According to our latest research, Ferrari owners are the most likely to get their vehicle through an MOT first time.
The Italian supercar manufacturer was found to have an impressive MOT pass rate of 95.4% for cars aged three years old.
Other top spots are filled by competitor prestige brands, including podium finishes for Bentley and Aston Martin, and a respectable sixth place for Porsche.
The findings come after we analysed data from our Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency).
Of the more mainstream brands, it was purely Japanese marques that filled the rest of Top 10, with Subaru and Lexus taking 4th and 5th places, and 7th to 10th taken by Honda, Infinity, Mazda, and Suzuki respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, SsangYong fares less successfully, coming in last with a failure rate of 21.9%, significantly worse than the 13.1% overall average for three-year-old cars.
The MOT failure rate of each brand is often indicative of how well owners maintain their cars and the likely annual mileages they will cover. For instance, 6.8% of cars fail MOT tests due to defective tyres1, a component which is the driver’s responsibility to monitor for wear and tear.
Make
Tests
Failures
Failure Rate
1
FERRARI
712
33
4.6%
2
BENTLEY
1370
76
5.5%
3
ASTON MARTIN
1297
80
6.2%
4
SUBARU
2517
164
6.5%
5
LEXUS
11261
774
6.9%
6
PORSCHE
11884
936
7.9%
7
HONDA
50552
4040
8.0%
8
INFINITI
3114
267
8.6%
9
MAZDA
36975
3422
9.3%
10
SUZUKI
37927
3928
10.4%
11
AUDI
158840
17502
11.0%
12
MINI
65866
7384
11.2%
13
TOYOTA
103770
11734
11.3%
14
JEEP
5905
705
11.9%
15
BMW
162318
19720
12.1%
16
NISSAN
153045
18682
12.2%
17
FIAT
52110
6372
12.2%
18
HYUNDAI
82899
10153
12.2%
19
TESLA
3630
452
12.5%
20
SMART (MCC)
8987
1138
12.7%
21
SKODA
73900
9415
12.7%
22
VOLVO
42152
5429
12.9%
23
ABARTH
3961
511
12.9%
24
KIA
87554
11355
13.0%
25
FORD
347566
45320
13.0%
26
MITSUBISHI
24087
3146
13.1%
27
LAND ROVER
75287
9931
13.2%
28
MERCEDES-BENZ
170585
22664
13.3%
29
JAGUAR
32990
4483
13.6%
30
SEAT
52399
7240
13.8%
31
PEUGEOT
99683
14181
14.2%
32
VAUXHALL
203128
29277
14.4%
33
MG
4016
599
14.9%
34
MASERATI
1299
197
15.2%
35
VOLKSWAGEN
222794
34012
15.3%
36
ALFA ROMEO
4385
674
15.4%
37
DS
8461
1342
15.9%
38
RENAULT
76795
13073
17.0%
39
ISUZU
4304
780
18.1%
40
CITROEN
66503
12419
18.7%
41
DACIA
23348
5031
21.5%
42
SSANGYONG
3494
765
21.9%
Recently, we reported that an estimated 280,000 three-year-old cars will fail their first legally required MOT test throughout 2021, despite still being relatively young.
When looking at failure rates for all cars aged between 3 and 15 years old, the picture remains largely similar, but with Tesla, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz and DS nudging their way into the top spots to create a Top 10 filled exclusively with prestige brands.
Rank
Make
Tests
Failures
Failure Rate
1
FERRARI
6362
443
7.0%
2
BENTLEY
13465
1185
8.8%
3
ASTON MARTIN
13718
1334
9.7%
4
PORSCHE
90799
10856
12.0%
5
INFINITI
9056
1147
12.7%
6
TESLA
7853
1055
13.4%
7
LEXUS
111113
19287
17.4%
8
MASERATI
7425
1319
17.8%
9
MERCEDES-BENZ
963375
200853
20.8%
10
DS
31020
6477
20.9%
11
AUDI
1295910
272436
21.0%
12
BMW
1363130
295795
21.7%
13
ABARTH
16722
3645
21.8%
14
LAND ROVER
618783
141958
22.9%
15
SKODA
575799
133088
23.1%
16
JAGUAR
229083
53032
23.1%
17
MINI
582120
136771
23.5%
18
JEEP
49365
11675
23.7%
19
MG
19239
4658
24.2%
20
SMART (MCC)
61033
15424
25.3%
21
DACIA
108503
27678
25.5%
22
TOYOTA
1139479
294127
25.8%
23
HONDA
761342
198794
26.1%
24
SUBARU
42909
11226
26.2%
25
HYUNDAI
664581
177252
26.7%
26
SUZUKI
330223
88888
26.9%
27
VOLKSWAGEN
2281546
628926
27.6%
28
MAZDA
419422
116134
27.7%
29
KIA
651893
180558
27.7%
30
VOLVO
397436
110533
27.8%
31
SEAT
397254
110780
27.9%
32
NISSAN
1282186
369618
28.8%
33
MITSUBISHI
231554
69030
29.8%
34
ISUZU
30977
9277
29.9%
35
SSANGYONG
16841
5124
30.4%
36
FORD
3753306
1167115
31.1%
37
FIAT
683465
212643
31.1%
38
MERCEDES
200008
63040
31.5%
39
ALFA ROMEO
66482
21720
32.7%
40
SMART
10361
3391
32.7%
41
DAIHATSU
14918
4886
32.8%
42
PEUGEOT
1246298
418266
33.6%
43
VAUXHALL
2844164
968691
34.1%
44
CITROEN
921950
334631
36.3%
45
LONDON TAXIS INT
19754
7379
37.4%
46
SAAB
60124
23170
38.5%
47
RENAULT
896963
352773
39.3%
48
CHRYSLER
21665
8611
39.7%
49
CHRYSLER-JEEP
13791
5615
40.7%
50
DODGE
6369
2723
42.8%
51
CHEVROLET
84632
38586
45.6%
Chevrolet takes last place, with 45.6% of its cars failing first time, though it hasn’t sold any of its mainstream models in the UK since 2014 and therefore represents a sample of older vehicles.
Jessica Potts, Head of Marketing at BookMyGarage.com, commented “It’s perhaps no surprise to see so many luxury brands perform best in the MOT test.
“Owners of prestige car brands often cover fewer miles annually as the car is unlikely to be the owner’s sole vehicle and they are usually maintained to very high standards. MOT pass rates are less indicative of brand reliability and more a representation of how well owners maintain their car and how much of a ‘workhorse’ a particular brands’ models tend to become.
“That being said, there’s a noticeable dominance of more mainstream Japanese brands in the Top 10, which perhaps goes some way to prove the notion that Japanese cars are indeed very reliable.”