Buying Report · £14.99
Tools

Used car rankings from MOT data

Least reliable 10 year old cars by MOT fail rate

We ranked 181 cars by the share of MOT tests they failed at 10 years old, against 29.6% for all cars that age. From 8,018,975 DVSA MOT tests in Great Britain, 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

First in this list (n=8,178)46.5%
All cars, same age29.6%
Ranked181
MOT tests used8,018,975

First in this list: Peugeot 5008.

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 by cars 10 years old (test year minus first-use year).
  • 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. A list is published only with at least 10 ranked rows.
  • 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 cars with the highest MOT fail rates at 10 years old, of 181 ranked.
#ModelMOT fail rateAll cars, same ageTests (n)Median mileage
1Peugeot 5008Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ46.5%29.6%8,17888,000 miles
2DS DS3Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ46.3%29.6%66,97670,100 miles
3Renault MeganeCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ45.6%29.6%30,85784,900 miles
4Renault ClioCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ45.5%29.6%87,36967,400 miles
5Chevrolet SparkCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ45.3%29.6%8,69359,800 miles
6Renault Grand ScenicCommon problems · ULEZ45.0%29.6%5,83286,400 miles
7Vauxhall AntaraCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ42.7%29.6%18,57977,400 miles
8Dacia SanderoCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ42.6%29.6%34,39566,400 miles
9DS DS4 (before 2021)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ42.6%29.6%10,29082,200 miles
10Fiat PuntoCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ41.5%29.6%17,63563,900 miles
11Renault ScenicCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ40.7%29.6%12,26771,400 miles
12Citroen C4Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ40.5%29.6%70,00080,300 miles
13Ford GalaxyCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ40.0%29.6%16,723104,800 miles
14Dacia DusterCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ39.9%29.6%18,04377,700 miles
15Peugeot 3008Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ39.9%29.6%38,49977,400 miles
16Peugeot 207Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ39.8%29.6%19,69666,000 miles
17Vauxhall CorsaCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ39.2%29.6%318,39965,800 miles
18Nissan JukeCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ39.2%29.6%136,53070,900 miles
19Peugeot 2008Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ37.8%29.6%35,92472,400 miles
20Fiat 500LCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ37.7%29.6%17,96671,000 miles

What stands out

  • Peugeot 5008 has the highest MOT fail rate in this list: 46.5% (n=8,178), against 29.6% for all cars that age.
  • 106 of the 181 ranked cars fail less often than all cars at the same age.
  • In the 20 shown, the fail rate runs from 37.7% to 46.5%.
  • 5 other rows are within 2 points of the first, so read close positions as level rather than as a strict order.
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.

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