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What cars fail their MOT on, by area
What do cars fail their MOT on most?
Of all recorded MOT defects on cars, lamps & electrical is the most common at 19.8% of the total, followed by the other areas below. Each area links to the models that fail it most.
| Failure area | Share of all defects | Defects recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Lamps & electrical | 19.8% | 67,278,385 |
| Suspension | 18.8% | 63,862,032 |
| Brakes | 16.5% | 56,130,701 |
| Tyres | 12.6% | 42,832,264 |
| Other | 9.2% | 31,352,971 |
| Visibility/wipers | 8.5% | 28,768,006 |
| Exhaust & emissions | 6.9% | 23,395,170 |
| Seat belts | 2.1% | 7,012,280 |
| Body & structure | 1.9% | 6,355,021 |
| Steering | 1.7% | 5,842,913 |
| Registration plate | 1.2% | 4,145,855 |
| Fuel system | 0.7% | 2,453,121 |
How this is worked out
Every figure is computed from the full DVSA MOT test and defect record, not a survey or a poll. Rates are the share of MOT tests that end in a failure (or a pass); area figures count that area's recorded defects against tests taken. A model is only ranked once it clears a minimum test count, so a single unlucky batch cannot distort a list. Motorcycles, which share the MOT dataset, are excluded so these are genuine car rankings. Age is the strongest driver of MOT failure, so older models and vans naturally rank higher. Figures describe how a model performs across the fleet; they are not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Data as of September 2026.
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Sources: DVSA MOT History API: MOT test results and defect data ยท DVSA MOT testing data for Great Britain