Free Car Mileage Check by Registration
Enter any UK reg to see every MOT odometer reading since 2005 on one timeline, with a clocking risk rating, any rollback flagged in red and no signup needed.
Mileage check by reg: type a registration into the box above and this page shows every odometer reading recorded at an MOT since 2005, works out the miles covered between tests and gives the car a clocking risk rating of none, low, medium or high. The free report adds the full MOT history beside it. A clocked car is one whose odometer has been wound back to show fewer miles than it has really covered, hiding wear and inflating the price. Any reading that goes down between tests, or barely moves for a year on a car that normally covers thousands of miles, is flagged automatically.
Last updated 9 October 2026. Data: DVSA MOT history and DVLA.
What a clocked car looks like on the MOT timeline (example)
Each bar is the odometer reading recorded at an MOT. For six years the car covers a steady 9,000 to 9,600 miles between tests, then the 2024 test records 61,200 miles against 78,400 the year before, and the next reading carries on from the lower figure as if nothing happened.
Mileage History
Illustration only: made-up figures for a fictional car, not a real vehicle or registration. On a real report the red bar, risk badge and warning come from the DVSA record.
How does the free mileage check work?
Every MOT test records the odometer reading, and GOV.UK makes the results available for cars tested since 2005. The free check pulls that record from the DVSA and looks at it in four ways.
MOT mileage timeline
Every odometer reading recorded at an MOT is plotted in date order. A reading lower than the one before it is the strongest signal there is, because a genuine odometer cannot go backwards: the bar turns red and the car is rated high risk.
Annual mileage between tests
Fewer than 500 miles in a year, on a car averaging more than 3,000 a year overall, is rated medium risk: the car may have been off the road or the odometer reset. More than 30,000 miles in a year is flagged as unusual, which normally means taxi or courier use rather than fraud.
Average mileage per year
The report shows the car's average miles per year across its MOT readings, so you can judge the total against the age of the car. The Department for Transport's National Travel Survey (table NTS0901) puts the average car in England at 7,100 miles a year in 2025, so a ten-year-old car showing 25,000 miles deserves a closer look at the timeline rather than an automatic pass.
Wear against mileage
The same free report lists every MOT advisory and failure, with common items explained in plain English. Worn suspension, brakes and tyres on a car with a low displayed mileage do not add up, and the report puts the two side by side.
How do I know if a car has been clocked?
The timeline does the heavy lifting, but a clocked car usually gives itself away in more than one place.
Mileage lower than a previous MOT
The clearest red flag. If a reading goes down, the odometer has been altered or a tester has made a typing slip. Either way, ask.
Unusually low mileage for the age
A ten-year-old car with 20,000 miles is possible but rare. Genuine low-mileage cars creep up steadily; clocked ones often show a sudden change of pace.
Worn pedals, steering wheel and driver's seat
Wear that does not match the displayed mileage. A car showing 30,000 miles should not have pedal rubbers worn smooth.
New instrument cluster
A replacement cluster starts from whatever figure it was programmed with. Ask why it was replaced and for the invoice showing the mileage at the time.
Gaps in the service history
Missing stamps or invoices around the point where the mileage seems to change.
Wear-related MOT failures on a low-mileage car
Suspension, brake and tyre failures on the record suggest a higher real mileage than the odometer shows.
Is mileage clocking illegal in the UK?
Altering an odometer is not, on its own, named as a criminal offence in UK law. Selling, advertising or describing a car with a false mileage is, under three pieces of legislation.
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024
Section 237 makes it an offence for a trader to engage in an unfair commercial practice involving a misleading action or a misleading omission, so a dealer who states a false mileage, or stays quiet about a known discrepancy, commits an offence. It replaced the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 in April 2025.
Fraud Act 2006
Section 2, fraud by false representation, applies to anyone, private sellers included, who dishonestly makes a false statement to make a gain. A wound-back odometer presented as genuine is exactly that.
Consumer Rights Act 2015
Section 11 requires goods sold by a trader to match their description and section 22 gives the buyer a short-term right to reject within 30 days. A car sold with the wrong mileage does not match its description.
What should I do if the mileage does not add up?
Do not hand over any money
Walk away unless the seller can prove the discrepancy is innocent. There are plenty of cars with clean timelines.
Ask for an explanation with evidence
The one common legitimate reason is a replacement instrument cluster, and the garage invoice will show the reading when it was fitted. A verbal explanation is not evidence.
Cross-check the paperwork
Service invoices, old MOT certificates and tyre receipts all carry a mileage. Line them up against the timeline.
If you have already bought it, use the law
From a dealer, section 11 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says the car must match its description and section 22 gives you 30 days to reject it, so write to the dealer citing the Act. From a private seller, a deliberately false mileage can be fraud under the Fraud Act 2006. Report suspected clocking to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer service.
Mileage fraud in the UK: what the data shows
Most headline clocking numbers are untraceable estimates, so this page sticks to figures you can check.
Not every discrepancy is clocking. Typing errors and kilometre readings entered as miles show up as discrepancies too, alongside deliberate rollbacks, so a mismatch is a reason to ask questions, not proof of fraud.
Know what normal looks like. The Department for Transport's National Travel Survey, table NTS0901, puts the average car in England at 7,100 miles a year in 2025, down from 7,600 in 2019, with diesels averaging 8,000 against 6,200 for petrol.
The record is complete, not a sample. GOV.UK publishes MOT results for cars, motorcycles and vans tested since 2005, including the mileage recorded at every test, and from 2017 for Northern Ireland. The free check plots every readable odometer reading in that record.
Free mileage check vs the £4.99 premium report
The mileage evidence is free because it comes from public DVSA data. The premium report adds the parts of a car's history that are not public.
Free mileage check
£0- Every MOT odometer reading since 2005 on a timeline
- Annual mileage between each test
- Clocking risk rating: none, low, medium or high
- Readings that go down and implausible jumps flagged
- Average miles per year across the MOT record
- Full MOT pass, fail and advisory history
- DVLA details including the V5C issue date
- Outstanding safety recalls
- Running costs and a free valuation range
Premium history check
£4.99Everything in the free check, plus:
- Number of keepers, including the current one, and the date of each recorded keeper change
- Outstanding finance
- Stolen check against the Police National Computer
- Insurance write-off history: Cat A, B, S and N
- VIN check
- Colour changes
- Plate transfers
- Scrapped marker
Bundle the premium check with the £2.99 valuation for £6.99. Upgrade from any free report.
Neither report queries a third-party mileage register; the mileage evidence is the DVSA MOT record, shown in full.
How it works
Enter the reg plate
Type any UK registration into the box. No account, no email, no payment.
We read the DVSA MOT record
Every MOT test result and odometer reading since 2005, refreshed at least once a week and analysed in seconds. The free report adds the DVLA vehicle details.
Read the timeline and risk rating
See each reading in date order, the miles covered between tests, any rollback in red and a clocking risk rating for the car.
Frequently asked questions
What is mileage clocking?▼
Mileage clocking is winding back a car's odometer so it shows fewer miles than it has really covered, usually to raise the price. Selling a car with a false mileage is an offence for a trader under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (which replaced the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 in April 2025), and for any seller it can be fraud by false representation under the Fraud Act 2006.
How common is mileage fraud in the UK?▼
There is no official count. A mileage discrepancy on record is not always clocking: it can be a clerical error, such as kilometres entered as miles, as well as a deliberate rollback.
How does CarCostCheck detect mileage clocking?▼
The free check takes every odometer reading recorded at an MOT since 2005, plots them in date order and tests the sequence: a reading that goes down is rated high risk, fewer than 500 miles in a year on a car that normally covers over 3,000 is rated medium, and more than 30,000 miles in a year is flagged as unusual.
Is the mileage check really free?▼
Yes. Enter any UK registration and the mileage timeline, clocking risk rating, MOT history, DVLA details, recalls, running costs and a valuation range appear at no cost, with no account or email required. The optional £4.99 premium report adds keepers, finance, stolen and write-off data.
What should I do if I find a mileage discrepancy?▼
Do not buy the car until the seller has explained it with evidence, such as an invoice for a replacement instrument cluster. If you have already bought it from a dealer, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you a short-term right to reject within 30 days. Report suspected clocking to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer service.
Can digital odometers be clocked?▼
Yes. Digital odometers are reprogrammed with diagnostic tools that plug into the OBD port and leave no trace on the dashboard. The MOT record is held by the DVSA, outside the seller's control, which is why the timeline is the most reliable free evidence of true mileage.
Does the free check use the National Mileage Register?▼
No. Both the free check and the £4.99 premium report take their mileage evidence from the DVSA MOT record; neither queries a third-party mileage register or insurer data. The premium report adds keepers, finance, stolen and write-off markers, VIN check, colour changes, plate transfers and scrapped status.
Why does a car show no mileage history?▼
GOV.UK says a car needs its first MOT by the third anniversary of its registration, so a car under three years old has no readings yet, and Northern Ireland results only go back to 2017. In those cases the V5C, service invoices and the odometer itself are your evidence.
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Check a car's mileage history free, right now
Every MOT odometer reading since 2005, the clocking risk rating and the full MOT history in seconds. No signup, no email, no payment.