73 Auto Research · MOT statistics

The cars that fail the MOT least and most, class by class

Allowing for age, mileage and fuel, the BMW M3 had the fewest MOT failures of 190 models with at least 20,000 DVSA tests in 2023–24 (ratio 0.41) and the DS 3 the most (1.56). Class by class, the tables below show the 3 lowest and highest ratios among 10 vehicle classes, from 51,536,244 tests.

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT data, 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-30 (n = 51,536,244 tests). Download the data (CSV)

Check what a specific car really costs to own

Data to 2024-12-30 · Page updated 2026-09-28 · Publisher: 73 Auto

Key findings

73 Auto analysisOf 190 models with 20,000+ MOT tests, the BMW M3 had the lowest failure ratio against cars of the same age, mileage and fuel (0.41, 31,544 tests, 2023–24).
73 Auto analysisThe DS 3 had the highest adjusted MOT failure ratio of the 190 models compared (1.56, 68,070 tests): it failed 56% more often than comparable cars.
73 Auto analysisAmong superminis, the MINI Hatch failed 18% less often than comparable cars (0.82) and the Dacia Sandero failed 53% more often than comparable cars (1.53), 73 Auto analysis of DVSA MOT data, 2023–24.
73 Auto analysisAmong small family cars, the Audi A3 failed 19% less often than comparable cars (0.81) and the Fiat Tipo failed 42% more often than comparable cars (1.42), 73 Auto analysis of DVSA MOT data, 2023–24.
73 Auto analysisThe widest gap within a class was among small SUVs: from 0.58 (Lexus UX) to 1.56 (DS 3).

At a glance

The cars that fail the MOT least and most, class by class: headline figures
Figure	Value	Basis	Type
Models compared	190	20,000+ tests each	73 Auto analysis
Classes	10	8+ qualifying models each	73 Auto analysis
Tests behind the comparison	51,536,244	2023–24	DVSA data

73 Auto analysis

Figures 73 Auto derived from the same records: adjusted ratios, intervals and rankings, explained in the method below.

Class by class

73 Auto analysisClasses follow 73 Auto's vehicle catalogue. Largest classes (by tests) first.

Lowest and highest adjusted MOT failure ratio in each class
Class	Models	Tests	Fewest failures	Ratio	Most failures	Ratio
Superminis	23	13,209,910	MINI Hatch	0.82	Dacia Sandero	1.53
Small family cars	26	12,077,785	Audi A3	0.81	Fiat Tipo	1.42
Mid-size SUVs	29	6,483,921	Porsche Macan	0.48	Peugeot 5008	1.33
Small SUVs	37	5,006,218	Lexus UX	0.58	DS 3	1.56
Executive cars	17	4,628,527	Audi A7	0.58	Tesla Model 3	1.12
City cars	16	3,874,923	Volkswagen Up	0.87	Renault Twingo	1.26
Medium vans	8	1,925,806	Volkswagen Transporter	0.99	Toyota Proace	1.39
Small vans	8	1,797,022	Volkswagen Caddy	1.00	Citroen Berlingo	1.38
Large SUVs	15	1,606,440	Porsche Cayenne	0.56	Hyundai Santa Fe	1.07
Sports cars	11	925,692	BMW M3	0.41	Ford Mustang	0.91

Superminis

73 Auto analysis23 superminis with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Superminis: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
MINI Hatch	Fewest	752,657	83.8%	0.82	0.81–0.82
BMW i3	Fewest	43,497	87.5%	0.83	0.81–0.86
Honda Jazz	Fewest	673,876	74.5%	0.86	0.85–0.86
Renault Clio	Most	663,662	57.0%	1.39	1.38–1.39
Renault Zoe	Most	37,670	77.3%	1.39	1.36–1.42
Dacia Sandero	Most	205,898	69.7%	1.53	1.52–1.54

Small family cars

73 Auto analysis26 small family cars with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Small family cars: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
Audi A3	Fewest	855,563	75.0%	0.81	0.81–0.82
Skoda Octavia	Fewest	410,920	75.7%	0.82	0.81–0.82
BMW 1 Series	Fewest	795,720	76.0%	0.82	0.82–0.83
Renault Megane	Most	227,348	54.4%	1.28	1.27–1.28
Citroen C4	Most	364,993	63.3%	1.33	1.32–1.34
Fiat Tipo	Most	25,118	73.6%	1.42	1.39–1.45

Mid-size SUVs

73 Auto analysis29 mid-size SUVs with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Mid-size SUVs: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
Porsche Macan	Fewest	56,741	91.2%	0.48	0.47–0.50
Jaguar I-Pace	Fewest	30,624	91.8%	0.58	0.56–0.60
Audi Q5	Fewest	213,847	83.9%	0.66	0.65–0.67
Renault Kadjar	Most	136,997	78.5%	1.19	1.17–1.20
Peugeot 3008	Most	273,700	71.4%	1.22	1.21–1.22
Peugeot 5008	Most	66,454	69.3%	1.33	1.31–1.35

Small SUVs

73 Auto analysis37 small SUVs with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Small SUVs: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
Lexus UX	Fewest	20,230	94.0%	0.58	0.55–0.62
Audi Q2	Fewest	132,752	90.4%	0.64	0.63–0.65
Volkswagen T-Roc	Fewest	130,619	91.0%	0.65	0.64–0.66
Peugeot 2008	Most	246,579	74.6%	1.30	1.29–1.31
Dacia Duster	Most	136,230	73.3%	1.41	1.39–1.42
DS 3	Most	68,070	69.4%	1.56	1.54–1.59

Executive cars

73 Auto analysis17 executive cars with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Executive cars: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
Audi A7	Fewest	33,889	84.3%	0.58	0.57–0.60
Audi A6	Fewest	256,000	79.0%	0.66	0.66–0.67
Lexus IS	Fewest	77,300	77.1%	0.68	0.67–0.69
Volvo V90	Most	30,109	84.7%	0.85	0.83–0.88
Jaguar XE	Most	87,969	81.3%	0.92	0.90–0.93
Tesla Model 3	Most	95,633	83.3%	1.12	1.11–1.14

City cars

73 Auto analysis16 city cars with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

City cars: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
Volkswagen Up	Fewest	247,835	80.7%	0.87	0.86–0.88
Skoda Citigo	Fewest	104,908	80.5%	0.88	0.87–0.89
SEAT Mii	Fewest	36,559	78.3%	0.93	0.91–0.95
Fiat 500	Most	702,906	68.7%	1.22	1.21–1.22
Vauxhall Adam	Most	118,376	71.1%	1.26	1.25–1.27
Renault Twingo	Most	51,208	62.8%	1.26	1.24–1.28

Medium vans

73 Auto analysis8 medium vans with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Medium vans: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
Volkswagen Transporter	Fewest	662,911	68.1%	0.99	0.98–0.99
Mercedes-Benz Vito	Fewest	176,345	66.2%	1.02	1.02–1.03
Ford Transit Custom	Fewest	266,195	77.9%	1.12	1.11–1.13
Vauxhall Vivaro	Most	372,179	56.7%	1.34	1.34–1.35
Citroen Dispatch	Most	95,578	59.0%	1.35	1.33–1.36
Toyota Proace	Most	23,389	69.6%	1.39	1.36–1.42

Small vans

73 Auto analysis8 small vans with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Small vans: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
Volkswagen Caddy	Fewest	296,188	68.5%	1.00	1.00–1.01
Ford Transit Connect	Fewest	338,158	64.9%	1.14	1.13–1.15
Fiat Doblo	Fewest	95,744	63.7%	1.18	1.17–1.20
Vauxhall Combo	Most	216,750	60.2%	1.33	1.32–1.34
Renault Kangoo	Most	115,449	54.1%	1.38	1.37–1.39
Citroen Berlingo	Most	377,776	58.6%	1.38	1.38–1.39

Large SUVs

73 Auto analysis15 large SUVs with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Large SUVs: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
Porsche Cayenne	Fewest	59,466	84.2%	0.56	0.55–0.57
BMW X6	Fewest	30,776	82.8%	0.64	0.62–0.66
Audi Q7	Fewest	98,173	82.0%	0.65	0.64–0.66
Volvo XC90	Most	140,093	73.1%	0.91	0.90–0.92
Kia Sorento	Most	72,810	69.6%	1.05	1.04–1.06
Hyundai Santa Fe	Most	67,599	66.8%	1.07	1.05–1.08

Sports cars

73 Auto analysis11 sports cars with 20,000+ tests; the 3 lowest and 3 highest ratios.

Sports cars: fewest and most MOT failures against similar cars
Model	Position	Tests	First-time pass	Failures vs similar cars	95% interval
BMW M3	Fewest	31,544	85.7%	0.41	0.40–0.42
Porsche 911	Fewest	100,223	87.9%	0.42	0.41–0.43
Porsche Cayman	Fewest	29,543	88.9%	0.43	0.42–0.45
Mercedes-Benz SLK	Most	133,811	74.2%	0.82	0.81–0.83
Mazda MX-5	Most	188,374	74.1%	0.83	0.83–0.84
Ford Mustang	Most	23,925	83.2%	0.91	0.88–0.94

Method

Source: DVSA's anonymised MOT tests and results for 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-30, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. 73 Auto counted every record itself; no figure is taken from a secondary report.

Scope: class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans), normal tests only (retests excluded), vehicles at least 2.5 years old at test, whose make matches 73 Auto's vehicle catalogue: 65,477,892 tests in 2023–24.

First-time pass rate: the share of normal tests with the result Pass. A test where a defect was fixed at the station and the car passed the same day (PRS, pass after rectification) counts as an initial fail, as DVSA counts it.

Failure areas and items: a test counts once for an area or item if it had at least one fail-level (Major or Dangerous, or pre-2018 fail) defect in it, however many locations were affected. Advisories and minor defects are not failures.

Adjusted ratio (observed ÷ expected, O/E): indirect standardisation. Each test is given the national failure rate for tests of the same age in whole years, mileage band and fuel; summing those gives the failures a group would have had if it failed like the average comparable car. O/E = actual failures ÷ expected failures, so 1.00 is average for comparable cars and 0.80 means 20% fewer failures. It removes most of the effect of an older or higher-mileage fleet, not differences in how cars are looked after.

Only models with at least 20,000 tests are compared (the floor the /mot-reliability comparison pages use), and a class is shown only when it has at least 8 such models, so 'fewest' and 'most' never overlap. Classes withheld for having too few models: grand tourers, large family cars, large vans, luxury saloons, luxury SUVs, MPVs, off-roaders, pick-ups.

Publication test: Models with 20,000+ tests; a class is shown only with 8+ such models; at least 5 classes. Classes shown: 10 (minimum 5).

Limitations

An MOT result records a car's condition on test day. Servicing, owners' habits, annual mileage and where the car is driven all affect it, so a low failure rate is not proof of mechanical reliability or build quality.

A model's figure pools every generation, engine and body style tested in the period; the model pages break it down by registration year.

Performance and luxury models are often second cars with gentle use and specialist servicing, which the adjustment cannot see.

Citing this study

Cite as: 73 Auto, “The cars that fail the MOT least and most, class by class”, 2026-09-28, https://73auto.com/research/mot-failures-by-car-model-and-class. Based on DVSA anonymised MOT tests and results, Open Government Licence v3.0. The data behind every table is free to reuse with attribution.

More MOT studies

UK MOT statistics 2023–24 · 28.5% of UK MOT tests in 2023–24 did not pass first time: 18,656,905 of 65,477,892 tests (DVSA data).
Which car makes fail the MOT most? A ranking adjusted for age and mileage · Of the 21 car makes with over a million MOT tests in 2023–24, BMW cars failed 24% less often than comparable cars of the same age, mileage and fuel (73 Auto analysis of 3,694,719 DVSA tests).
How MOT pass rates fall with age and mileage · 87.1% of 3-year-old cars passed their first MOT first time in 2023–24, against 67.5% of 10-year-old cars (DVSA data, 3,907,416 and 4,163,623 tests).
The most common reasons cars fail the MOT · The most common reason for failing an MOT in 2023–24 was “Position lamp: not working”, found on 2.6% of all tests (1,684,901 tests, DVSA data).
Which MOT failures rise most as cars get older · Steering failures rise the most with age: 0.13% of MOT tests on 3-year-old cars against 3.4% at 15 years, 26 times as often (DVSA data, 2023–24).
MOT failure rates by test area: brakes, tyres, lights and more compared · Lights, reflectors and electrical is the MOT area cars fail on most: 11.2% of all tests and 39.1% of failed tests (2023–24, DVSA data).
Dangerous MOT defects: how many cars have them and what they are · 5,141,819 MOT tests in 2023–24 found at least one dangerous defect: 7.9% of all tests, about 1 in 13 (DVSA data).
Petrol vs diesel vs hybrid: MOT pass rates compared · At ages 3–10, 85.6% of hybrid MOT tests passed first time, against 79.6% for petrol and 75.5% for diesel (DVSA data, 2023–24).
Electric car MOT statistics: how EVs compare with petrol and diesel · 83.5% of MOT tests on electric cars aged 3–10 passed first time in 2023–24, against 79.6% for petrol cars of the same ages (DVSA data, 330,180 EV tests).

Check the MOT history of the car you're considering

Enter a UK registration to see that car's own MOT results, advisories and what it would cost you to run. Your first check is free and shows the vehicle summary and its headline ownership cost. The category-by-category breakdown is part of a paid check.

UK number plate or 17-character VIN

Where these figures come from

Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023 and 2024 — Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). Open Government Licence v3.0.

Figures labelled as 73 Auto estimates are our own analysis of these sources, set out in the methodology and data sources. To report a factual error, see corrections.