73 Auto Research · MOT statistics
Petrol vs diesel vs hybrid: MOT pass rates compared
Comparing cars of the same age (3–10 years), 85.6% of hybrid MOT tests passed first time in 2023–24, against 79.6% for petrol and 75.5% for diesel (1,473,950, 19,069,451 and 16,627,244 DVSA tests). After allowing for mileage as well, hybrid cars had the fewest failures (ratio 0.74) and petrol the most (1.05).
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT data, 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-30 (n = 37,500,825 tests). Download the data (CSV)
Data to 2024-12-30 · Page updated 2026-09-28 · Publisher: 73 Auto
Key findings
- DVSA dataAt 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).
- 73 Auto analysisAfter allowing for age and mileage, hybrid cars aged 3–10 failed 26% less often than comparable cars and petrol cars failed 5% more often than comparable cars (73 Auto analysis of 20,543,401 tests).
- DVSA dataAcross all ages, diesel cars passed 69.6% of MOTs first time and petrol cars 71.9%, but diesels were driven further: median 85,068 miles at test against 54,294 (DVSA data).
- 73 Auto analysisOn noise, emissions and leaks, petrol cars aged 3–10 failed at 1.11 times the rate for cars of the same age and mileage and diesels at 0.99 (73 Auto analysis of DVSA data).
- 73 Auto analysisHybrid cars aged 3–10 failed on noise, emissions and leaks at 0.21 times the rate expected for their age and mileage, their lowest ratio in any test area (73 Auto analysis, 1,473,950 tests).
At a glance
| Figure | Value | Basis | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol, ages 3–10 | 79.6% | n = 19,069,451 | DVSA data |
| Diesel, ages 3–10 | 75.5% | n = 16,627,244 | DVSA data |
| Hybrid, ages 3–10 | 85.6% | n = 1,473,950 | DVSA data |
| Electric, ages 3–10 | 83.5% | n = 330,180 | DVSA data |
Official data
Counts and rates taken directly from DVSA's MOT records: 73 Auto counted them, but applied no model or adjustment.
All ages (raw)
DVSA data
| Fuel | Tests | Avg age | Median miles | First-time pass | Dangerous defect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 34,937,909 | 10.0 | 54,294 | 71.9% | 7.2% |
| Diesel | 27,548,909 | 9.6 | 85,068 | 69.6% | 9.0% |
| Hybrid | 2,050,967 | 5.0 | 41,694 | 85.6% | 4.3% |
| Electric | 573,932 | 3.6 | 29,831 | 84.6% | 6.0% |
Pass rate by fuel at each age
DVSA dataFirst-time pass rate, tests in brackets.
| Age | Petrol | Diesel | Hybrid | Electric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 88.4% (2,212,200) | 83.5% (1,095,176) | 89.1% (374,292) | 86.7% (170,172) |
| 4 years | 86.4% (2,722,029) | 82.9% (1,528,072) | 87.7% (278,784) | 84.5% (72,438) |
| 5 years | 84.0% (2,663,768) | 81.3% (1,858,119) | 86.1% (235,269) | 81.9% (28,166) |
| 6 years | 81.2% (2,514,221) | 79.0% (2,313,812) | 84.4% (188,801) | 79.4% (17,526) |
| 7 years | 78.3% (2,458,842) | 76.2% (2,639,873) | 83.0% (147,214) | 74.9% (14,013) |
| 8 years | 75.1% (2,364,300) | 72.9% (2,639,770) | 81.0% (114,207) | 70.5% (13,381) |
| 9 years | 71.4% (2,170,322) | 69.5% (2,423,929) | 79.5% (82,922) | — |
| 10 years | 68.2% (1,963,769) | 66.5% (2,128,493) | 78.3% (52,461) | — |
| 11 years | 65.6% (1,748,808) | 63.7% (1,848,015) | 76.1% (33,932) | — |
| 12 years | 63.0% (1,653,503) | 61.4% (1,657,743) | 72.0% (23,940) | — |
| 13 years | 60.6% (1,717,706) | 59.2% (1,422,204) | 70.5% (19,869) | — |
| 14 years | 58.6% (1,620,205) | 57.9% (1,155,652) | 71.3% (12,657) | — |
| 15 years | 57.1% (1,460,840) | 57.2% (1,026,456) | 69.4% (13,589) | — |
73 Auto analysis
Figures 73 Auto derived from the same records: adjusted ratios, intervals and rankings, explained in the method below.
Ages 3–10, raw and adjusted
73 Auto analysisPass rates are DVSA counts; the ratios are 73 Auto analysis against the national rate for tests of the same age and mileage band.
| Fuel | Tests | First-time pass | Failures vs same age and mileage | Dangerous vs same age and mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 19,069,451 | 79.6% | 1.05 | 1.02 |
| Diesel | 16,627,244 | 75.5% | 0.98 | 1.00 |
| Hybrid | 1,473,950 | 85.6% | 0.74 | 0.72 |
| Electric | 330,180 | 83.5% | 1.06 | 1.26 |
Failure areas by fuel, ages 3–10
73 Auto analysis
| Area | Petrol | Diesel | Hybrid | Electric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 1.05 | 1.00 | 0.52 | 0.64 |
| Steering | 1.16 | 0.92 | 0.33 | 1.06 |
| Suspension | 1.07 | 0.97 | 0.47 | 1.50 |
| Tyres | 1.02 | 0.98 | 0.91 | 1.58 |
| Road wheels | 0.94 | 1.05 | 0.83 | 1.02 |
| Lights, reflectors and electrical | 1.09 | 0.95 | 0.76 | 0.90 |
| Body, chassis and structure | 1.00 | 1.04 | 0.28 | 0.60 |
| Driver's view of the road | 1.07 | 0.94 | 0.88 | 0.84 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1.11 | 0.99 | 0.21 | 0.02 |
| Seat belts and airbags | 0.97 | 1.07 | 0.43 | 0.80 |
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.
Fuel is DVSA's recorded fuel type: hybrid includes DVSA's hybrid-electric codes; LPG and gas bi-fuel count as petrol. The comparison is restricted to ages 3–10, where every fuel has a substantial fleet.
Standardisation here uses age and mileage band only, since fuel is the thing being compared: 1.00 is the average for cars of the same age and mileage, whatever their fuel.
Publication test: Petrol, diesel and hybrid each have 100,000+ tests at ages 3–10. Petrol tests aged 3–10: 19,069,451 (minimum 100,000); Diesel tests aged 3–10: 16,627,244 (minimum 100,000); Hybrid tests aged 3–10: 1,473,950 (minimum 100,000).
Limitations
Fuel types differ in what cars they cover: hybrids are dominated by a few makes (Toyota and Lexus above all), and diesels include more large cars, SUVs and high-mileage company cars.
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.
Citing this study
Cite as: 73 Auto, “Petrol vs diesel vs hybrid: MOT pass rates compared”, 2026-09-28, https://73auto.com/research/petrol-vs-diesel-vs-hybrid-mot-statistics. 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).
- The cars that fail the MOT least and most, class by class · Of 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).
- 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).
- 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).
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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.