MOT record; the only way to know is a dedicated finance check before you pay.

This guide explains who really owns a financed car, why the V5C logbook proves less than you think, what Section 27 “innocent purchaser” protection does and doesn't cover, and how to protect yourself — check first, get the finance settled first, and never pay on a promise.

• Why the registered keeper isn't always the legal owner
• Will you actually lose the car? Innocent-purchaser protection explained
• Why holding the V5C logbook doesn't mean the car is theirs to sell
• How to protect yourself: check first, settle first, never pay on a promise

Read guide → · Related: Can I check if a used car has outstanding finance?

What MOT Advisories Mean (and Which Ones Matter)

Key takeaway: An MOT advisory is a fault the tester noticed that isn't yet bad enough to fail the car. It won't stop you driving, but it tells you what the next owner will be paying for. Read three years of advisories together and you can see whether a car has been looked after or patched up.

This guide explains what an advisory actually is, how the advisory, minor, major and dangerous grades differ, which advisories carry the biggest repair bills, why the same advisory three years running matters more than any single one, and how to turn the list into a fair offer.

• Advisory vs minor vs major vs dangerous — one table
• The advisories that cost the most, with typical repair ranges
• Repeat advisories: the deferred-maintenance signal
• Tester notes that aren't faults at all
• How to use the list when you negotiate

Read guide → · Related: What does AI Plate Checker show that the gov.uk MOT check doesn't?

What Happens If Your Car Fails Its MOT

Key takeaway: A car fails its MOT when the tester records a major or dangerous defect. You can drive it away only if the old certificate is still in date and nothing was marked dangerous. Fix it and retest within 10 working days and the retest is partial; leave it at the test centre and it is free.

This guide covers what the result sheet means, the exact rules on driving a car that has just failed, the three retest situations and what each costs, how to appeal a result, and how a fail reads on the history when you are buying the car later.

• Pass, pass with advisories, fail: what each result means
• When you can and cannot drive a car that has failed
• The three retest situations and which ones are free
• The fines for driving after a fail
• What a fail means on a used car's MOT history

Read guide →

What to Check When Buying a Used Car: The Checklist

Key takeaway: Most of the work of buying a used car happens before you see it. The registration alone gives you the MOT history, tax status, ULEZ and mileage trend for free. The viewing confirms the car matches its paperwork. The record checks — write-off, finance, stolen, keepers — are the last thing before you pay, not an afterthought.

This guide is the order to do things in: what to pull from the reg before you travel, which documents to ask for and what to compare them against, a walk-round and test drive that take twenty minutes, the four record checks to run before paying, and a printable checklist to take with you.

• Before you view: what the reg tells you for free
• Paperwork on the day — and what the V5C does not show
• A twenty-minute walk-round and test drive
• The four record checks to run before you pay
• A printable checklist

Read guide → · Related: Is AI Plate Checker free?

HPI Check vs Free Car Check: What’s the Difference?

Key takeaway: A free car check reads the public record: MOT history, tax, ULEZ and the mileage trend. A paid provenance check reads records that are not public: insurance write-offs, outstanding finance, stolen markers and keeper history. For a cheap car from someone you know, the free check may be all you need. For a private sale of anything worth real money, it isn’t.

This guide explains what a provenance check actually covers, what a free check shows and why it cannot show the rest, where the provenance data comes from, when a free check is enough and when it isn’t, and exactly what the £9.99 Full History Report adds.

• What a provenance check covers — write-off, finance, stolen, keepers, plate changes
• What a free check covers, and why provenance data isn’t in it
• When the free check is enough, and when it isn’t
• What the £9.99 Full History Report adds

Read guide → · Related: How is a full history report different from an HPI check?

How Many Previous Owners Is Too Many?

Key takeaway: The number on the V5C counts registered keepers, not people who drove the car. Roughly one keeper every three to four years is unremarkable. More than that in a short period is a question for the seller, not a reason to stop looking — and a very low count with no paperwork deserves just as much attention.

This guide explains what the V5C's “number of former keepers” actually counts, gives a rule of thumb by car age, shows why ex-lease and ex-fleet cars often carry a high count for harmless reasons, why a long-term keeper with no service history is the quieter worry, and how the keeper count appears in the Full History Report.

• What counts as a keeper — and why a dealer usually doesn't
• A rule of thumb by car age
• When a high count is fine: lease, fleet, trade, family
• When a low count hides things
• How the keeper count appears in the report

Read guide → · Related: What is included in the £9.99 full history report?

Is It Safe to Buy an Ex-Taxi or Private Hire Car?

Key takeaway: An ex-taxi or private hire car has usually covered two or three times the average mileage, but often on a strict service schedule and with twice-yearly tests. Whether it's a good buy depends on how those miles were done and what the MOT record shows, not on the badge or the number on the odometer.

This guide shows you how to recognise a former taxi or private hire car from its record and its wear, why motorway miles on a hybrid are a different proposition from urban miles on a small diesel, which MOT advisories to look for on a short cycle, what the Full History Report shows about licensing history, and how to price the car fairly.

• The signs of taxi or private hire use — on the car and on the record
• Why high mileage isn't the whole story
• What to look for in the MOT history
• How licensing history appears in the Full History Report
• Pricing and negotiation

Read guide → · Related: What is included in the £9.99 full history report?

Mileage Discrepancy on an MOT: Recording Error or Clocked?

Key takeaway: A mileage discrepancy is any MOT reading that breaks the car's mileage trend. Most are typing errors at the test centre, and the later readings prove it by returning to the trend line. A drop that later readings stay below is the pattern to worry about. The outlier is the reading off the trend, not simply the lowest number.

This guide explains what counts as a mileage discrepancy, shows the three patterns the record can take — a one-off recording error, a drop nothing has confirmed yet, and a drop later readings stay below — how to work out which reading is wrong, what to check on the car itself, and how to get a genuinely wrong entry corrected if you own the car.

• What a mileage discrepancy is — and isn't
• The three patterns: recording error, unconfirmed drop, confirmed drop
• Which reading is the outlier
• How to check the real mileage yourself (not the V5C)
• Getting a wrong MOT mileage corrected

Read guide → · Related: What is the difference between a mileage discrepancy and a recording error?

How to Check if a Car Is Stolen Before You Buy

Key takeaway: If a car turns out to be stolen, the police can seize it and you will not be compensated — the money is gone with the seller. Some warning signs cost nothing to spot, but the stolen marker itself is not public data. The only way to see it is a check that reads the stolen-vehicle records used by the police and insurers.

This guide explains why a stolen car is the worst outcome in used-car buying, the free warning signs you can check at the viewing, what a stolen marker check actually does and what “not recorded” means, how a marker appears in the report, and who to contact if you’ve already bought a car that turns out to be stolen.

• Why it matters — seized with no compensation
• Free warning signs: V5C, VIN, price, meeting place
• What a stolen marker check does, and what “not recorded” means
• What to do if you’ve already bought one

Read guide → · Related: What is included in the £9.99 full history report?

V5C Logbook Check: What to Look for Before Buying

Key takeaway: The V5C is proof of who the registered keeper is, not proof of who owns the car, and it does not record mileage. Its value at a viewing is as a document to compare: keeper name against the seller, address against where you are standing, VIN against the car. Any mismatch is a question to settle before you pay.

This guide walks through the V5C field by field — keeper, address, VIN, engine number, colour, former keepers, first registration date — and what each one should match. It covers the red flags, the things the logbook cannot show you, and what to do with the green slip once you’ve bought the car.

• What the V5C is and isn’t — keeper, not owner; no mileage
• The fields to check, one by one
• Red flags: recent duplicates, trader addresses, wrong colour
• After purchase: the green slip and the online transfer

Read guide →

How to use these guides with a free check

1. Enter the registration to see the full MOT history, mileage timeline and AI condition score for free.
2. Use the clocked car guide against the mileage timeline before you travel to see the car.
3. If the car looks worth pursuing, a full history report (£9.99, one-off) runs the write-off, finance, stolen and mileage-discrepancy checks the guides describe.
4. Take the guide's checklist with you to the viewing.