Know Your MOT
10.0%fail rate

Royal Enfield Continental common MOT failures and failure rate

What a Royal Enfield Continental fails its MOT on, from real DVSA test data, and the part that resolves each item.

Based on 8,464 MOT tests in DVSA data.

About 10.0% of MOT tests recorded on the Royal Enfield Continental in DVSA data end in a failure. The same handful of items account for most of them.

Its most common failure is lamps & electrical, which makes up 17.9% of the Royal Enfield Continental's failures, followed by lamps & electrical, brakes, tyres, registration plate. Each item below links to the part that resolves it. Confirm the exact fitment against your registration or VIN before buying, and have safety-critical work done by a competent mechanic.

What it fails on, and why

Lamps & electrical17.9% of failures

Lighting is the single most common MOT failure and the cheapest to put right. A blown headlight, brake-light or number-plate bulb, a cracked lens, or a headlamp beam that points too high or low will all fail. Most are a two-minute bulb swap.

Brakes8.4% of failures

Brake failures cover worn pads and discs, an imbalance between wheels, corroded or scored discs, or a binding caliper. Braking efficiency is measured on a rolling road, so a spongy or pulling brake shows up as a low reading.

Tyres8.1% of failures

Tyres fail for tread below the 1.6mm legal limit across the central three-quarters, uneven or exposed-cord wear, or sidewall damage. The tester inspects all four; a single illegal tyre is a fail.

Registration plate7.5% of failures

A missing, damaged, dirty or incorrectly-spaced number plate, or one using the wrong font, will fail. A replacement plate is inexpensive.

Other6.8% of failures

This covers a range of smaller items, from a non-working horn to a warning light left on.

Suspension3.2% of failures

Suspension failures usually mean a worn or snapped coil spring, a leaking shock absorber, or play in a lower arm ball joint or bush. The tester checks for corrosion, fractures and excessive movement. A broken front spring is one of the most common failures on higher-mileage cars and is a straightforward replacement.

Failure rate by year

How the MOT failure rate varies by the car's year of first registration (older examples generally fail more as wear sets in).

201310.1% fail · 566 tests
201410.0% fail · 1,221 tests
201511.3% fail · 1,292 tests
201612.2% fail · 838 tests
20178.9% fail · 463 tests
20186.9% fail · 218 tests
201910.3% fail · 1,156 tests
20209.5% fail · 630 tests
20218.3% fail · 786 tests
20228.6% fail · 499 tests
202311.7% fail · 103 tests

The parts that fix each

If your car has just failed, you have 10 working days to fix the items and get a free partial retest. These are the usual parts; confirm the exact fitment against your registration or VIN before buying.

For the lamps & electrical failure: Royal Enfield Continental headlight and indicator bulbsSearch Amazon for Royal Enfield Continental headlight and indicator bulbsaffiliate searchFind Royal Enfield Continental headlight and indicator bulbs on eBayaffiliate
For the brakes failure: Royal Enfield Continental brake pads and discsSearch Amazon for Royal Enfield Continental brake pads and discsaffiliate searchFind Royal Enfield Continental brake pads and discs on eBayaffiliate
For the tyres failure: Royal Enfield Continental tyresSearch Amazon for Royal Enfield Continental tyresaffiliate searchFind Royal Enfield Continental tyres on eBayaffiliate
For the registration plate failure: Royal Enfield Continental number plateSearch Amazon for Royal Enfield Continental number plateaffiliate searchFind Royal Enfield Continental number plate on eBayaffiliate
For the suspension failure: Royal Enfield Continental suspension springs and shock absorbersSearch Amazon for Royal Enfield Continental suspension springs and shock absorbersaffiliate searchFind Royal Enfield Continental suspension springs and shock absorbers on eBayaffiliate

Other models

Royal Enfield Bullet MOT failures10.4% failure rateRoyal Enfield Interceptor Int MOT failures8.3% failure rateRoyal Enfield Himalayan MOT failures9.7% failure rateFord Fiesta MOT failures27.1% failure rate

Sources: DVSA MOT History API: MOT test results and defect data · DVSA MOT testing data for Great Britain