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 6,431 of 6,434 failed first attempts that recorded an odometer reading in 2025 — the subset the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Ball joint dust cover (front) — 8.9% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 570 of those tests. It tops the table on elevation — about 5.4× 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ball joint dust cover (front)
Suspension > Suspension arms > Ball joint dust cover
|
Front | 570 | ×5.4 | 8.9% | Strong |
|
Anti-lock braking system
Brakes > ABS / EBS / ESC > Anti-lock braking system
|
Any | 278 | ×4.3 | 4.3% | Likely |
|
Rbt (sp)
Brakes > Brake performance > Parking brake efficiency (sp) > Rbt (sp)
|
Any | 646 | ×3.2 | 10.0% | Likely |
|
Parking brake performance (rear)
Brakes > Brake performance > Parking brake performance > Rbt > Parking brake performance
|
Rear | 135 | ×3.2 | 2.1% | Likely |
|
Service brake imbalance (rear)
Brakes > Brake performance > Service Brake Efficiency (sp) > Rbt (sp) > Service brake imbalance
|
Rear | 131 | ×3.1 | 2.0% | Likely |
|
Electronic stability control
Brakes > ABS / EBS / ESC > Electronic stability control
|
Any | 133 | ×2.7 | 2.1% | Possible |
|
Stop lamp (rear)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Stop lamp
|
Rear | 575 | ×2.3 | 8.9% | Possible |
|
Service brake performance (rear)
Brakes > Brake performance > Service brake performance > Rbt > Service brake performance
|
Rear | 348 | ×2.3 | 5.4% | Possible |
|
Malfunction indicator lamp
Noise, emissions and leaks > Exhaust emissions > Spark ignition > Malfunction indicator lamp
|
Any | 368 | ×2.2 | 5.7% | 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).