MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Bentley Continental — MOT statistics 2024

The Bentley Continental failed 8.91% of 14,552 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 27.0 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 73% less often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 27.0, 95% CI 25.7–28.5 (100 = national average) 100 27.0 0 200
Index
27.0
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
8.91%
n = 14,552
Dangerous /100
3
national ≈11
Rank
28 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Porsche 911 (index 35.8) — the two published results are 8.8 index points apart.

Bentley Continental common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are well below the reference at 4.2 per 100 tests, against 23.0 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Bentley Continental common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.

Component-group comparison table

Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Lamps & electrical4.23,49223.00.18×0.18–0.19
Tyres3.73,0689.30.40×0.39–0.41
Brakes2.72,17914.60.18×0.17–0.19
Emissions & leaks2.31,8925.00.46×0.44–0.48
Visibility2.11,6989.10.23×0.22–0.24
Suspension1.71,40819.50.09×0.08–0.09
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 82,175 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Number plate does not conform to the specified…Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements0.660.203.28×Ask the seller about: Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements
Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunctionEngine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction1.191.191.00×Ask the seller about: Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction
Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged2.042.540.80×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged0.661.630.40×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot…A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated0.501.480.34×Ask the seller about: A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely d
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view0.872.360.37×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down…The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements0.512.570.20×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Rear registration plate lamp or light source…A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources0.552.830.19×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements0.533.590.15×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Suspension pin, bush or joint excessively wornA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn1.154.870.24×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Bentley Continental MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Tyres are highest at 18.6 per 100 tests; Steering is lowest at 0.5 per 100 tests — the gap is 18.1 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Bentley Continental MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Tyres18.6
Brakes11.6
Suspension5
Non-component advisories1.7
Emissions & leaks0.6
Steering0.5

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Bentley Continental against cars of the same age

AgePartBentley ContinentalSame age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres2.844.17-1.33
3 yearsBrakes0.171.77-1.60
3 yearsSuspension0.120.63-0.51
4 yearsTyres2.924.54-1.62
4 yearsBrakes0.132.43-2.30
4 yearsSuspension0.131.21-1.08
5 yearsTyres2.795.06-2.27
5 yearsBrakes0.283.09-2.81
5 yearsSuspension0.222.19-1.97
6 yearsTyres2.525.54-3.02
6 yearsBrakes0.423.81-3.39
6 yearsSuspension0.363.72-3.36
7 yearsTyres3.395.95-2.56
7 yearsBrakes0.414.55-4.14
7 yearsSuspension0.325.68-5.36
8 yearsTyres2.986.31-3.33
8 yearsBrakes0.585.38-4.80
8 yearsSuspension0.297.78-7.49

Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.

If a car like this fails, does it fail again?

A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.

After this year's testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed15.7%2,142
It passed8.3%53,749

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 7.4 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is noise, emissions and leaks — 18.4% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.

Adjusted for how much these are actually driven

The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 81,557 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.

Standardised forIndexReading
Age only28.4fails less often than expected
Age and annual mileage35.4fails less often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year36.4%a large low-use population — often second vehicles or cars kept for occasional use

Split by how much each car is driven. This is a split by annual mileage, not by body type — the MOT record does not say whether a car is a conversion. Within each band the index compares with vehicles of the same age driven as much.

Miles a yearTestsFailed first timeIndex within band
under 3,00029,6996.7%33.4
3,000–6,00041,26410.6%34.7
6,000–9,0008,90013.1%39.8
9,000–12,0001,33415.7%52.2

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 7.0 points — this fleet is driven less than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view flatters it — but it does not change which side of normal the car sits on. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.

How the Bentley Continental compares with cars of its own age and size

Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.

AgeBentley ContinentalSame class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years4.95%10.79%-5.84 pp4,221
4 years5.5%12.37%-6.87 pp4,490
5 years6.07%14.19%-8.12 pp4,593
6 years6.12%16.12%-10 pp4,493
7 years6.85%18.29%-11.44 pp4,630
8 years6.82%20.59%-13.77 pp4,503
9 years7.57%23.15%-15.58 pp4,213
10 years7.74%25.67%-17.92 pp3,849
11 years9.79%28.31%-18.52 pp4,067
12 years10.2%30.67%-20.47 pp4,794
13 years10.15%32.75%-22.6 pp5,101
14 years11.51%34.73%-23.22 pp5,862
15 years12.51%36.21%-23.7 pp6,586
16 years12.83%37.26%-24.43 pp5,977
17 years13.08%37.63%-24.56 pp5,062
18 years13.01%37.99%-24.98 pp3,575
19 years12.44%37.57%-25.13 pp2,372
20 years13.61%37.04%-23.43 pp1,139

Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.

How does the Bentley Continental perform as it gets older?

The Continental at age 15 is well below the reference at 9.4%, against 41.6% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Bentley Continental perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–47%.

Takeaway: a 10-year-old Continental has roughly a 6% chance of failing its MOT.

Data table
AgeBentley ContinentalAll vehiclesGap
35.9%12.4%-6.6 pp
43.5%13.1%-9.6 pp
55.6%15.1%-9.5 pp
64.6%17.5%-12.9 pp
75.5%20.2%-14.7 pp
85.6%23.3%-17.7 pp
95.8%26.5%-20.7 pp
105.8%30.1%-24.3 pp
118.9%33.2%-24.3 pp
128.3%35.7%-27.4 pp
1310.6%38.2%-27.5 pp
1411.1%40.4%-29.3 pp
159.3%41.6%-32.2 pp
1611.3%43.1%-31.8 pp
1711.2%43.1%-31.9 pp
1811.8%43.9%-32.1 pp
1911.5%43.5%-32.0 pp
2013.6%41.0%-27.5 pp

Is a Bentley Continental ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Bentley Continental MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 83.6%.

Based on 14,184 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.

higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 26
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,852
6–7 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,269
8 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 841
9 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 808
10–14 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 3,331
15–17 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 2,645
18 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,086
19 years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,154
20+ years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,172

How dangerous are Bentley Continental MOT failures?

Major defects are well below the reference at 12.0 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Bentley Continental MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor4.1714.220.29×
Major11.9952.750.23×
Dangerous3.3011.150.30×

Chart values: Minor 4.2 · Major 12.0 · Dangerous 3.3.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of a Bentley Continental MOT matter?

Apr is highest at 10.4%; Jun is lowest at 8.7% — the gap is 1.7 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Bentley Continental MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 7%–33%.

bars: Bentley Continental · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthBentley ContinentalAll vehiclesGap
Jan10.22%31.12%-20.9 pp
Feb10.19%29.99%-19.8 pp
Mar9.6%28.26%-18.7 pp
Apr10.41%29.78%-19.4 pp
May9.38%28.79%-19.4 pp
Jun8.7%28.15%-19.4 pp
Jul9.53%29.33%-19.8 pp
Aug9.34%29.2%-19.9 pp
Sep8.7%28.19%-19.5 pp
Oct10.24%30.34%-20.1 pp
Nov9.55%30.58%-21.0 pp
Dec8.86%29.33%-20.5 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 1.7 percentage points — booking month barely matters for this family. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.

Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.

Bentley Continental average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of Continentals runs from 18,610 miles to 38,942 miles, against 28,596 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Bars: Bentley Continental · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–89k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Bentley Continental MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 15+, 7.2% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 10.9% of those with over 140,000 miles.No clear mileage gap inside this age group, among cars still being tested.

Does high mileage mean more Bentley Continental MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Bentley Continental: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles4.6%3.7–5.7%1,789
3–540-70k miles15.8%8.5–27.4%57 (rough estimate)
6–9<40k miles4.9%4.1–5.9%2,347
6–940-70k miles7.3%5.3–9.8%523
10–14<40k miles6.2%5.1–7.4%1,652
10–1440-70k miles10.5%9–12.2%1,365
10–1470-100k miles13.9%10.3–18.5%273 (rough estimate)
15+<40k miles7.2%6–8.7%1,438
15+40-70k miles10.9%9.7–12.2%2,497
15+70-100k miles15.6%13.9–17.5%1,572
15+100-140k miles16.9%13.9–20.5%484 (rough estimate)
15+140k+ miles10.9%5.4–20.9%64 (rough estimate)

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
36,90111,15115,586410
48,82314,12320,529626
510,31716,80523,717816
612,76620,15128,159608
716,72725,34133,512661
818,61028,59638,942841
920,96330,43641,539808
1023,84135,00946,912760
1127,21138,83152,098732
1229,10142,59457,155746
1330,26744,30459,712545
1431,17646,15761,628550
1536,51849,68365,731417
1636,30953,73670,098892
1738,14554,23372,9731,337
1842,50260,25280,2631,086
1945,06865,25382,9351,154
20+46,32566,83985,1101,173

A typical 8-year-old Continental has ~28,596 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Bentley Continental fails its MOT most

Exeter area is highest at 21.2%; Motherwell area is lowest at 2.6% — the gap is 18.7 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Where in Britain the Bentley Continental fails its MOT most — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Exeter (EX)21.24%+11.7 pp
Kirkcaldy (KY)20.86%+11.3 pp
Perth (PH)18.46%+8.9 pp
Bath (BA)18.28%+8.7 pp
Brighton (BN)16.53%+7.0 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Motherwell (ML)2.55%-7.0 pp
Wakefield (WF)4.98%-4.6 pp
Oldham (OL)5.44%-4.1 pp
Reading (RG)5.75%-3.8 pp
London N (N)6.07%-3.5 pp

Why do areas differ?

For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.

In areas with the highest road-salt proxy this model fails 1.7 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.34, n=30 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest frost days this model fails 1.9 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.30, n=30 areas with ≥800 tests).

In the most coastal fifth of areas this model fails 1.9 pp more often than in the most inland fifth (r=-0.27, n=30 areas with ≥800 tests).

Bentley Continental Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
Road-salt proxy10.0%8.3%-1.7 ppr=-0.34
Frost days10.2%8.3%-1.9 ppr=-0.30
Distance to coast10.2%8.3%-1.9 ppr=-0.27

Factors that only mean something combined

Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.

Composite area indicators, each tested against a defect rate we measure
CompositeBuilt fromTested againstrVerdict
Underbody corrosionfrost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1)share of tests with a corrosion defect+0.42holds (116 areas)
Tyre wearrain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisoryshare of tests failing on tyres+0.45holds (116 areas)
Overnight corrosionterraced housing × cars per household × frost daysshare with a corrosion defect+0.41holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index
Deferred maintenancedeprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour ratecars repeating the same advisory−0.26fails (118 areas)
Powertrain stressengine capacity ÷ kerb weightsuspension, brake and emissions failures−0.16fails (22 models)

The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.

All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
Factorrn areasLow-Q fail %High-Q fail %Gap ppLow-Q factorHigh-Q factor
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)-0.3393010.08.3-1.7234.7510.7
Frost days (days/year)-0.3043010.28.3-1.912.728.8
Distance to coast (km)-0.2743010.28.3-1.99.286.5
Urban share (0–1)0.259307.310.4+3.10.61
MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles)-0.184309.68.4-1.24.87.3
Income deprivation (score)0.035288.09.1+1.10.10.2
Terrain gradient (% grade)-0.0321810.49.2-1.20.73

Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.

Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 6%–15% failing.

Bentley Continental survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 19 is well below the reference at 52.4%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Bentley Continental survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
34,22193.3%4.95%
44,49099.2%5.5%
54,593100%6.07%
64,49399.3%6.12%
74,630100%6.85%
84,50399.5%6.82%
94,21393.1%7.57%
103,84985.1%7.74%
114,06789.9%9.79%
124,794100%10.2%
135,101100%10.15%
145,862100%11.51%
156,586100%12.51%
165,977100%12.83%
175,062100%13.08%
183,57579%13.01%
192,37252.4%12.44%

By age 19, only about 52% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈4,525); survivors still fail at 12.4% vs 5.5% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does a Bentley Continental last?

100,000+ miles stands out at 4.0%.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles3,2854.01%

Of 81,920 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 4.0% had reached 100k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is a Bentley Continental likely to last?

Bought at age 5 is highest at 13.5 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 3.8 years — the gap is 9.7 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—at least 13.5
8—at least 10.5
10—at least 10.2
12—at least 6.8
15—at least 3.8

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has at least 10.2 expected years of further MOT-present life. The curve is observed only until age 19, so the true figure is likely higher.

Bentley Continental faults that come together

Steering + Suspension stand out at 14.45×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
SteeringSuspension4714.45× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems6013.21× (rough estimate)
BrakesSuspension19311.86× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSteering3011.75× (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems4811× (rough estimate)
BrakesSteering5310.42× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension2910.39× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks27410.35× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks13710.3× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSuspension8410.28× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels228.96× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension1508.85× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureBrakes1098.53× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering458.5× (rough estimate)
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle588.26× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks608.21× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment1828.2× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks3748.13× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering718.03× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems557.25× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment887.21× (rough estimate)
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment3137.08× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsTyres276.95× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension1946.86× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleTyres786.74× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres486.68× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureVisibility846.38× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility2796.12× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels256.1× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSuspension276.01× (rough estimate)
BrakesTyres2485.92× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility1615.9× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility245.34× (rough estimate)
SuspensionVisibility885.25× (rough estimate)
BrakesVisibility1355.15× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres2245.13× (rough estimate)
SteeringTyres404.77× (rough estimate)
SuspensionTyres1244.62× (rough estimate)
SteeringVisibility244.58× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres3274.49× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureTyres803.8× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleVisibility263.59× (rough estimate)
TyresVisibility1503.47× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle19too few (rough estimate)
BrakesRoad Wheels17too few (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSuspension16too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems14too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSteering13too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems12too few (rough estimate)
Road WheelsVisibility12too few (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering11too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels9too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Steering» and «Suspension» appear together 14.45× more often than chance (47 co-occurrences in the same test; 78 pairs compared).

Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).

Is low mileage better for a Bentley Continental?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 6.8%, against 14.4% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year6.79%33,998
8–12k miles/year14.44%1,655
Gap (low − normal)-7.65 pp—
By fuel and age

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
55.093,30012.26261-7.17 pp
64.693,19714.75217-10.05 pp
75.813,30515.94207-10.13 pp
86.083,3088.94179-2.86 pp
96.093,10511.59138-5.51 pp
106.912,87817.09117-10.18 pp
118.433,04921.24113-12.81 pp
129.263,6069.23130+0.03 pp
139.013,83017.61142-8.6 pp
1410.134,40319.21151-9.08 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 6.8% vs 14.4% for 8–12k miles/year — 7.7 pp lower (n_low=33,998, n_normal=1,655). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates.

Best year for a Bentley Continental, and the years to avoid

Build year 2004 is highest at 113.1; Build year 2015 is lowest at 89.5 — the gap is 23.6 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Bentley Continental build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Bentley Continental by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
202090.166.9–113.34.56%1,272no different
20199982–1165.28%2,461no different
201897.681.1–114.15.38%2,491no different
201789.776.6–102.85.15%3,513no different
20169483.3–104.85.67%5,171no different
201589.579.2–99.95.78%4,966better
201499.288.3–110.26.79%4,669no different
2013100.889.9–111.77.5%4,412no different
2012107.496.8–1188.73%4,504no different
2011101.990.4–113.48.82%3,437no different
2010104.493.2–115.79.86%3,358no different
200991.580.1–102.99.35%2,652no different
200898.790.9–106.510.98%5,557no different
200790.984.9–96.810.6%8,512better
2006101.694.8–108.312.32%7,038no different
2005104.698.1–111.113.14%7,612no different
2004113.1106.3–119.914.67%7,217worse

The best build year here is 2015 and the weakest is 2004. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 3 of 17 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Bentley Continental MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £20.92 to £39.75, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£21–40
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4.2 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£5.88
Noise, emissions and leaks2.3 (nat. 3.67)Exhaust rear silencer£200£4.60
Brakes2.7 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£4.05
Tyres3.7 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£3.33
Suspension1.7 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£3.06

Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £21 to £40, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.

Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.

For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Bentley Continental running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 are close to the reference at 6.0%, against 6.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 5
6
vehicles needing work (rough estimate: 816 tests)
At age 10
6
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024 (rough estimate: 760 tests)
Repairs per 100
£2,092
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
2d
median; 23.77% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
35.85%11,151410+0.2 pp
43.51%14,123626-2.1 pp
55.64%16,805816+0.0 pp
64.61%20,151608-1.0 pp
75.45%25,341661-0.2 pp
85.59%28,596841-0.0 pp
95.82%30,436808+0.2 pp
105.79%35,009760+0.2 pp
118.88%38,831732+3.2 pp
128.31%42,594746+2.7 pp
1310.64%44,304545+5.0 pp
1411.09%46,157550+5.5 pp
159.35%49,683417+3.7 pp
1611.32%53,736892+5.7 pp
1711.22%54,2331,337+5.6 pp
1811.79%60,2521,086+6.1 pp
1911.53%65,2531,154+5.9 pp

No single year stands out as the point where this model starts costing more: the year-to-year steps in its failure rate are too small or rest on too few tests to name one (D1 rule: a step is named only with at least 2,000 tests on both sides and a jump above 3 percentage points).

Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.

Bentley Continental rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is well below the reference at <0.1×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
<0.1×
0.02% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
11th
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 30 postcode areas

This Bentley Continental virtually never fails on corrosion once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are gentler than most for the models we publish.

Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.

Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.

Does a Bentley Continental advisory become a failure?

Tyres are highest at 5.9%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 5.9 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Bentley Continental chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Bentley Continental, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Tyres 5.9% · Brakes 5.5% · Suspension 4.6% · Non-component 0%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Tyres5.9%12.2 months2,1977,031
Brakes5.5%12.2 months1,6904,465
Suspension4.6%12.2 months1,0381,927
Non-component advisories0.0%——1,106

This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.

Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 6 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12.2 months and roughly 2,197 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.

What will fail next on a Bentley Continental?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 15-19 are highest at 10.2%; Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 0.5% — the gap is 9.7 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedTyres 2.6% · Visibility 0.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 0.5%2,165
<3advisoryTyres 5.0%200 (rough estimate)
3-5passedTyres 2.3% · Visibility 0.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 0.8%9,291
3-5advisoryTyres 4.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1.4% · Visibility 1.4%1,023
3-5failureTyres 3.2% · Identification of the vehicle 2.0% · Visibility 1.5%654
6-8passedTyres 2.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1.9% · Visibility 1.0%8,887
6-8advisoryTyres 4.5% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 2.9% · Visibility 2.5%1,437
6-8failureTyres 5.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.9% · Visibility 2.7%787
9-11passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 2.9% · Tyres 2.3% · Visibility 1.5%7,504
9-11advisoryTyres 5.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.3% · Visibility 3.0%1,420
9-11failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.7% · Tyres 4.0% · Brakes 3.6%931
12-14passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 2.8% · Tyres 2.3% · Noise, emissions and leaks 1.8%10,543
12-14advisoryTyres 5.1% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.7% · Brakes 4.0%2,477
12-14failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.9% · Noise, emissions and leaks 6.6% · Brakes 4.6%1,645
15-19passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.5% · Noise, emissions and leaks 2.9% · Brakes 2.4%10,160
15-19advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 6.6% · Noise, emissions and leaks 5.1% · Tyres 4.2%2,711
15-19failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 10.2% · Noise, emissions and leaks 8.4% · Visibility 5.8%2,011
20+passedBrakes 3.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.2% · Suspension 2.3%1,275
20+advisoryBrakes 9.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.2% · Suspension 6.9%292 (rough estimate)
20+failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 8.7% · Brakes 8.3% · Suspension 6.1%277 (rough estimate)

The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.

The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.

Bentley Continental ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 69.7%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 6.6% — the gap is 63.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
23.77%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.352
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
77.28%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
3.41%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 5,162 failures followed through to their re-test, 23.77% were repaired and passed the same day and 69.66% within ten days; the median gap is 2 days. 9,147 defect items were cleared in the process.

Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.352 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 1,678 miles a year across 15,814 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.

Two populations hide inside one model. 77.28% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 7.56% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.

Odometer anomalies: 3.41% of 15,837 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 23,897 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.

Bentley Continental safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 35.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Bentley Continental recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Bentley Continental. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2012: 0 · 2013: 3 · 2014: 0 · 2015: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 0 · 2019: 6 · 2020: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2022: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2024: 0 · 2025: 0 · 2026: 2.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Bentley Continental
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2026/21603/06/20264RECALL CAMPAIGN – Bentley Continental GT Continental GT Convertible Flying Spur - Incorre
R/2026/21603/06/20264RECALL CAMPAIGN – Bentley Continental GT Continental GT Convertible Flying Spur - Incorre
R/2023/06421/03/2023742When riveting the airbag deflector bracket to the seat frame a sharp edge on the rivet cou
R/2023/03710/02/20231,218The water pump concept can create a vacuum within the electrical area of the pump. As a r
R/2023/03710/02/20231,218The water pump concept can create a vacuum within the electrical area of the pump. As a r
All 35 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2026/21603/06/202606/03/2026 – 13/04/20264RECALL CAMPAIGN – Bentley Continental GT Continental GT Convertible Flying Spur - Incorre
R/2026/21603/06/202604/03/2026 – 20/04/20264RECALL CAMPAIGN – Bentley Continental GT Continental GT Convertible Flying Spur - Incorre
R/2023/06421/03/202313/03/2019 – 21/01/2021742When riveting the airbag deflector bracket to the seat frame a sharp edge on the rivet cou
R/2023/03710/02/202315/06/2018 – 12/09/20191,218The water pump concept can create a vacuum within the electrical area of the pump. As a r
R/2023/03710/02/202313/03/2019 – 06/12/20191,218The water pump concept can create a vacuum within the electrical area of the pump. As a r
R/2022/07831/03/202218/06/2018 – 20/08/202132INCORRECT FRONT PASSENGER SEAT BELT ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT AN AUTOMATIC LOCKING RETRACTOR FUNC
R/2022/07831/03/202218/06/2018 – 20/08/202132INCORRECT FRONT PASSENGER SEAT BELT ASSEMBLIES WITHOUT AN AUTOMATIC LOCKING RETRACTOR FUNC
R/2021/27627/07/202105/02/2018 – 28/06/20212,293THE FRONT SEAT SOFTWARE COULD RESULT IN TRAPPING OF A REAR OCCUPANT'S LEGS
R/2021/27627/07/202105/02/2018 – 28/06/20212,293THE FRONT SEAT SOFTWARE COULD RESULT IN TRAPPING OF A REAR OCCUPANT'S LEGS
R/2021/22111/06/202115/06/2018 – 30/05/20212,462A MANUFACTURING ISSUE COULD PREVENT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL FROM RETURNING TO ITS RESTING PO
R/2021/22111/06/202115/06/2018 – 30/05/20212,462A MANUFACTURING ISSUE COULD PREVENT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL FROM RETURNING TO ITS RESTING PO
R/2020/37312/01/202131/08/2019 – 18/11/2020393THE CONVERTIBLE ROOF CAN BE ACTIVATED USING THE KEY FOB AT DISTANCES EXCEEDING SIX METRES
R/2020/14502/06/202002/01/2020 – 21/01/20202THE ADHESIVE BOND BETWEEN THE SUNROOF AND THE VEHICLE BODY DOES NOT MEET SPECIFICATION
R/2020/14502/06/202002/01/2020 – 21/01/20202THE ADHESIVE BOND BETWEEN THE SUNROOF AND THE VEHICLE BODY DOES NOT MEET SPECIFICATION
R/2019/40510/12/201902/10/2016 – 27/01/2018127THE CONNECTING HOSE OF THE HYDRAULIC POWER ASSISTED STEERING SYSTEM MAY DETACH
R/2019/40510/12/201902/10/2016 – 27/01/2018127THE CONNECTING HOSE OF THE HYDRAULIC POWER ASSISTED STEERING SYSTEM MAY DETACH
R/2019/40510/12/201902/10/2016 – 27/01/2018127THE CONNECTING HOSE OF THE HYDRAULIC POWER ASSISTED STEERING SYSTEM MAY DETACH
R/2019/20202/07/201924/06/2018 – 01/05/2019802THE ELECTRICAL POWER STEERING WIRING HARNESS CAN BECOME TRAPPED AT THE FRONT AXLE ASSEMBLY
R/2019/17002/07/201922/01/2018 – 06/03/2019830THE CENTRE CONSOLE SWITCHPACK COULD SUFFER LOSS OF SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS
R/2019/01628/01/201922/01/2018 – 17/12/2018548IN SPECIFIC DRIVING CONDITIONS THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING CONTROL UNIT DISPLAYED AN ERROR
R/2017/22017/07/201719/05/2017 – 05/07/201736LOSS OF POWER STEERING ASSISTANCE
R/2017/22017/07/201719/05/2017 – 05/07/201736LOSS OF POWER STEERING ASSISTANCE
R/2016/17319/08/201625/04/2007 – 31/10/200811GLASS SUNROOF MAY DETACH
R/2015/19726/10/201501/02/2011 – 14/06/20143,642RISK OF FIRE
R/2015/19726/10/201501/02/2011 – 14/06/20143,642RISK OF FIRE
R/2013/11021/10/201301/07/2006 – 01/06/2010343POSSIBLE LOSS OF REAR BRAKE
R/2013/11021/10/201301/07/2006 – 30/06/2010343POSSIBLE LOSS OF REAR BRAKE
R/2013/11021/10/201301/07/2006 – 01/06/2010343POSSIBLE LOSS OF REAR BRAKE
R/2009/00215/01/200901/08/2008 – 30/09/200822CENTRE REAR SEAT PASSENGER MAY NOT BE FULLY RESTRAINED
R/2008/08014/05/200804/12/2003 – 18/03/20087,539FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2008/08014/05/200804/12/2003 – 17/03/20087,539FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2006/15522/08/2006536POTENTIAL LOSS OF BRAKING EFFICIENCY
R/1997/02221/03/199710/04/1996 – 22/01/199713POSSIBLE DETACHMENT OF FACIA PANEL
R/1997/02321/03/199735POSSIBLE FOULING OF BRAKE PIPES
R/1995/06218/08/199501/05/1993 – 30/07/1995151POSSIBLE FAILURE OF SEAT BELT LOWER ATTACHMENT RAIL

DVSA lists 35 safety recall campaigns for the Bentley Continental, covering roughly 39,949 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.

Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.

Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.

Bentley Continental technical service bulletins: what dealers are told

US market, Bentley CONTINENTAL GT and its variants, model years 2015–2021 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.

NHTSA manufacturer communications are 1,062.

bigger number = more recorded dealer communicationsnot affected vehicles or confirmed faults

These are the issues the manufacturer fixes quietly: service communications sent to dealers without a public recall campaign. They show what the service network has been told even when the issue never became news.

United States · NHTSA manufacturer communications

US technical service bulletins by communication year; leading subjects cover the full file
Communication yearBulletinsLeading subjects across all years
20121
  • Electrical system (684)
  • Engine and cooling (199)
  • Structure (189)
  • Equipment (172)
  • Suspension (107)
  • Engine (88)
  • Steering (51)
  • Visibility (51)
201324
20148
201517
201638
201711
201812
201983
2020108
2021193
2022178
2023164
202458
202581
202686

Caveat worth stating plainly: this is NHTSA data about US-specification cars. British cars sold under the same name often use different gearboxes, engines and equipment, so a bulletin may describe a component that was never fitted here. The file counts dealer communications, not affected vehicles or confirmed failures, and it cannot tell you whether an individual UK car has the issue. A communication can carry more than one subject tag, so topic counts do not have to add up to the total. Source: NHTSA Manufacturer Communications API (US-market vehicles; queried model years 2015-2022). Licence: U.S. Government work / public domain · retrieved 2026-09-25.

Bentley Continental owner complaints: what goes wrong

US market, Bentley CONTINENTAL GT and its variants, model years 2015–2021 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.

Tyres are highest at 2; Steering is lowest at 1 — the gap is 1.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

Owner complaints (US) against actual MOT failures (UK) for the same component groups
ComponentComplaintsShareMOT fail items per 100MOT rankAgreement
Tyres233.3%3.7#2complained about and fails often
Steering116.7%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure

Two different populations answering two different questions: the MOT records what an inspector can measure once a year, the complaint file records what annoyed or frightened an owner on the road. A component high in one column and absent from the other is the interesting case — driver-assistance and electronics dominate complaints while almost never appearing as an MOT failure item.

What the reports actually say
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 BENTLEY CONTINENTAL FLYING SPUR. WHEN THE CONTACT PLACED THE VEHICLE IN REVERSE, THE REAR CAMERA TOOK 15 TO 25 SECONDS TO ACTIVATE. WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS WARMED UP, IT FUNCTIONED PROPERLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT COULD NOT BE DIAGNOSED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 2,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
NHTSA complaint, filed 02/03/2016 · BACK OVER PREVENTION
TOOLS PROVIDED BY THE MANUFACTURER CANNOT BE USED ON WHEEL NUTS ON THE WHEEL DUE TO INCORRECT SIZES, THE REAR TIRE OF THE CAR WENT FLAT ON THE HIGHWAY AT 10:50 PM AND TRY TO INSTALL SPARE TIRE ON THE SIDE OF STREET BUT THE TOOLS PROVIDED FROM THE FACTORY AS AN EMERGENCY TOOLS DID NOT FIT TO UNINSTALL THE FLAT TIRE AND REINSTALL THE SPARE.
NHTSA complaint, filed 11/09/2019 · WHEELS

US owners have filed 6 complaints about the equivalent Bentley Continental to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 1 that mention a crash, 0 a fire and 0 an injury. These are owner reports, not verified findings — but they are the only large public record of what drivers themselves notice, and they cover the years between MOT tests.

Caveat worth stating plainly: US-specification cars, self-selected reporters, no denominator — complaint counts scale with how many cars were sold there and how motivated owners are to file. The mechanical gap matters as much as the statistical one: American cars of the same name often carry different gearboxes, engines and equipment — automatics where Britain buys manuals — so a drivetrain complaint filed in Ohio may describe a part that was never fitted here. Read the ranking inside a model, not between models, and treat drivetrain entries with particular caution. Source: NHTSA ODI consumer complaints (US market, public domain) — US-spec vehicles, indicative only.

Bentley Continental inspection results in other countries

Netherlands APK is well below the reference at 27.9%, against 50.8% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)8.91%26.01%-17.1 pp14,552
NetherlandsAPK27.9%50.8%-22.9 pp897

The verdict is consistent across every regime where the difference is clear, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.

The exact faults Netherlands records — APK defect codes, 2024
CodeFaultRecordedType
210Tyre pressure not at the correct value100failure
RA4Waarschuwingsinrichting controlesysteem bandenspanning geeft50advisory
205Tyre with insufficient tread40failure
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed30failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread26advisory
203Tyre damaged24failure
178Driveshaft gaiter split, no longer sealing19failure
497Number-plate light not working or missing15failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 0.514 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.

Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Bentley Continental is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.

Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.. Adapted; licences and full notice.

Bentley Continental MOT: quick answers

Bentley Continental MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 27.0, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

What is the Bentley Continental first-time MOT pass rate?
91.09% of first attempts passed in 2024 (14,552 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
Why does this number differ from other sites?
Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 8.91% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 14,552 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 27.0 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Bentley Continental with other cars

Jaguar F-Type is highest at 43.0; Bentley Continental is lowest at 27.0 — the gap is 16.0 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Same brand

All Bentley MOT statistics

Similar risk

Porsche 911 (index 35.8)BMW M3 (index 39.8)Jaguar F-Type (index 43.0)

Same size class

how Chevrolet Spark compareshow Jaguar F-Type compareshow BMW X6 compares

By build year

Bentley Continental 2004Bentley Continental 2005Bentley Continental 2006Bentley Continental 2007Bentley Continental 2008Bentley Continental 2009Bentley Continental 2010Bentley Continental 2011Bentley Continental 2012Bentley Continental 2013Bentley Continental 2014Bentley Continental 2015Bentley Continental 2016Bentley Continental 2017Bentley Continental 2018Bentley Continental 2019Bentley Continental 2020

By area

Bentley Continental MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Bentley Continental body, chassis and structure failuresBentley Continental brakes failuresBentley Continental vehicle identification failuresBentley Continental lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresBentley Continental noise, emissions and leaks failuresBentley Continental road wheels failuresBentley Continental seat belts and airbags failuresBentley Continental steering failuresBentley Continental suspension failuresBentley Continental tyres failuresBentley Continental visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Bentley Continental in the Netherlands


Data details & how to cite

Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:bentley-continental:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Bentley Continental MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/bentley-continental/ · Published 2026-07-30.