How to read the dates
A private car gets one MOT a year, around the same date. A taxi's trail looks different:
- Tests about six months apart, two in a row or three in total, is the pattern. Retests within a few weeks of a fail don't count; they're the same test again.
- Twenty-five thousand miles a year or more between tests, alongside even one six-month gap, is a strong sign on its own. The UK average is about 7,000 miles a year.
- Under 8,000 miles a year with six-month gaps is more likely a careful owner or a council scheme than a taxi, so treat it as a question, not a verdict.
What else to look for at the car
Two screw holes or a plate mount on the rear bumper or boot where the council plate sat. A roof sign mount, sometimes filled. Wear on the rear seats and the rear door sills rather than the driver's. A hole or wiring in the dash or centre console where a meter or card reader was. A V5C whose previous keeper was a company. Chips and scuffs on both rear corners from kerbs and ranks.
Why it matters
A taxi does three or four private cars' worth of miles, most of them in town with a cold engine and a lot of stop-start. Clutches, brakes, suspension and interiors wear accordingly, and the trade values an ex-taxi well below the same car with a private history. If the seller didn't mention it, that's the question to open with: "How long was it a taxi?" rather than "Was it a taxi?".
What the check can't tell you
Some councils test their licensed cars at their own stations without a public MOT record, so a clean annual trail isn't proof the car was never a taxi. AutoFinder's free screening flags the pattern on its own ("Likely ex-taxi or private hire", or "Possible") with the dates it saw, and the inspection at the viewing looks for the plate holes, the meter wiring and the rear-seat wear that the record can't show.