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 337 failed first attempts in 2025 that the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Drive shafts — Joints (front) — 25.2% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 85 of those tests. It tops the table on elevation — about 6.4× 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/07/2008) | Any | 26 | ×7.5 | 7.7% | Possible |
|
Drive shafts — Joints (front)
Body, chassis, structure > Transmission > Drive shafts > Joints
|
Front | 85 | ×6.4 | 25.2% | Likely |
|
Exhaust system
Body, chassis, structure > Exhaust system
|
Any | 33 | ×6.4 | 9.8% | Likely |
|
Individual direction indicators (rear)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Direction indicators > Flashing type > Individual direction indicators
|
Rear | 20 | ×4.9 | 5.9% | Possible |
|
Stop lamp (rear)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Stop lamp
|
Rear | 33 | ×2.4 | 9.8% | Possible |
|
Coil spring (rear)
Suspension > Springs > Coil springs > Coil spring
|
Rear | 32 | ×2.4 | 9.5% | Possible |
|
Registration plate lamp(s)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Registration plate lamp(s)
|
Any | 20 | ×2.1 | 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).