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 5,174 of 5,179 failed first attempts (99.9%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025 — the subset the age-and-mileage comparison can be computed on.
Standout: Electrical equipment — Horn — 6.7% of this year's failed first attempts
Recorded on 347 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Electrical equipment — Horn
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Electrical equipment > Horn
|
Any | 347 | ×11 | 6.7% | Strong |
|
Seat belts — Condition (front)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems > Seat belts > Condition
|
Front | 197 | ×9.2 | 3.8% | Strong |
|
Pedal
Brakes > Service brake pedal or hand lever > Pedal
|
Any | 125 | ×7.7 | 2.4% | Strong |
|
Position lamp (front)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Position lamps > Position lamp
|
Front | 1,281 | ×7.1 | 24.8% | Strong |
|
Individual direction indicators (rear)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Direction indicators > Flashing type > Individual direction indicators
|
Rear | 135 | ×4.7 | 2.6% | Likely |
|
Stop lamp (rear)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Stop lamp
|
Rear | 683 | ×4.4 | 13.2% | Likely |
|
Registration plate lamp(s) (rear)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Registration plate lamp(s)
|
Rear | 543 | ×3.3 | 10.5% | Likely |
|
Coil spring (front)
Suspension > Springs > Coil springs > Coil spring
|
Front | 708 | ×3.3 | 13.7% | Likely |
|
Position lamp (rear)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment > Position lamps > Position lamp
|
Rear | 247 | ×3.3 | 4.8% | Likely |
|
Exhaust system (front)
Body, chassis, structure > Exhaust system
|
Front | 128 | ×3.2 | 2.5% | 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).