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MOT advisory explained

“Exhaust has a minor leak of exhaust gases”

Recorded on 1,482 of the 25,257 cars checked on this site. Every time it was an advisory.

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Cars with it
1,482
of 25,257 checked
Share of cars
5.9%
at least once
Recorded as
Advisory
100% of 2,192 visits
Back next time
23%
of 1,726 follow-up visits

What it means

This note means the tester found a small escape of exhaust gas from a joint or a section of the exhaust.

It is an advisory. A major leak, or an exhaust that is insecure, is a failure.

How it shows up in the records

Advisory 100%
23% came back
The same entry, on the same part of the car, was recorded again at the next test in 23% of cases.
56,664 miles
Median recorded mileage when it first appeared, on cars a median of 8 years old. From the 174 cars whose whole MOT history is recent enough to compare.

Share of cars with this entry, by year of manufacture

8.6%1971–7315%1980–8220%1983–8516%1986–8823%1989–9114%1992–9415%1995–9710%1998–0014%2001–0312%2004–0613%2007–0910%2010–125.7%2013–152.2%2016–180.4%2019–210.1%2022–24

Models where it is recorded most

ModelCars with itShareSame-age cars
Fiat Punto15 of 2268%9.4%
Vauxhall Meriva13 of 2846%7.8%
Ford KA29 of 6545%7.2%
Fiat 50053 of 17630%5.1%
Fiat Panda10 of 3429%6.9%
Vauxhall Astra52 of 20425%7.0%
Vauxhall Zafira11 of 4723%6.8%
Suzuki Alto6 of 2326%9.5%

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

  • Start the engine from cold and listen for a blowing or ticking sound from underneath.
  • Look along the exhaust for black soot marks around the joints.
  • Ask whether any part of the exhaust has been replaced since the advisory, 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 exhaust and emissions entries explained

Exhaust lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits

Checking a car with this on its MOT?

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Check a car’s MOT history

Counts are of cars checked on this site, from official public records. Updated 19 Sept 2026 · figures as of 4 Oct 2026. All MOT entries explained.