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 3,356 of 3,357 failed first attempts that recorded an odometer reading in 2025 — the subset the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Linkage ball joints (front) — 4.6% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 154 of those tests. It tops the table on elevation — about 11× 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/01/2014) | Any | 182 | ×17 | 5.4% | Strong |
|
Linkage ball joints (front)
Suspension > Anti-roll bars > Linkage ball joints
|
Front | 154 | ×11 | 4.6% | Strong |
|
Malfunction indicator lamp
Noise, emissions and leaks > Exhaust emissions > Compression ignition > Malfunction indicator lamp
|
Any | 444 | ×5.7 | 13.2% | Strong |
|
Registration plates (front)
Identification of the vehicle > Registration plates
|
Front | 72 | ×3.0 | 2.1% | Possible |
|
SRS malfunction indicator lamp
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems > SRS malfunction indicator lamp
|
Any | 98 | ×2.7 | 2.9% | Possible |
|
Malfunction indicator lamp
Noise, emissions and leaks > Exhaust emissions > Spark ignition > Malfunction indicator lamp
|
Any | 199 | ×2.4 | 5.9% | 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).