Forewarned Support

Any car with a UK registration and an MOT history. Type the registration, or tap Scan a Number Plate and point your camera at the plate.

First, check the registration is typed correctly. Then check the car's age: a car usually has its first MOT at three years old, so a newer car has no MOT history to read yet.

Point your camera at the plate. Forewarned reads it on your iPhone and asks you to confirm it before anything is checked. No picture ever leaves your phone.

The camera reads standard UK number plates. For a private or dateless plate, type it in instead.

Checks are free, with a daily limit that keeps the service quick and fair for everyone.

If you're told you've used today's checks when you haven't run many, you may be on a busy shared network. Mobile networks often put lots of customers behind one address. Try again on Wi-Fi, or later in the day.

Forewarned is an iPhone app for the UK App Store. It needs iOS 17 or later.

The score out of 100 rates the record: how well the car has been looked after on paper. It isn't a condition score. A cherished car with a short history can score lower than it deserves, which is why every finding is listed under it.

Every report has a verdict: green for a good record, amber for worth a closer look, and red for serious concerns.

The findings underneath are grouped from what needs attention, through what's worth checking and what to keep an eye on, to the good signs. Tap any finding to see the MOT entries behind it.

Not always. The innocent explanations are a tester's typing error, a replaced instrument cluster, or a reading taken in kilometres. The one that isn't innocent is a wound-back clock.

Don't accept a verbal explanation. Ask the seller for the paperwork that covers the gap.

The short paragraph at the top of a report is written by AI, from the findings of Forewarned's rules engine. The verdict, the score, the findings and the prices all come from the rules engine itself.

The AI is given the car's make, model, year and fuel type and the findings. It's never given the registration.

An MOT never looks at the clutch, the gearbox or the inside of the engine, and it's a snapshot of one day. Forewarned also isn't a check for outstanding finance, write-offs or theft. Use a vehicle history check for those, and have the car inspected.

Jamie's own workshop rates, for a base model car with cost-effective parts at an independent garage. Main dealers, performance models and run-flat tyres cost more.

Every price shows what it covers, such as per axle or per tyre, with a note on what's included.

Where a job varies too much from car to car to give an honest range, the report says to get it quoted instead of guessing.

No. There's no account and no sign-in. Open the app and check a car.

The registration you type or confirm is sent to Mr Auto Fixer's server, which reads that car's MOT history from the DVSA. The DVSA isn't told who's asking.

A random number the app creates the first time it's opened is used only to count the daily limit. It isn't your name, your Apple ID or your device's identity.

Each report is kept for 12 months so it can be opened again, then deleted automatically. The daily limit counts delete themselves after about 25 hours.

Your list of checks and your shortlist stay on your iPhone and aren't sent anywhere. To have a report deleted sooner, email the registration.

In the app, open Settings and tap Delete All Checks. Deleting the app removes them too.

It's published on the Mr Auto Fixer website: Privacy Policy, the Forewarned section.