UK MOT statistics 2024: the national picture

A single reference page for the 2024 MOT result across Great Britain: how many initial car tests fail, how sharply risk rises with age, which components and severity grades appear most often, how raw rates differ by fuel, and which local conditions do — and do not — track failure rates.

What percentage of cars fail their MOT in the UK?

Initial class 4 tests finding at least one failing defect in 2024: 26.01%.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Great Britain class 4 initial MOT tests, calendar 2024
Measure	Result	What it means
Initial tests	52,245,925	52.2 million first-attempt test events
Initial failure rate	26.01%	At least one major, dangerous or PRS defect was present on arrival
Strict fail	20.75%	The vehicle left the initial test with a fail result
PRS	5.25%	Failing defect rectified at the station before the test ended

The common “UK” search wording needs one correction: DVSA data covers Great Britain, not Northern Ireland. These are test events rather than a count of unique cars, and PRS counts in the initial failure rate because the defect was present when the vehicle arrived. Release dvsa-2024-v1.

At what age do cars start failing their MOT more often?

The steepest year-to-year rise on the national age curve: ages 9 to 10 (+3.4 percentage points).

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How MOT failure rate changes with car age in Britain

Chart axes: vehicle age at test, years · initial-failure scale 0–46%.

National failure-rate curve: data table

Vehicle age	Initial tests	Initial failure rate
under 3 years	213,118	7.0%
3 years	3,188,883	10.9%
4 years	3,128,892	11.6%
5 years	4,111,606	13.5%
6 years	4,024,959	15.6%
7 years	4,132,098	18.2%
8 years	4,214,497	21.3%
9 years	4,005,540	24.4%
10 years	3,631,798	27.7%
11 years	3,190,038	30.6%
12 years	2,704,324	33.4%
13 years	2,412,027	36.0%
14 years	2,285,007	38.6%
15 years	2,025,263	39.9%
16 years	1,781,105	41.5%
17 years	1,671,869	41.5%
18 years	1,278,035	42.4%
19 years	968,559	42.2%
20+ years	3,277,964	37.5%

The curve rises from 10.9% at age three to 27.7% at ten, crossing one test in four between nine and ten. It then flattens near 42% at ages 16–19. The 20+ band is grouped and affected by survivor mix, so it is listed in the table but not joined to the single-year line. Age is descriptive, not proof that ageing alone caused each defect.

What fails an MOT most often?

The highest rate is Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 23.52 per 100 tests.

higher = more defects recordeddefect items per 100 initial tests

What fails an MOT most often? National defect groups per 100 tests

Most frequently recorded failing defect groups, per 100 initial tests
Rank	Defect group	Failing items per 100 tests
1	Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	23.52
2	Suspension	19.90
3	Brakes	14.34
4	Visibility	11.99
5	Tyres	10.27
6	Body, chassis, structure	8.36
7	Noise, emissions and leaks	4.90
8	Steering	4.59
9	Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems	1.42
10	Identification of the vehicle	0.62

A rate of 23.52 does not mean 23.52% of cars failed only on lamps: it is the number of failing items in that component group per 100 initial tests. One test can contribute several defects and several groups. Source: DVSA defect records aggregated in dvsa-2024-v1.

How serious are MOT failures? Major and dangerous defects per 100 tests

The highest value is Major defects: 63.26 per 100 tests; the lowest is Dangerous defects: 12.89 per 100 tests — a gap of 50.37 per 100 tests.

higher = more defects recordeddefect items per 100 initial tests

Recorded defect items by MOT severity, per 100 initial tests
Severity	Defects per 100 tests	Practical meaning
Major	63.26	May affect safety, the environment or put other road users at risk; the test fails.
Dangerous	12.89	Direct and immediate road-safety risk; the vehicle must not be driven until repaired.
Minor	24.38	Repair as soon as possible; the defect itself does not fail the test.

Severity rates count defect items, not the share of tests receiving each label. A failed test can contain more than one major or dangerous defect, so these rows must not be read as mutually exclusive percentages.

Do diesel cars fail more MOTs than petrol or electric cars?

The highest value is Diesel: 27.67%; the lowest is Electric: 12.77% — a gap of 14.9 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Raw national class 4 initial-test results by fuel, 2024
Fuel	Initial tests	Initial failure rate	Vs national
Diesel	22,037,694	27.67%	+1.66 pp
Petrol	27,141,224	26.11%	+0.10 pp
Electric	645,342	12.77%	-13.24 pp

These are raw national rates, not like-for-like reliability scores. Electric cars are a much younger fleet, so their 12.77% row cannot establish that an electric car is less likely to fail than a petrol or diesel car of the same age. The age-adjusted fuel analysis tests that question directly.

Why are MOT failure rates higher in some parts of Britain?

The strongest relationship is MOT centre density: r=+0.57.

|r| nearer 1 = stronger relationship+ moves together · − moves in opposite directions

Area factors tested against local MOT outcomes
Factor	Correlation	Coverage	What survived the check
MOT centre density	r=+0.57	119 postcode areas with station data	Higher local failure rates where there are more active test stations per 10,000 MOT-seen vehicles.
Urban share	r=-0.46	120 postcode areas with urbanisation data	More urban areas have lower raw failure rates; rural fleet age and use remain plausible confounders.
Within-nation deprivation (third test)	r=+0.113	95 English areas in the primary check	Not confirmed: it did not clear the pre-set r>0.15 threshold, so the hypothesis is closed.

What did not predict failure: deprivation. The intuitive chain “poorer area → repairs deferred → more MOT failures” was checked three ways. Raw failure rate gave approximately r=+0.04; an earlier advisory-to-failure conversion check gave r=-0.26; the final within-England check, using deprivation ranked within nation, gave r=+0.113. The final result missed the pre-setr>0.15 threshold, so the hypothesis is closed rather than recycled.

Correlation is not causation. Station density is a statement about the local testing environment, not proof that stations make cars worse; urbanisation travels with fleet age, mileage, road use and station density. Deprivation scales are not directly comparable across Britain, which is why the decisive check was conducted within nation. Environmental coverage comes from areas_env.json; the closed-hypothesis record and its three checks come from composites_area.json.

Which car models can I compare with the national MOT average?

The highest value is Citroen Berlingo: 157.7; the lowest is Land Rover Range Rover Sport: 60.3 — a gap of 97.4 index points.

below 100 = fewer failures than age predictsabove 100 = more

All 25 published model-family pages, ordered by age-adjusted MOT Risk Index
Rank	Model family	Index	Raw initial failure	Initial tests
1	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	60.3	14.99%	303,232
2	Land Rover Range Rover Evoque	67.2	14.39%	352,325
3	Audi A5	71.5	18.06%	241,015
4	Audi Q3	72.8	14.57%	226,174
5	BMW 3 Series	75.6	24.75%	675,043
6	Mercedes E Class	75.8	19.86%	419,012
7	Toyota Prius	79.4	19.52%	260,089
8	Volkswagen Tiguan	79.8	15.81%	397,745
9	Audi A3	82.1	23.11%	654,933
10	Honda CR-V	82.4	24.21%	304,832
11	Mercedes C Class	83.6	22.55%	646,907
12	Land Rover Defender	84.4	27.19%	222,177
13	Audi A4	84.6	25.09%	406,182
14	Honda e	84.6	9.48%	2,699
15	Honda Jazz	85.0	26.6%	440,547
16	Volkswagen Golf	85.1	24.94%	1,323,641
17	MINI Hatch	85.5	23.43%	1,011,919
18	Audi A1	91.3	20.41%	386,496
19	Ford Kuga	91.3	20.4%	396,566
20	Mercedes A Class	91.3	18.83%	585,107
21	Seat Leon	92.0	21.49%	296,118
22	Skoda Octavia	93.6	23.39%	292,141
23	Toyota Aygo	94.9	23.89%	359,723
24	Volkswagen Passat	95.1	27.82%	277,719
25	Toyota Yaris	95.6	26.89%	629,646
26	Mitsubishi Outlander	100.5·d	21.3%	120,823
27	Honda Civic	100.7	32.3%	411,763
28	Ford Mondeo	102.5	32.49%	284,784
29	Citroen C1	102.9	30.21%	230,618
30	Hyundai i10	103.6	26.95%	328,314
31	Skoda Fabia	105.7	29.3%	323,883
32	Volkswagen Transporter	106.4	30.46%	503,457
33	Ford Focus	106.9	31.02%	1,348,944
34	Kia Sportage	107.8	22.55%	396,816
35	Volkswagen Caddy	108.0	29.15%	231,167
36	Vauxhall Astra	109.1	33.71%	914,157
37	Nissan Leaf	109.2	17.69%	70,882
38	Ford Ka	109.5	33.29%	253,099
39	Kia Picanto	111.0	28.14%	262,067
40	Vauxhall Insignia	111.3	30.4%	300,589
41	Nissan Micra	112.5	36.12%	342,234
42	Volkswagen Polo	114.8	32.68%	895,817
43	Fiat 500	116.2	31.68%	477,588
44	Ford Fiesta	117.8	34.33%	1,959,383
45	Vauxhall Zafira	118.6	38.47%	281,888
46	Nissan Qashqai	122.9	30.07%	800,602
47	Tesla Model 3	122.9	14.03%	116,025
48	Vauxhall Corsa	123.5	36.66%	1,191,943
49	Seat Ibiza	124.2	32.1%	296,654
50	Nissan Juke	124.7	28.37%	460,457
51	Peugeot 208	126.7	27.87%	295,225
52	Vauxhall Mokka	133.5	27.34%	332,738
53	Renault Clio	141.5	41.43%	473,424
54	DS 3	150.2	40.69%	158,830
55	Vauxhall Vivaro	156.4	41.93%	275,396
56	Citroen Berlingo	157.7	39.91%	270,806

This is a published panel of 25 high-volume or analytically useful model families, not every model registered in Britain. Index 100.0 means the failure level expected for that family’s age mix; “·d” means its 95% interval includes 100, so no directional verdict is claimed. See the full methodology, definitions and limitations before comparing models.

Published MOT reports and downloads

UK MOT failure rates 2024 — national figures by age and fuel, best/worst families, downloadable CSV.
MOT failure by fuel type — whether electric cars really fail less than petrol, compared at the same age, and what they fail on instead.

New reports are added per dataset release — see the changelog.