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Used car rankings from MOT data

Most reliable 11 year old cars by MOT fail rate

We ranked 166 cars by the share of MOT tests they failed at 11 years old, against 32.7% for all cars that age. From 7,131,782 DVSA MOT tests in Great Britain, 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

First in this list (n=5,750)7.5%
All cars, same age32.7%
Ranked166
MOT tests used7,131,782

First in this list: Porsche 911.

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 11 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 lowest MOT fail rates at 11 years old, of 166 ranked.
#ModelMOT fail rateAll cars, same ageTests (n)Median mileage
1Porsche 911Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ7.5%32.7%5,75039,600 miles
2Lexus ISCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ16.6%32.7%7,18683,700 miles
3Lexus RXCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ16.8%32.7%7,07287,400 miles
4Porsche CayenneCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ17.1%32.7%7,33693,200 miles
5Audi Q7Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ18.0%32.7%10,68799,600 miles
6Audi A7Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ18.3%32.7%6,859102,500 miles
7Audi TTCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ18.5%32.7%22,56371,600 miles
8BMW Z4Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ18.6%32.7%7,43855,700 miles
9Lexus CTCommon problems · ULEZ19.6%32.7%15,51986,200 miles
10BMW X5Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ19.8%32.7%16,912100,400 miles
11Honda JazzCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ19.9%32.7%82,65654,600 miles
12Mazda MX-5Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ20.1%32.7%12,54544,200 miles
13BMW 6 Series (from 2004)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ20.5%32.7%6,23287,000 miles
14Toyota iQCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ20.5%32.7%7,05152,700 miles
15Honda CR-VCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ20.7%32.7%51,98086,900 miles
16Land Rover Range Rover SportCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ20.9%32.7%27,26694,200 miles
17Land Rover Range RoverCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ21.8%32.7%23,81895,100 miles
18Audi Q5Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ21.9%32.7%25,04897,300 miles
19Audi A6Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ21.9%32.7%37,065113,700 miles
20Mercedes-Benz M-ClassCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ21.9%32.7%13,78094,100 miles

What stands out

  • Porsche 911 has the lowest MOT fail rate in this list: 7.5% (n=5,750), against 32.7% for all cars that age.
  • 93 of the 166 ranked cars fail less often than all cars at the same age.
  • In the 20 shown, the fail rate runs from 7.5% to 21.9%.
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