These MOT failure patterns show up more often on this registration year than on similar cars of the same class, age, and mileage.
Shares below are measured across the 3,228 of 3,244 failed first attempts (99.5%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025 — the subset the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Electrical equipment — Horn — 8.9% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 286 of those tests. It tops the table on elevation — about 7.2× more often than on similar cars of the same age and mileage. That is what makes it unusual for its class, which is a different question from what is most likely to fail; the buying checklist ranks by that. The full ranked list is in the table below.
| Fault pattern | Location | Failures | vs similar cars | Share of fails | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Electrical equipment — Horn
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Electrical equipment > Horn
|
Any | 286 | ×7.2 | 8.9% | Strong |
|
Seat belts — Condition (front)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems > Seat belts > Condition
|
Front | 83 | ×6.8 | 2.6% | Likely |
| Diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/07/2008) | Any | 276 | ×3.8 | 8.6% | Likely |
|
Drive shafts — Joints (front)
Body, chassis, structure > Transmission > Drive shafts > Joints
|
Front | 498 | ×2.7 | 15.4% | Possible |
|
Registration plate lamp(s)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Registration plate lamp(s)
|
Any | 329 | ×2.4 | 10.2% | Possible |
|
Component mounting prescribed areas (rear)
Suspension > Component mounting prescribed areas
|
Rear | 144 | ×2.3 | 4.5% | Possible |
|
Stop lamp
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Stop lamp
|
Any | 345 | ×2.2 | 10.7% | Possible |
Only patterns that clear minimum sample and elevation thresholds are shown (at least 20 failures and about 2.0× more often than similar cars).