Adjusting an odometer is not itself a criminal offence in the UK. Selling a vehicle without disclosing it is. That gap is why clocking is still common, and why the free MOT history is the single most useful thing a private buyer can read.
Mileage moves money. On a typical five year old hatchback, taking 40,000 miles off the clock can add well over a thousand pounds to the asking price, and the tools to do it are cheap and widely sold as mileage correction equipment.
The law sits in an awkward place. Adjusting the reading is not an offence in itself, because there are legitimate reasons to do it, such as fitting a replacement instrument cluster. Selling the vehicle afterwards without telling the buyer is a offence under consumer protection law. In practice, proving what the seller knew is the hard part, which is why prevention beats redress here.
Since 2005 the tester records the odometer at every test. DVSA publishes that history free, and our MOT history checker reads it directly from the DVSA API and lays the readings out in order.
What you get for each test:
That last point about how the reading was captured matters. A reading marked as customer entered rather than read carries less weight.
Look for any drop. Sort the tests oldest to newest and read down the mileage column. It should only ever go up. Our checker flags a drop automatically.
Look for a flat spell followed by a jump. Three years at 3,000 miles a year then a single year at 22,000 usually means the car changed hands and changed job, from a second car to a commute. Not fraud, but it changes what you are buying.
Look at the shape, not just the total. A car with 90,000 miles accumulated evenly over 12 years has had a gentler life than one that did 90,000 in four years and then sat.
Check the units. An import may have kilometre readings in the early history. 100,000 km is 62,137 miles. If someone has recorded kilometres as miles at some point, the trail goes strange.
Not every anomaly is a crime. Before you walk away, ask the seller and see whether the answer is ready and specific.
| What you see | Innocent explanation | What to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Reading drops by a large round number | Replacement instrument cluster fitted | The invoice for the cluster, with date and mileage |
| Reading drops by a digit or two | Tester keyed it wrong | Nothing, but check the next test corrects it |
| Two year gap in tests | SORN, off road restoration, or stored abroad | The SORN confirmation or storage evidence |
| Very low annual mileage | Second car, retired owner, short journeys | Look for short journey wear: exhaust, battery, brake corrosion |
The clock can lie. The car finds it harder.
Say a 2013 estate is advertised at 68,000 miles for £5,400. You run the registration and the MOT history shows:
The reading in 2022 is nearly 14,000 miles below 2020, with a missing year in between. On a comparable honest example at around 82,000 real miles, the trade guide value is closer to £4,100. The 68,000 mile figure is doing roughly £1,300 of work in that advert.
Ask for the cluster invoice. If it does not exist, that is your answer. If you have already bought it, you have a claim against the seller under the Consumer Rights Act if they were a trader, and a harder civil claim if they were private.
Is clocking illegal? Adjusting an odometer is not an offence by itself. Selling the vehicle without disclosing the adjustment is, under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.
Does the MOT history cover Northern Ireland? No. DVSA holds records for England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland MOTs are run by the DVA and are not in this dataset.
Can a car have no odometer reading recorded? Yes. Older records and some tests show no reading, and our checker labels those honestly rather than guessing.
Is a paid vehicle history check still worth it? For outstanding finance, theft markers and insurance write off categories, yes, because none of that is in the MOT data. For mileage and condition history, the free MOT record is usually enough.
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MOT Check UK is a trading name of Jagat IT UK Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17474995. Registered office: 164 High Street, London Colney, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL2 1QF.