MOT failure rates revealed


Details on MOT failure rates have been published on the Department of Transport's Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) website following a Freedom of Information request by the BBC.

The figures reveal the winners and losers in the annual MOT test - which is required on vehicles three years and older. Access to the data was originally denied, but the decision was overturned when the information was deemed to be in the public interest.

From the massive original spreadsheet the BBC has compiled a list of cars that were tested 20,000 or more times in 2004, the results seeing Ford's Transit Connect compact van recording the worst MOT failure rate at 30.5%. The heavy use of vans is underlined by Ford's Transit taking third spot with a 26.3% failure rate.


The BBC based its comments on the following 'top 10' table of vehicles made in 2004, which is limited to the most popular models - those with over 20,000 MOTs in 2007:

Ford Transit Connect: 30.5%
Renault Mégane: 28.1%
Ford Transit: 26.3%
Peugeot 307: 24.7%
Vauxhall Corsa: 24.7%
Renault Scenic: 23%
Vauxhall Meriva: 22.3%
Vauxhall Vectra: 22%
Ford Mondeo: 21%
Citroen Berlingo: 21.5%

The worst passenger car in the BBC's list is Renault's Mégane, with a failure rate of 28.1%. French cars feature highly in the top ten passenger car failures, taking five of the worst places - with those two vans removed from the data. Behind the Renault is its Peugeot 307 rival with a 24.7% failure rate - the same as the Vauxhall Corsa - while the Renault Scenic posts a 23% failure rate.

At the other end of the scale the BBC figures seem to back the commonly held belief that the Japanese make some of the most reliable cars, with Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans all returning comparatively low failure rates.

The numbers may be slightly misleading for many models, with many of those cars higher up the failure list being of the type that are sold in large numbers and cover the most miles in a year - it standing to reason that a big-mileage business car is more likely to fail its MOT than a privately owned, low mileage run around.

Renault responded to the numbers in a statement saying: "In 2004, the Renault Mégane was the second best-selling car in its segment, with a majority of its sales to company fleets. These vehicles will do an above-average mileage and it is unfortunate that the data does not take this into account as there are a multitude of reasons why a vehicle can fail an MOT, from a light bulb to a tyre, that relate to use and maintenance."

Renault queries the 20,000 test threshold on the data, which leaves a number of cars with higher failure rates off the BBC's data. Remove that limitation on the data for 2007 and the Mégane's 28.1% failure rate pales against the 40% recorded by the Chrysler 300C, while the Fiat Multipla, Peugeot 807, Fiat Doblo, Chevrolet Matiz and Chrysler PT Cruiser all demonstrate higher MOT failure rates than the French hatchback.