UK MOT failure rates, 2024
In calendar 2024, 26.01% of 52,245,925 initial car (class 4) MOT tests in Great Britain found at least one failing defect. 5.25% of tests had the defect rectified at the station (PRS); the strict fail rate was 20.75%. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT tests and results, release dvsa-2024-v1.
Initial-failure rate by vehicle age
| Age | Initial-failure rate |
|---|---|
| 3 | 10.9% |
| 4 | 11.6% |
| 5 | 13.5% |
| 6 | 15.6% |
| 7 | 18.2% |
| 8 | 21.3% |
| 9 | 24.4% |
| 10 | 27.7% |
| 11 | 30.6% |
| 12 | 33.4% |
| 13 | 36.0% |
| 14 | 38.6% |
| 15 | 39.9% |
| 16 | 41.5% |
| 17 | 41.5% |
| 18 | 42.4% |
| 19 | 42.2% |
| 20+ | 37.5% |
By fuel type
| Fuel | Initial tests | Initial-failure |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 27,141,224 | 26.11% |
| Diesel | 22,037,694 | 27.67% |
| Hybrid | 1,676,342 | 12.01% |
| Electric | 645,342 | 12.77% |
| Hybrid Electric (Clean) | 498,210 | 16.26% |
| ED | 129,981 | 11.3% |
Fuel rows are raw rates (not age-adjusted): electric fleets are much younger — compare with the age-adjusted index before drawing conclusions.
Best and worst families (age-adjusted)
| Family | Index | Initial-fail | |
|---|---|---|---|
| best 1 | BMW 3 Series | 75.6 | 24.75% |
| best 2 | Audi A3 | 82.1 | 23.11% |
| best 3 | Mercedes C Class | 83.6 | 22.55% |
| worst 1 | DS 3 | 150.2 | 40.69% |
| worst 2 | Renault Clio | 141.5 | 41.43% |
| worst 3 | Vauxhall Corsa | 123.5 | 36.66% |
Download the data
Family-level aggregates (25 families, n ≥ 1,000):motriskindex-families-2024-v1.csv. Source columns are OGL v3.0 (DVSA); derived index columns are CC BY 4.0 — attribute “motriskindex.co.uk”. Full definitions in the methodology.