MOT Advisories Explained: Fix Now or Leave It?

Your car passed, but the certificate lists three advisories. What now? An advisory means the tester found something that is legal today but heading in the wrong direction. Read literally, they are a maintenance plan written by a professional for free.

Fix these straight away

• Brake pads or discs wearing thin. Leave them and you turn a pad job into pads, discs and possibly a caliper.
• Tyre close to the legal limit. Tread disappears faster than people expect, and stopping distances in the wet fall off a cliff below 3mm.
• Any oil or fluid leak. Leaks get worse, never better, and a brake fluid leak is a safety matter.
• Corrosion near a structural area. The tester is telling you next year it may be a fail.

Plan these in

• Slight play in a suspension or steering joint
• Exhaust showing surface corrosion but not blowing
• A small stone chip outside the driver s swept area

Usually cosmetic

Notes about light scoring, minor surface rust on non structural panels or an ageing number plate are worth tidying when convenient, especially on a lease car where handback charges bite.

Advisories and lease handback

If you are running a leased car or van, advisories about bodywork and kerbed alloys will cost you far more at handback than they cost to repair now. A kerbed wheel can be refurbished for a fraction of the charge a leasing company applies.

Check your car s full MOT and advisory history, then send us photos for a free estimate on anything cosmetic. You can also set MOT and service reminders in the Crash App so next year does not creep up on you.