Used car rankings from MOT data

Best first cars by MOT fails, 6 to 12 years old

We ranked 51 small cars by how often they failed their MOT at 6 to 12 years old, each against all cars at the same ages. We chose the 6 to 12 year age band for this list; it ranks MOT fails alone and leaves out insurance, running costs and price. From 20,174,601 DVSA MOT tests in Great Britain, 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 22 September 2026

First in this list (n=545,520)16.1%

All cars, same ages26.6%

Difference39% lower

MOT tests used20,174,601

First in this list: Honda Jazz.

How this ranking works

Data: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal tests in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), 2022 to 2025. Northern Ireland tests its cars separately and is not included. A fail is a test marked fail or passed after a repair at the test station.
Measure: share of MOTs failed at each age from 6 to 12 years, pooled, against all cars at the same ages.
Order: by the fail rate divided by the rate for all cars at the same ages, shown as the difference in per cent. Fail rates rise with age, so a ratio keeps a model seen only at older ages from looking better than it is.
Comparison: all cars means every class 4 MOT test except vans, pickups, taxis, campers, van-based people carriers, motorhome and minibus bases and used imports, weighted to each row's own mix of ages.
Thresholds: every age behind a row here has at least 5,000 tests. A model generation is ranked only with at least 3 ages of 1,000 tests or more, and a row needs at least 3 ages in this list. A list is published only with at least 10 ranked rows.
Typical mileage: the median odometer reading at each age, averaged over the row's ages by number of tests.
Segments: from our checked list that puts each DVSA model family in one segment; this list covers city cars and superminis. Families that change body type between generations without a split in the data are left out.
Vans, pickups, taxis, campers, van-based people carriers, motorhome and minibus bases, and models sold here mainly as used imports are left out of car lists.
Years in brackets are the first-use years of a model generation.

The ranking

The 20 small cars that fail the MOT least often against all cars at the same ages, at 6 to 12 years old, of 51 ranked.
#	Model	MOT fail rate	All cars, same ages	Difference	Ages	Tests (n)	Typical mileage
1	Honda JazzCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	16.1%	26.6%	39% lower	6 to 12	545,520	43,500 miles
2	BMW i3Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ	13.8%	20.5%	32% lower	6 to 9	36,828	45,600 miles
3	Suzuki CelerioCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	15.7%	21.7%	28% lower	6 to 10	89,641	35,700 miles
4	MINI Cooper and OneCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	19.3%	25.6%	25% lower	6 to 12	1,166,479	54,600 miles
5	Mitsubishi MirageCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	19.1%	24.8%	23% lower	7 to 10	23,647	41,700 miles
6	Volkswagen up!Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ	20.5%	26.0%	21% lower	6 to 12	400,186	45,900 miles
7	Skoda CitigoCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	20.8%	25.2%	18% lower	6 to 12	174,450	46,100 miles
8	Toyota AygoCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	20.9%	25.3%	17% lower	6 to 12	535,499	46,000 miles
9	Peugeot 108Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ	19.0%	22.7%	16% lower	6 to 11	229,150	39,700 miles
10	Toyota YarisCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	22.0%	25.9%	15% lower	6 to 12	771,701	49,800 miles
11	Vauxhall VivaCommon problems · ULEZ	18.0%	21.1%	15% lower	6 to 10	120,668	34,900 miles
12	SEAT MiiCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	23.0%	26.2%	12% lower	6 to 12	60,115	49,200 miles
13	Smart FortwoCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	23.4%	26.5%	12% lower	6 to 12	116,954	40,200 miles
14	Peugeot 107Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ	28.7%	31.6%	9% lower	8 to 12	193,061	56,100 miles
15	Skoda FabiaCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	24.1%	25.8%	7% lower	6 to 12	469,555	57,300 miles
16	Citroen C1Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ	24.9%	26.7%	7% lower	6 to 12	388,009	49,500 miles
17	Suzuki SwiftCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	24.1%	25.8%	6% lower	6 to 12	271,122	54,400 miles
18	Suzuki Ignis (from 2016)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ	18.0%	19.0%	5% lower	6 to 8	34,500	32,600 miles
19	Nissan NoteCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ	26.5%	27.8%	5% lower	6 to 12	330,106	55,600 miles
20	Audi A1Common problems · ULEZ	24.5%	25.6%	4% lower	6 to 12	601,220	61,100 miles

What stands out

Honda Jazz comes first: 16.1% against 26.6% for all cars at the same ages, 39% lower (n=545,520).
24 of the 51 ranked small cars fail less often than all cars at the same ages.
In the 20 shown, the difference from all cars runs from 39% lower to 4% lower.

What this list does not cover

MOT data says nothing about insurance group, fuel and tax costs or price, which often matter as much for a first car. This list ranks MOT fails alone. For running costs, see the car tax check and the ULEZ checker.

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

Looking at one car?

A ranking describes model generations, not the car in front of you. The VetTheCar Buying Report reads one car's MOT history, mileage and recalls and sets them against cars like it.

See a sample Buying Report Look up a model's MOT fail rate

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources