The cars most likely to fail their MOT - and why

Don't allow your car to fail its MOT for something as simple as an iffy windscreen wiper.

Taking your car for an MOT is a nerve-racking experience. A failure can land you with a hefty bill to put things right so that your vehicle is roadsafe once again.

But all cars aren’t created equally, so there are some models that you can be more confident about passing the MOT, and others that are more likely to get a thumbs down from the mechanic.

A new study from KnowYourCar has crunched the numbers of all cars registered between 2012 and 2016 to pinpoint precisely which cars are reliably passing the MOT first time, and which are most likely to encounter issues.

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The frequent failures

Let’s start by looking at the models pinpointed by KnowYourCar as most frequently failing their first MOT according to the most recent data.

On the face of it, even a pass rate of 80-odd percent is pretty good right? But then you consider that these cars are only three years old, and around one in five of them are failing their very first MOT ‒ that should be a serious concern.

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Why cars fail their MOT

When you go through the data over why these cars failed their MOTs, what’s astonishing is that two reasons in particular feature right at the top in almost every single case.

By far the most common reason for a failure was that the windscreen wiper did not clean the screen effectively.

This seems faintly incredible really, as it’s such an easy fix. Essentially the testers want to see that should you use your washers, the wipers will be able to clear the water quickly, without leaving untouched areas or smears across the screen which would impede your view.

You can easily test this at home ‒ if it isn’t doing the job to a high enough standard, get the wiper blades replaced.

The other most common reason for a fail was the headline amp being out of alignment. The way this is assessed was changed back in 2016, after the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency found that it was one area of the test that wasn’t being conducted thoroughly enough by testers.

Essentially, it checks that your headline amps are pointing in precisely the right direction, and it’s another issue that you can test simply at home yourself before heading off to the MOT.

The experts at the Kwik-Fit advise parking your car in front of a garage or wall and turning on your headlights.

The centre of the beam from each amp should be level ‒ mark up where the centre of that beam is and then reverse back to around eight metres from the wall, and check that the centre of those beams is still in the same place.

The cars that pass their MOT

At the other end of the scale, which are the models that are most likely to come out with a thumbs up from the assessors?

Here are the ten most reliable models according to the data from KnowYourCar:
 

It’s notable that four of the top five, and seven of the top ten, models with the highest pass rates are petrol rather than diesel motors.

What’s more, with two of the top performers, you can clearly put your faith in a Honda to handle at least its first MOT relatively comfortably.

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Boosting your chances of passing

Clearly, it’s worth doing a bit of work at home beforehand to ensure that your windscreen wipers and headlights are up to scratch, but there are other steps you can take to boost your chances of passing the MOT first time.

Another common reason for cars coming a cropper in the MOT is the tread depth of their tyres dropping below the minimum level.

The DVSA recommends inserting a 20p coin edge into the main grooves of the tyre ‒ if the outer rim of the coin is hidden, then the DVSA suggests it’s probably fine. You can also pop down to your local tyre supplier, with firms often happy to check the tread for your free of charge.

It’s also a good idea to run the rule over your brakes ‒ if they tend to squeak or the car doesn’t brake as promptly as it previously did, then it is a good idea to get them checked before going for the MOT.

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