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 1,048 of 1,049 failed first attempts (99.9%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025 — the subset the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Suspension arm (rear) — 7.6% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 80 of those tests. It tops the table on elevation — about 12× 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.
No patterns met the strongest callout thresholds on this page; showing the highest-lift rows that still cleared the display floors.
| Fault pattern | Location | Failures | vs similar cars | Share of fails | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Suspension arm (rear)
Suspension > Suspension arms > Suspension arm
|
Rear | 80 | ×12 | 7.6% | Likely |
|
Hydraulic brake callipers (rear)
Brakes > Brake actuators (including spring brakes or hydraulic cylinders) > Hydraulic brake callipers
|
Rear | 28 | ×11 | 2.7% | Possible |
|
Pins and bushes (rear)
Suspension > Anti-roll bars > Pins and bushes
|
Rear | 24 | ×11 | 2.3% | Possible |
|
Pins and bushes (rear)
Suspension > Suspension arms > Pins and bushes
|
Rear | 70 | ×7.1 | 6.7% | Likely |
|
Prescribed areas (front)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems > Seat belts > Prescribed areas
|
Front | 31 | ×4.4 | 3.0% | Likely |
|
Integral vehicle structure condition (rear)
Body, chassis, structure > Integral vehicle structure > Integral vehicle structure condition
|
Rear | 26 | ×2.9 | 2.5% | Possible |
|
Wheel bearings (rear)
Suspension > Wheel bearings
|
Rear | 39 | ×2.9 | 3.7% | Possible |
|
Component mounting prescribed areas (rear)
Suspension > Component mounting prescribed areas
|
Rear | 123 | ×2.9 | 11.7% | Possible |
|
Malfunction indicator lamp
Noise, emissions and leaks > Exhaust emissions > Compression ignition > Malfunction indicator lamp
|
Any | 28 | ×2.5 | 2.7% | Possible |
| Diesel emissions test (pre-reg turbo rules before 01/07/2008) | Any | 41 | ×2.3 | 3.9% | 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).