30,851,141 tests analysed

MOT pass rates by make and model

Every 2025 class 4 MOT in Great Britain, aggregated from DVSA’s anonymised test data. The national first-time fail rate was 22.6%. Some models double it; a few halve it.

The most-tested models

Model	Tests	Pass rate	Fail rate
Ford Fiesta	1,262,274	72.7%	27.3%
Ford Focus	835,727	74.6%	25.4%
Vauxhall Corsa	819,124	71.5%	28.5%
Volkswagen Golf	816,596	79.1%	20.9%
Volkswagen Polo	585,499	73%	27%
Nissan Qashqai	557,520	73.4%	26.6%
Vauxhall Astra	545,258	72.4%	27.6%
BMW 3 Series	448,721	80.2%	19.8%
Toyota Yaris	425,655	79.6%	20.4%
Audi A3	392,664	79.8%	20.2%
BMW 1 Series	367,418	81.1%	18.9%
MINI Hatch	359,708	87.2%	12.8%
Mercedes-Benz A-Class	336,191	81.9%	18.1%
Mercedes-Benz C-Class	334,841	78.4%	21.6%
Fiat 500	317,940	72.8%	27.2%
Honda Jazz	314,206	80.5%	19.5%
Nissan Juke	303,662	74.4%	25.6%
Volkswagen Transporter	301,724	72.8%	27.2%
Ford Kuga	288,984	83.7%	16.3%
Renault Clio	284,738	63.2%	36.8%
Kia Sportage	278,828	80.6%	19.4%
Ford Transit	265,413	69.2%	30.8%
Toyota Aygo	248,912	81.3%	18.7%
Honda Civic	243,794	74.4%	25.6%
Volkswagen Tiguan	236,986	83.9%	16.1%

Where cars fail, and where they don’tFail rates across 116 postcode areas run from 12.2% to 33.6%. Age and mileage don’t explain the gap; corrosion explains some of it.

Are cars getting more reliable?Hold vehicle age constant and the fail rate fell 1.64 points in three years. The headline rate looks flat because the fleet aged at the same time.

Which brands actually last?33 brands compared at the same vehicle age. MG drops 24 places against its raw figure, Honda climbs 14.

Browse by manufacturer

What fails MOTs nationally

Across all 30,851,141 tests, the sections that failed the most vehicles were suspension, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, brakes, tyres. A further 1,629,841 tests (5.3%) passed only after a defect was fixed during the visit.

Method

Built from DVSA’s anonymised MOT results, 2025 full year, published under the Open Government Licence and retrieved 2026-09-12. We count class 4 normal tests only (cars and light vans up to 3,000kg): retests and aborted tests are excluded, so the fail rate is the first-attempt rate. Failure sections map each recorded defect to DVSA’s own inspection section. DVSA records newer cars trim by trim (“QASHQAI N-CONNECTA DIG-T MHEV”), so we add each model’s trims together into the family you’d recognise, the Qashqai. Where a model sold in numbers both as an electric car and with an engine, the electric version gets its own page, going by DVSA’s fuel record for each test. A model needs at least 1,000 tests in the year to get a page, so small-sample noise doesn’t masquerade as a finding.

Before you buy, pair the model’s odds with the individual car’s record: the MOT history check shows what an actual vehicle failed and when.