Reasons Why Cars Fail Their MOT’s

Thursday, 28. January 2010

I’m not sure how useful this information is or what real conclusions can be drawn but I found it interesting so am passing it on. Under the Freedom of Information Act the BBC obtained data regarding MOT failures and Business Car analysed the figures to identify which cars had the highest pass rates and which cars had the highest fail rate. The statistics are based on 2004 registered cars that were MOT tested for the first time in 2007. Of all the cars tested in the sample 18.8% failed. Of course the results are very much based on the way drivers maintain their cars and is as much a reflection on the drivers as it is on the cars failing the test. However, it may give an indication as to which cars should have a pre-MOT test in order to minimise repair costs. Business Car has concentrated on cars that are supplied to fleet users with the following results:

MOT Failure Rates Top 10:

Make % Fail

Honda 13.7
Toyota 14.7
Mazda 16.6
Land Rover 16.6
Nissan 16.7
Mercedes 16.8
BMW 17.0
Audi 17.5
VW 18.1
Seat 18.3
Skoda 19.2
Ford 19.4
Kia 19.9
Volvo 19.9
Mini 20.0
Citroen 21.0
Vauxhall 21.0
Fiat 23.8
Peugeot 26.4
Renault 28.0

As I say I’m not sure what conclusions can be drawn as some fleet cars have covered some very high mileages, an argument put forward by Vauxhall who came in at position 17. By Graham Hill