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 14,220 of 14,242 failed first attempts (99.8%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025 — the subset the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Rigid brake pipes (front) — 2.8% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 402 of those tests. It tops the table on elevation — about 5.0× 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rigid brake pipes (front)
Brakes > Rigid brake pipes
|
Front | 402 | ×5.0 | 2.8% | Strong |
|
Ball joint (front)
Suspension > Suspension arms > Ball joint
|
Front | 3,893 | ×4.6 | 27.4% | Likely |
|
Exhaust system (rear)
Body, chassis, structure > Exhaust system
|
Rear | 592 | ×4.5 | 4.2% | Likely |
|
Rigid brake pipes (rear)
Brakes > Rigid brake pipes
|
Rear | 504 | ×4.2 | 3.5% | Likely |
|
Track rod end (front)
Steering > Steering linkage components > Track rod end
|
Front | 2,311 | ×3.1 | 16.3% | Likely |
Only patterns that clear minimum sample and elevation thresholds are shown (at least 20 failures and about 2.0× more often than similar cars).