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Used car rankings from MOT data

Most reliable 6 year old cars by MOT fail rate

We ranked 209 cars by the share of MOT tests they failed at 6 years old, against 16.9% for all cars that age. From 9,064,831 DVSA MOT tests in Great Britain, 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

First in this list (n=8,228)5.4%
All cars, same age16.9%
Ranked209
MOT tests used9,064,831

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 6 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 6 years old, of 209 ranked.
#ModelMOT fail rateAll cars, same ageTests (n)Median mileage
1Porsche 911Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ5.4%16.9%8,22819,700 miles
2Lexus RXCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ6.4%16.9%8,18744,900 miles
3Porsche MacanCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ7.8%16.9%18,32143,200 miles
4Jaguar F-TypeCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ8.5%16.9%7,67025,000 miles
5Mazda MX-5Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ9.5%16.9%17,00624,200 miles
6BMW 7 SeriesCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ9.8%16.9%6,69957,700 miles
7Audi TTCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ10.0%16.9%25,59737,400 miles
8Honda JazzCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ10.1%16.9%73,66226,400 miles
9Volkswagen T-RocCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ10.3%16.9%36,83443,600 miles
10Lexus ISCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ10.4%16.9%6,26149,600 miles
11Lexus NXCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ10.4%16.9%16,28642,500 miles
12Honda CR-VCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ10.9%16.9%44,17144,600 miles
13Mercedes-Benz S-ClassCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ10.9%16.9%10,21455,400 miles
14Honda HR-V (from 2015)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ11.0%16.9%23,72837,600 miles
15Audi Q2Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ11.1%16.9%43,75142,600 miles
16Porsche CayenneCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ11.3%16.9%9,86349,900 miles
17Lexus CTCommon problems · ULEZ11.5%16.9%10,67742,300 miles
18Skoda KaroqCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ11.5%16.9%28,56644,500 miles
19Toyota Corolla (from 2019)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ11.5%16.9%16,53656,000 miles
20Audi Q3Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ12.0%16.9%59,58845,100 miles

What stands out

  • Porsche 911 has the lowest MOT fail rate in this list: 5.4% (n=8,228), against 16.9% for all cars that age.
  • 118 of the 209 ranked cars fail less often than all cars at the same age.
  • In the 20 shown, the fail rate runs from 5.4% to 12.0%.
  • One other row is 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