Which used cars are most and least reliable at their MOT?

Some used cars sail through their MOT year after year, while others of exactly the same age fail more than 40% of the time. We compared every normal car MOT test in Great Britain in 2025, like for like by age, to find the models and makes that do best and worst.

All figures are from DVSA’s anonymised MOT data for 2025 tests of cars aged three and over, with retests excluded. The data is provisional and was last updated on 15 September 2026.

Which used cars pass their MOT most and least often at the same age?

Among cars first registered in 2015, the Honda Jazz passed 83.6% of its 2025 MOTs and the Renault Clio 55.6%, a gap of 28 points. All 2015 cars passed 72.6%.

Same year, very different results

Every car in this table was about ten years old at its 2025 test, so age can’t explain the gap. The 2015 Honda Jazz beat the average for its year by 11.0 points, while the 2015 Renault Clio fell 17.0 points short.

The Clio also had a dangerous defect found on 10.3% of its tests, more than double the Jazz’s 4.6%. We only ranked 2015 model-years with at least 10,000 tests, 78 in all, so these figures rest on large samples.

Model (first registered 2015)	MOT tests 2025	First-time pass	Same cars in 2024	Dangerous defect rate
Honda Jazz	17,745	83.6%	85.0%	4.6%
BMW 5 Series	16,563	83.5%	84.1%	6.5%
Honda CR-V	14,240	82.8%	85.0%	4.7%
Volkswagen Golf	66,992	81.8%	82.7%	5.9%
Toyota Aygo	23,121	80.1%	81.2%	5.8%
Mercedes-Benz A-Class	26,521	72.0%	74.1%	8.6%
Ford Fiesta	123,465	64.9%	67.3%	7.2%
Vauxhall Corsa	86,567	63.6%	66.4%	6.5%
Dacia Sandero	14,206	55.8%	57.9%	10.2%
Renault Clio	23,929	55.6%	57.7%	10.3%

Big sellers split both ways

The 2015 Volkswagen Golf passed 81.8% from almost 67,000 tests, one of the strongest results of any common car. The 2015 Ford Fiesta, with 123,465 tests, passed 64.9%.

“Same cars in 2024” shows how those cars did a year earlier. Every model in the table slipped a little as it aged, but the order barely changed.

Which popular cars beat or trail cars of their age?

The Porsche 911 did best, passing 89.1% against 67.3% for cars of the same ages. The Citroën DS3 did worst, at 51.8% against 66.5%.

How the age adjustment works

For each model, we work out what all cars would score with that model’s mix of ages, then take the difference in percentage points. The full method is on our page explaining how we adjust MOT pass rates for age.

This table shows the five best and five worst of the 136 popular models with 50,000 or more tests in 2025. Our most reliable cars ranking lists every model with at least 1,000 tests.

Model	Tests	Pass rate	Same ages	Difference	Avg age
Porsche 911	52,552	89.1%	67.3%	+21.8 pts	17.1 yrs
Mazda MX-5	90,887	74.8%	65.8%	+9.0 pts	16.4 yrs
Land Rover Range Rover	88,003	79.4%	70.6%	+8.8 pts	12.5 yrs
Audi TT	111,773	76.8%	68.1%	+8.7 pts	13.4 yrs
Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class	54,180	71.9%	63.3%	+8.6 pts	16.5 yrs
Peugeot 207	112,674	50.2%	60.4%	−10.2 pts	15.5 yrs
Citroën C4	171,485	62.4%	72.9%	−10.5 pts	10.0 yrs
Renault Megane	93,832	55.3%	66.2%	−10.9 pts	13.3 yrs
Renault Clio	306,492	57.0%	69.7%	−12.7 pts	12.0 yrs
Citroën DS3	68,172	51.8%	66.5%	−14.7 pts	12.1 yrs

Why sports cars top the list

Rarely driven sports and luxury cars tend to do very well at the MOT, and sports models such as the Porsche 911 and Mazda MX-5 lead this table. The test measures condition on the day, which depends on use and upkeep as well as how the car was built.

So treat these as MOT reliability scores, not verdicts on build quality. The data can’t tell us why a particular model does well or badly.

The everyday cars that do well and badly

Just outside the top five, the Audi A6 (+8.1) and BMW 5 Series (+8.0) are the best of the family and executive cars.

At the other end, the Citroën DS3 sits 14.7 points below cars of its ages, followed by the Renault Clio (−12.7) and Renault Megane (−10.9). The Dacia Sandero (−9.8) is sixth from bottom.

Britain’s most-tested model, the Ford Fiesta, had 1,359,897 tests and passed 65.6% against 70.0% for the same ages. That is 4.4 points short, ranking 396th of 503 models.

Related: Most reliable cars at the MOT, adjusted for age

Which car makes do best and worst at the MOT?

Specialist sports and luxury makes lead, with Morgan 22.5 points above cars of the same ages. Of the 50 makes with 5,000 or more tests, DS did worst at 10.9 points below, with SsangYong, Dacia and Renault close behind.

The make table

The table shows the ten best and five worst of the 50 makes with 5,000 or more tests in 2025. A make’s figure mostly reflects its best-selling models.

Make	Tests	Pass rate	Same ages	Difference
Morgan	5,187	87.7%	65.2%	+22.5 pts
Ferrari	11,317	95.2%	73.0%	+22.2 pts
Lotus	9,781	86.2%	64.4%	+21.8 pts
Bentley	22,806	91.4%	69.7%	+21.7 pts
Aston Martin	19,605	92.3%	70.9%	+21.4 pts
Porsche	190,827	87.5%	72.3%	+15.2 pts
Lexus	68,229	78.6%	68.1%	+10.5 pts
Maserati	9,522	83.3%	75.4%	+7.9 pts
Subaru	56,125	74.5%	68.1%	+6.4 pts
Rover	22,949	66.8%	60.9%	+5.9 pts
Chevrolet	47,522	54.1%	62.3%	−8.2 pts
Renault	768,355	63.4%	72.2%	−8.8 pts
Dacia	217,187	70.0%	79.6%	−9.6 pts
SsangYong	22,777	67.8%	78.1%	−10.3 pts
DS	44,732	68.0%	78.9%	−10.9 pts

Young cars, low scores

Dacia’s models are relatively young, with the Sandero averaging 7.5 years at test, so their raw pass rates look respectable. Against cars of the same ages they fall well short, which is exactly what the adjustment is there to show.

Few buyers are choosing between a Ferrari and a Dacia. Among bigger-selling makes, Porsche (+15.2) and Lexus (+10.5) lead, and just below the table BMW and Jaguar both scored +5.6.

Does a premium badge mean a better MOT record?

Not always. The 2015 Toyota Aygo, a small budget car, passed 80.1% of its MOTs, 8.1 points ahead of the 2015 Mercedes-Benz A-Class at 72.0%.

A city car against a premium hatch

The 2015 Toyota Aygo had 23,121 tests and the 2015 Mercedes-Benz A-Class 26,521. The A-Class also had more dangerous defects, found on 8.6% of tests against 5.8%.

Across all years, cars aged 8 to 10 tell the same story. The Honda Jazz passed 85.9% in that band and the A-Class 75.4%, against 75.7% for all cars that age.

Hybrids and electric cars

Hybrids passed 86.2% against 83.6% for cars of the same ages, 2.6 points ahead. Electric cars passed 85.1% but scored 1.7 points below the same ages, and Tesla as a make was 3.4 points below.

Most of these cars are young, so the gaps are small. They could shift as more reach their fifth or sixth MOT.

How much do MOT pass rates fall with age?

By more than 30 points. 89.5% of three-year-old cars passed their MOT first time in 2025, falling to 75.7% at 8 to 10 years and 58.0% at 15 to 19 years.

Pass rates by age at test

Overall, 72.8% of 29,122,953 car tests were passed first time, up from 72.3% in 2024. A pass after repairs at the test centre within the hour counts as a failure here, so our figures may be lower than a garage quotes.

Age at test	3	4–5	6–7	8–10	11–14	15–19	20+
Pass rate	89.5%	87.6%	83.0%	75.7%	65.5%	58.0%	61.0%
Tests	1,558,166	3,116,498	4,377,378	7,059,747	6,831,778	4,551,354	1,628,032

Why cars over 20 do slightly better

Cars aged 20 or more passed 61.0%, a little above the 15 to 19 band. This is likely a survivor effect: the cars still being tested at that age tend to be well-kept classics, not older cars getting better.

It’s also why a raw pass rate can mislead. Our MOT pass rates and common failures page shows the national figures by age and the most common reasons for failure.

What does this mean if you’re buying a used car?

Compare a car with others of the same age, not with the whole market, and check the individual car’s own MOT history. A model’s average is a starting point, not a guarantee.

Check the model, then the car

Look up the model-year page for the car you’re considering to see how it does against other cars registered that year. Then run a free vehicle check and look at the car’s past results on GOV.UK’s MOT history service, which shows mileage and failed parts for tests since 2005.

A model’s average won’t tell you how one particular car has been looked after. Repeated advisories for the same part, or gaps in the test history, are worth asking the seller about.

Keep the caveats in mind

With 1,000 tests a pass rate is accurate to about 3 points either way, and with 500 about 4. That’s why a model needs 1,000 tests to be ranked and 500 in an age band before we show that band.

Model names cover every generation, which is why the tighter 2015 comparison is the fairer test for the Clio. And whatever you buy, GOV.UK’s guide to getting an MOT says you can be fined up to £1,000 for driving without a valid MOT.

Where the data comes from

Every result here comes from DVSA’s anonymised MOT test dataset, which it publishes as open data. DVSA also publishes its own MOT testing statistics for Great Britain, which use different groupings, so they won’t match ours exactly.