How do MOT checks work?

ScanAuctions pulls full DVSA MOT history for every car with a registered VRM. You see the headline status in scan results, and the full history on click — no need to leave the app or run a separate check.

What you see in results

• MOT Status — Valid, Expires soon, or Expired.
• MOT Expiry — the date the current certificate runs out.
• Advisories count — how many advisories were flagged at the most recent test.

Status meanings

• Valid — at least 30 days remaining on the certificate.
• Expires soon — under 30 days left, will need a fresh MOT before retail.
• Expired — failed or lapsed; adds cost and delay before resale.

The MOT modal

Click any car’s VRM in scan results to open the MOT modal. You get the full DVSA history: every test, Pass/Fail/Advisory result, advisory comments verbatim, and mileage at each test. That last column is gold — mileage going backwards between tests is the clearest red flag for a clocked car.

When the VRM is missing

Some Motorway and CarWow listings hide the plate until purchase. The MOT modal shows “No plate” in that case. You can manually enter a VRM if you’ve sourced it elsewhere, or backfill MOT history after purchase by adding the plate to the car record.

Caching

DVSA rate-limits MOT lookups. To stay inside the limits at scale, we cache results for 24 hours — if you re-scan the same VRM within a day, the cached MOT data is reused rather than refetched. The expiry date and status are still accurate to the day.