Used car rankings from MOT data
Fewer tyre MOT failures than cars the same age
We ranked 265 cars by how many MOTs fail on tyres (tread depth, condition and fitting) at 3 to 15 years old, each against all cars at the same ages. From 95,461,987 DVSA MOT tests in Great Britain, 2022 to 2025.
MOT data updated
First in this list (n=141,139)1.8
All cars, same ages7.0
Difference75% lower
MOT tests used95,461,987
First in this list: Land Rover Defender (before 2020).
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: tests with at least one tyre fail item per 100 MOTs, at each age from 3 to 15 years, pooled and compared with all cars at the same ages. The tyre group covers tyres (tread depth, condition and fitting). An age with no tyre fail counts as 0.
- 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.
- 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
| # | Model | Fails per 100 MOTs | All cars, same ages | Difference | Ages | Tests (n) | Typical mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Land Rover Defender (before 2020)Tyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 1.8 | 7.0 | 75% lower | 7 to 15 | 141,139 | 62,000 miles |
| 2 | Porsche 911Tyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 2.6 | 6.3 | 59% lower | 3 to 15 | 91,720 | 30,500 miles |
| 3 | Mazda MX-5Tyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 2.7 | 6.5 | 59% lower | 3 to 15 | 188,663 | 39,700 miles |
| 4 | Suzuki Grand VitaraTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.5 | 7.4 | 53% lower | 12 to 15 | 28,822 | 82,900 miles |
| 5 | Kia StonicTyre problems · ULEZ | 2.5 | 5.1 | 50% lower | 3 to 7 | 94,808 | 28,800 miles |
| 6 | Toyota iQTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.7 | 7.4 | 50% lower | 11 to 15 | 54,700 | 65,200 miles |
| 7 | Land Rover FreelanderTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 4.0 | 7.2 | 45% lower | 8 to 15 | 318,478 | 104,700 miles |
| 8 | Skoda CitigoTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.6 | 6.3 | 43% lower | 4 to 12 | 201,339 | 43,000 miles |
| 9 | Suzuki CelerioTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.5 | 6.0 | 43% lower | 4 to 10 | 108,499 | 33,100 miles |
| 10 | Suzuki Ignis (from 2016)Tyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.1 | 5.3 | 41% lower | 3 to 8 | 86,194 | 24,600 miles |
| 11 | Lexus NXTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.2 | 5.5 | 41% lower | 3 to 9 | 101,446 | 40,000 miles |
| 12 | Lexus UXTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 2.9 | 4.8 | 40% lower | 3 to 5 | 36,319 | 25,100 miles |
| 13 | Mitsubishi ShogunTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 4.0 | 6.5 | 39% lower | 7 to 10 | 23,193 | 65,200 miles |
| 14 | Jaguar F-TypeTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.6 | 6.0 | 39% lower | 4 to 10 | 48,572 | 28,700 miles |
| 15 | SEAT MiiTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 4.0 | 6.6 | 39% lower | 6 to 12 | 60,115 | 49,200 miles |
| 16 | Lexus RXTyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 4.0 | 6.4 | 38% lower | 3 to 15 | 103,540 | 72,900 miles |
| 17 | Honda HR-V (from 2015)Tyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.5 | 5.6 | 38% lower | 3 to 9 | 122,064 | 37,200 miles |
| 18 | Mazda CX-30Tyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.0 | 4.8 | 38% lower | 3 to 5 | 41,935 | 24,200 miles |
| 19 | Volkswagen up!Tyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 4.0 | 6.3 | 37% lower | 3 to 13 | 501,026 | 41,900 miles |
| 20 | Toyota RAV4Tyre problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 3.8 | 6.1 | 37% lower | 3 to 15 | 346,191 | 60,500 miles |
What stands out
- Land Rover Defender (before 2020) comes first: 1.8 per 100 MOTs against 7.0 per 100 MOTs for all cars at the same ages on tyre fails, 75% lower (n=141,139).
- 148 of the 265 ranked cars have fewer of these fails than all cars at the same ages.
- In the 20 shown, the difference from all cars runs from 75% lower to 37% lower.
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.
More rankings
All used car rankings · MOT fail rates by make and model · Common problems by model · Recalls by model · ULEZ by model
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.
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 28 September 2026.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources