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MOT advisory explained

“Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint has slight play”

Recorded on 750 of the 25,257 cars checked on this site. Every time it was an advisory.

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Cars with it
750
of 25,257 checked
Share of cars
3.0%
at least once
Recorded as
Advisory
100% of 976 visits
Back next time
17%
of 782 follow-up visits

What it means

An anti-roll bar link, often called a drop link, joins the anti-roll bar to the suspension through a small ball joint. This note means the tester found a little play in that joint, less than the amount that fails.

It is an advisory, which does not fail the car by itself. A link joint that is excessively worn is recorded as a major defect.

How it shows up in the records

Advisory 100%
17% came back
The same entry, on the same part of the car, was recorded again at the next test in 17% of cases.
67,518 miles
Median recorded mileage when it first appeared, on cars a median of 8 years old. From the 140 cars whose whole MOT history is recent enough to compare.

Share of cars with this entry, by year of manufacture

0.0%1971–730.0%1980–820.0%1983–850.0%1986–880.3%1989–911.2%1992–943.2%1995–971.5%1998–003.9%2001–036.4%2004–068.2%2007–097.7%2010–123.4%2013–151.7%2016–180.5%2019–210.3%2022–24

Models where it is recorded most

ModelCars with itShareSame-age cars
Land Rover Freelander9 of 4221%6.3%
Honda CR-V12 of 6419%4.4%
Mazda MX-514 of 8417%4.7%
Mazda 317 of 11115%3.5%
Nissan Note12 of 7616%5.1%
Peugeot 3087 of 6611%3.5%
Land Rover Discovery7 of 739.6%3.7%
Caterham Seven9 of 8710%4.6%

Models with 20 or more cars checked here. “Same-age cars” is the share among all checked cars built in the same years, so an older model is compared with older cars.

What to check before you buy

  • On a test drive over a rough road, listen for a rattle or knock from the corner named in the record.
  • Ask whether the link has been replaced since the test, and for the invoice.
  • Read the later MOT tests to see whether the note came back or became a failure.

Cars checked here with this entry

Other suspension entries explained

Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movementCoil spring fractured or brokenShock absorbers has light misting of oilCoil spring corrodedSuspension arm ball joint excessively wornSuspension arm ball joint has slight playAnti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirtShock absorbers has a serious fluid leakSuspension arm ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated

Checking a car with this on its MOT?

Repair costs depend on the car, so this page does not quote one. Enter the plate and the free report estimates them for that car, alongside every test and advisory on its record.

Check a car’s MOT history

Counts are of cars checked on this site, from official public records. Updated 22 Sept 2026 · figures as of 4 Oct 2026. All MOT entries explained.