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MOT advisory explained

“Track rod end ball joint has slight play”

Recorded on 874 of the 25,257 cars checked on this site. Every time it was an advisory.

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Cars with it
874
of 25,257 checked
Share of cars
3.5%
at least once
Recorded as
Advisory
100% of 1,120 visits
Back next time
14%
of 886 follow-up visits

What it means

A track rod end is the outer ball joint that connects the steering to each front wheel. This note means the tester found a little play in the joint, less than the amount that fails.

It is an advisory, which does not fail the car by itself. A track rod end with excessive play is recorded as a major defect.

How it shows up in the records

Advisory 100%
14% came back
The same entry, on the same part of the car, was recorded again at the next test in 14% of cases.
65,426 miles
Median recorded mileage when it first appeared, on cars a median of 8 years old. From the 163 cars whose whole MOT history is recent enough to compare.

Share of cars with this entry, by year of manufacture

5.2%1971–737.3%1980–824.7%1983–853.9%1986–887.1%1989–915.4%1992–944.3%1995–977.7%1998–007.2%2001–038.1%2004–065.6%2007–096.0%2010–124.5%2013–151.9%2016–180.5%2019–210.3%2022–24

Models where it is recorded most

ModelCars with itShareSame-age cars
Land Rover Freelander8 of 4219%5.5%
Renault Clio20 of 12416%3.5%
Ferrari 5997 of 4217%6.0%
Nissan Qashqai44 of 34413%2.3%
Land Rover Discovery10 of 7314%4.0%
Land Rover Defender7 of 5513%3.9%
Ferrari F43022 of 14215%6.7%
Nissan Juke21 of 20210%2.6%

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

  • With the engine running and the car stationary, rock the steering wheel gently and feel for free movement before the wheels respond.
  • Look at the front tyres for uneven wear across the tread.
  • Ask whether the track rod end has been replaced since the test, and whether the tracking was reset afterwards.
  • Read the later MOT tests to see whether the note came back or became a failure.

Cars checked here with this entry

Other steering entries explained

Track rod end ball joint has excessive playPlay in steering rack jointTrack rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated but preventing the ingress of dirt

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 22 Sept 2026 · figures as of 4 Oct 2026. All MOT entries explained.