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 1,968 of 1,971 failed first attempts (99.8%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025 — the subset the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Linkage ball joint dust cover (rear) — 7.7% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 152 of those tests. It tops the table on elevation — about 95× 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 (rear)
Suspension > Anti-roll bars > Ball joint dust cover
|
Rear | 71 | ×111 | 3.6% | Likely |
|
Linkage ball joint dust cover (rear)
Suspension > Anti-roll bars > Linkage ball joint dust cover
|
Rear | 152 | ×95 | 7.7% | Strong |
|
Sub-frame (rear)
Suspension > Sub-frames > Sub-frame
|
Rear | 119 | ×14 | 6.0% | Strong |
|
Pins and bushes (rear)
Suspension > Suspension arms > Pins and bushes
|
Rear | 126 | ×6.2 | 6.4% | Strong |
|
Rear fog lamp
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Front and rear fog lamps > Rear fog lamp > Rear fog lamp
|
Any | 76 | ×2.6 | 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).