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Used car mileage checker

Put in a car’s age and odometer reading and this tells you where it sits against the cars that are actually on the road — measured from 3,393,731 MOT odometer readings, not from a national average multiplied by age. It also gives the first-time MOT pass rate for cars of that age and mileage, and what the reading is worth in money.

Take this from the V5C, not the model year in the advert — they often differ by a year. Anything from 2001 to 2026.

The odometer reading, in miles.

What an 8-year-old car actually reads

Measured at MOT, not estimated. The middle half of cars this age sit between 45,278 and 80,713 miles.

lower quartertypical 61,556upper quarter
Typical
61,556
Per year
7,694
Middle half
45,278–80,713

For sale versus on the road. Cars of this age advertised on Autoza show a median of 62,819 miles, against 61,556 for the whole tested fleet. At this age the two are about the same. The tested fleet is the fairer benchmark.

For an 8-year-old car

Ordinary mileage

60,000 miles is 3% below the typical 61,556 — inside the middle half of cars this age.

Cars like this pass the MOT first time

80.4%

Matched on age and mileage (60k–80k miles). A rate across the national fleet, not a prediction for this car.

A pass, or a pass with rectification at the station, counts as a first-time pass; DVSA's own initial-test measure counts a rectified pass as a failure and so reports a lower figure.

What that is worth

+0%

Measured against the typical 62,819 miles of cars this age advertised on Autoza: cars at this mileage ask 100% of what the same model and age fetches at ordinary mileage, across live Autoza stock. How this is measured

Mileage figures are median odometer readings from 3,393,731 DVSA tests in Great Britain. A high reading is not a fault — a motorway car on 120,000 gentle miles can be in better order than a town car on 40,000.

8-year-old car

Ordinary mileage

60,000 mi · 80.4% pass, incl. same-day fixes

Frequently Asked Questions

What is normal mileage for a 10-year-old car?
About 74,057 miles — that is the median odometer reading for ten-year-old cars at MOT, roughly 7,406 a year. The middle half of ten-year-old cars sit between 55,167 and 95,588 miles, so anything in that range is ordinary.
What counts as low mileage on a used car?
Below the lower quartile for its age. For a five-year-old car that means under about 26,228 miles, against a typical 38,570. A round-number rule such as "under 10,000 a year" does not fit that spread: it draws the line at 50,000 miles for a five-year-old, where the upper quartile is 54,271, and at 100,000 for a ten-year-old, where it is 95,588 — so the share of cars it calls high mileage changes with age.
Is high mileage bad?
Not on its own. Motorway miles are gentle; short cold town trips are not, and the odometer cannot tell them apart. A well-maintained high-mileage car frequently outlasts a neglected low-mileage one, which shows in the MOT data: first-time pass rates stop falling past about 120,000 miles, because only cared-for cars get that far. Service history matters more than the number.
Are these mileage figures measured or estimated?
Measured. Each figure is a median of odometer readings recorded by testers at MOT, not a survey of how far people say they drive. That distinction matters: the widely quoted national average annual mileage is self-reported, and multiplying it by a car's age produces a single number with no spread, so half of all cars look high mileage against it. Class 4 tests in Great Britain, test type NT (a normal annual test), retests excluded. A pass, or a pass with rectification at the station, counts as a first-time pass; DVSA's own initial-test measure counts a rectified pass as a failure and so reports a lower figure. Odometer readings below 100 or above 400,000 miles are discarded as misreadings, and cars under three years old are excluded because no MOT is yet due. Sampled from nine months of 2025 (January, February, April, May, July, August, September, October and November). Testing in Northern Ireland is run separately by the DVA under its own rules. Counted from 3,393,731 tests.
Should I compare my car’s mileage with cars for sale of the same age?
Not on its own. Cars for sale are not a random sample of the cars on the road, and which way they differ depends on age — at some ages advertised cars read more miles than the tested fleet, at others fewer. The tool shows both figures side by side for the age you enter. It benchmarks against every car tested, which is the fairer comparison when you are valuing your own car.
Does the first MOT pass rate apply to a car under three years old?
No. In Great Britain the first MOT is not due until three years after first registration, so there is no test record for cars under 3. The tool says so rather than showing a figure.

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