MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Does the Lotus Elise fail the MOT on vehicle identification more than it should?

The Lotus Elise records 0.94 vehicle identification failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 0.70 expected for a car of the same age mix: about as expected for its class and age (the difference is within its interval or under 0.5 items per 100 tests) (+0.24, 95% interval +0.13 to +0.35). It ranks 120 of 636 models on vehicle identification (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on vehicle identification · check a Lotus Elise by registration

What exactly fails on vehicle identification?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Lotus Elise is “Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements”, recorded 176 times in 2019–2024.

Lotus Elise: most frequent vehicle identification defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wordingItemsPer 100 tests
Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements1760.58
Number plate missing or so insecure that it is likely to fall off740.25

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 30,192 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

Other pages for this model

Lotus Elise 1998 · Lotus Elise 1999 · Lotus Elise 2000 · Lotus Elise 2001 · Lotus Elise 2002 · Lotus Elise 2003 · Lotus Elise 2004 · Lotus Elise 2005 · Lotus Elise by postcode area · Lotus Elise body, chassis and structure failures · Lotus Elise brakes failures · Lotus Elise lamps, reflectors and electrics failures · Lotus Elise noise, emissions and leaks failures · Lotus Elise road wheels failures · Lotus Elise steering failures · Lotus Elise suspension failures · Lotus Elise tyres failures · Lotus Elise visibility failures