MOT failure rates across Britain
About one in four cars fails its MOT. Here is what fails, which models fail most and least, and why age matters, from 842,205,357 tests in the DVSA record.
What percentage of cars fail their MOT?
About 25.7% of MOT tests end in a failure, or roughly one in four. That figure is drawn from 842,205,357 tests across 16,764 car models in the DVSA record, so it reflects the whole of Great Britain rather than a small sample.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Tests analysed | 842,205,357 |
| Tests that failed | 216,851,354 |
| Overall failure rate | 25.7% |
| Car models covered | 16,764 |
What is the most common reason cars fail their MOT?
Lighting and electrical faults are the single most common failure, ahead of suspension and brakes. Between them, lighting, suspension and braking account for most of every failure recorded, and all three are among the cheapest and most avoidable to put right before a test.
| Failure area | Share of failures |
|---|---|
| Lamps & electrical | 22.9% |
| Suspension | 21.5% |
| Brakes | 19.1% |
| Tyres | 14.2% |
| Other | 9.4% |
| Visibility/wipers | 8.3% |
| Exhaust & emissions | 4.3% |
| Body & structure | 0.1% |
Which cars fail their MOT most often?
Age is the biggest single driver of MOT failure, so the models with the highest failure rates tend to be older cars still on the road rather than poorly built ones. Among models with a large test sample, these have the highest failure rates.
| Model | Failure rate | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| Rover 115 | 41.9% | 16,962 |
| Renault 19 | 39.9% | 29,410 |
| Alfa Romeo 146 | 39.5% | 35,546 |
| Kia Pride | 39.0% | 75,055 |
| Vauxhall Sintra | 39.0% | 31,615 |
| Alfa Romeo 145 | 38.9% | 29,033 |
| Leyland Daf 400 | 38.9% | 23,337 |
| Mercedes-Benz 308 | 38.7% | 98,711 |
| Ford Courier | 38.6% | 32,454 |
| Renault R21 | 38.6% | 23,367 |
| Renault R19 | 38.0% | 106,032 |
| Renault 5 | 38.0% | 22,718 |
| Nissan Prairie | 37.9% | 19,086 |
| Renault Extra | 37.7% | 48,038 |
| Citroen Ax | 37.6% | 350,257 |
Which cars are most likely to pass their MOT?
The lowest failure rates belong mostly to newer, lower-mileage and carefully kept cars, so a low rate reflects how a model is used as much as how it is built. These models pass most often.
| Model | Failure rate | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| BMW R1250 | 4.0% | 32,297 |
| Bentley Bentayga | 4.7% | 16,657 |
| Yamaha Tracer | 5.6% | 29,087 |
| Lexus Ux | 5.8% | 56,164 |
| Ferrari 458 | 6.1% | 18,128 |
| Lexus Es | 6.1% | 16,278 |
| BMW R1200 | 6.5% | 137,902 |
| Rolls Royce Phantom | 6.5% | 15,473 |
| Honda Cmx | 6.7% | 15,153 |
| Ferrari California | 7.1% | 17,983 |
| Yamaha Mt-09 | 7.2% | 23,298 |
| BMW R | 7.6% | 388,424 |
Does a car's age affect its MOT failure rate?
Yes, strongly. Failure rates climb steadily the older a car gets, which is why the oldest cars dominate the highest-failure lists. Grouped by the year a car was first used, the pattern is clear.
| First used | Failure rate | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 27.3% | 44,869,510 |
| 2007 | 26.7% | 45,674,119 |
| 2008 | 26.3% | 39,343,575 |
| 2009 | 25.1% | 35,006,889 |
| 2010 | 24.5% | 34,249,571 |
| 2011 | 23.3% | 31,253,518 |
| 2012 | 22.3% | 30,282,585 |
| 2013 | 21.1% | 31,018,435 |
| 2014 | 19.7% | 30,948,099 |
| 2015 | 18.2% | 29,715,387 |
| 2016 | 16.8% | 26,764,120 |
| 2017 | 14.9% | 22,654,349 |
| 2018 | 14.3% | 17,854,291 |
| 2019 | 13.4% | 14,607,471 |
| 2020 | 12.5% | 8,152,613 |
| 2021 | 12.1% | 6,363,138 |
| 2022 | 11.1% | 3,712,584 |
Sources: DVSA MOT History API: MOT test results and defect data ยท DVSA MOT testing data for Great Britain