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 5,815 failed first attempts in 2025 that the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Drive shafts — Joints (front) — 29.0% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 1,686 of those tests. It tops the table on elevation — about 7.3× more often than on similar cars of the same age and mileage. On this year it is also the commonest failure, so it answers both questions at once. The full ranked list is in the table below.
| Fault pattern | Location | Failures | vs similar cars | Share of fails | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Drive shafts — Joints (front)
Body, chassis, structure > Transmission > Drive shafts > Joints
|
Front | 1,686 | ×7.3 | 29.0% | Strong |
|
Catalyst emissions
Noise, emissions and leaks > Exhaust emissions > Spark ignition > Catalyst emissions
|
Any | 507 | ×3.4 | 8.7% | Likely |
|
Exhaust system (front)
Body, chassis, structure > Exhaust system
|
Front | 138 | ×3.0 | 2.4% | Likely |
|
Registration plate lamp(s) (rear)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Registration plate lamp(s)
|
Rear | 493 | ×2.9 | 8.5% | Possible |
|
Exhaust system (rear)
Body, chassis, structure > Exhaust system
|
Rear | 211 | ×2.2 | 3.6% | Possible |
|
Headlamp (front)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Headlamps > Headlamp
|
Front | 461 | ×2.2 | 7.9% | Possible |
| Diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/01/2014) | Any | 160 | ×2.0 | 2.8% | 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).