Not what owners say in a survey — what the DVSA recorded across 57,663,348 MOT tests.
Start typing a make, or pick one from the list. These are MOT first-time pass rates from the DVSA 2024 test year — 57,663,348 tests.
National MOT failure categories, all makes
Typical UK ranges including labour — varies by vehicle and region
MOT pass rate is real, verified data — but it measures roadworthiness, not mechanical reliability. It says very little about engines, gearboxes or drive systems. Model-level fault data from our own claims will be added here as we build it. We would rather show you one honest number than invent five.
MOT first-time pass rate, DVSA 2024 test year. Taller is better. This is condition at test, not mechanical reliability — the caveat below matters.
Hover any column for the detail, or click one to load it into the checker above.
Everyone buying a used car asks the same question: is this one going to cost me money? It is a hard question to answer well, because most “reliability rankings” you find online are built on owner satisfaction surveys — how people feel about their car — rather than what actually broke.
We think the honest version is more useful. Below is what the published UK data genuinely shows, where it comes from, and what it does and does not tell you. Where we do not have solid evidence, we say so rather than filling the gap with a number.
The MOT test is the largest single source of real, verified information about the condition of cars on UK roads. Every test result is recorded by the DVSA, and the failure data is published. Roughly one car in four fails first time — that is not a fringe event, it is the normal experience of owning an older vehicle here.
| Failure category | Share of all failures | Typically covered by warranty? |
|---|---|---|
| Lighting and signalling | 19.9% | Bulbs no — wiring and control modules often yes |
| Suspension components | 19.8% | Failure yes — wear no |
| Brake systems | 19.6% | Pads and discs no — ABS and hydraulics often yes |
| Tyre condition and tread | 12.0% | No — tyres are a consumable everywhere |
| Driver’s view of the road | 9.8% | Wiper motors and washer pumps usually yes |
MOT failures are not the same as warranty claims. The MOT tests roadworthiness — lights, brakes, tyres, structure. Most of the big-ticket items a warranty exists for — engines, gearboxes, turbochargers, hybrid and EV drive systems — are barely touched by an MOT. A car can sail through its MOT and still need a £2,000 gearbox the following week. Use MOT data to judge condition, not to judge mechanical risk.
The rankings you see published each year generally come from one of three places, and each has a blind spot worth knowing about:
| Source | What it measures | The blind spot |
|---|---|---|
| Owner satisfaction surveys | What owners report going wrong, self-selected | People who love their car answer; people who sold it in disgust do not |
| Warranty claim data | What was actually repaired and what it cost | Only covers cars that had a policy — skews to older cars |
| MOT records | Verified roadworthiness at test | Says almost nothing about engines, gearboxes or drive systems |
None of the three is wrong. They answer different questions. If you are buying a car, look at all three and be suspicious of any single ranking presented as the final word.
The most useful reliability data we could publish is our own: what actually failed on the cars we cover, and what each repair cost. We are building that now. Until we have enough policies for the numbers to mean something, publishing them would be guesswork dressed up as research, and we would rather have nothing on this page than something misleading. When the data is genuinely representative, it will be published here in full, including the failures that cost us money.
Practical, data-led reading on what fails, why, and how to avoid it.
What the DVSA data shows, which failures are cheap to prevent, and which point to something more serious.
Read the guide →The maintenance that genuinely extends a car’s life, and the myths that waste your money.
Read the guide →How cover works, what it excludes, and when it is genuinely worth buying.
Read the guide →Even the most reliable car can hand you a four-figure bill. Cover turns that into a fixed monthly cost.
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