Used car rankings from MOT data
Most reliable diesel family hatchbacks against diesel cars the same age
We ranked 25 diesel family hatchbacks by how often they failed their MOT at 3 to 15 years old, each against all diesel cars at the same ages. From 8,620,130 DVSA MOT tests in Great Britain, 2022 to 2025.
MOT data updated
First in this list (n=182,520)17.6%
All diesel cars, same ages20.3%
Difference13% lower
MOT tests used8,620,130
First in this list: BMW 2 Series (diesel).
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 3 to 15 years, pooled, against all diesel cars at the same ages.
- Order: by the fail rate divided by the rate for all diesel 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 diesel cars means every class 4 MOT test on diesel 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 15 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 family hatchbacks and other small family cars. Families that change body type between generations without a split in the data are left out.
- Fuel: as DVSA records it on each test. Each row is one model generation on diesel; where a model is also sold with other fuels, the row is named with the fuel and its figures differ from the model's all-fuel MOT page.
- 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 | MOT fail rate | All diesel cars, same ages | Difference | Ages | Tests (n) | Typical mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BMW 2 Series (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 17.6% | 20.3% | 13% lower | 3 to 10 | 182,520 | 55,800 miles |
| 2 | MINI Clubman (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 17.8% | 20.2% | 12% lower | 6 to 8 | 20,023 | 57,500 miles |
| 3 | Volkswagen Golf (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 25.7% | 29.3% | 12% lower | 3 to 15 | 1,434,344 | 91,300 miles |
| 4 | Audi A3 (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 26.9% | 30.0% | 10% lower | 3 to 15 | 714,782 | 97,600 miles |
| 5 | BMW 1 Series (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 26.1% | 28.6% | 9% lower | 3 to 15 | 797,769 | 86,200 miles |
| 6 | Skoda Octavia (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 24.5% | 26.4% | 7% lower | 3 to 15 | 458,197 | 97,900 miles |
| 7 | Toyota Auris (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 28.8% | 30.5% | 6% lower | 8 to 15 | 26,431 | 89,600 miles |
| 8 | SEAT Leon (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 26.4% | 27.9% | 5% lower | 3 to 15 | 283,278 | 91,000 miles |
| 9 | Honda Civic (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 28.6% | 29.4% | 3% lower | 4 to 15 | 211,564 | 94,000 miles |
| 10 | Mercedes-Benz A-Class (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 22.1% | 22.1% | about the same | 3 to 15 | 683,105 | 62,000 miles |
| 11 | Mercedes-Benz CLA (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 20.7% | 20.5% | 1% higher | 3 to 10 | 99,676 | 64,100 miles |
| 12 | Volvo C30 (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 41.5% | 38.9% | 7% higher | 12 to 15 | 39,960 | 107,700 miles |
| 13 | Volvo S40 (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 43.5% | 39.8% | 9% higher | 13 to 15 | 16,414 | 114,500 miles |
| 14 | Mazda 3 (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 32.5% | 29.4% | 11% higher | 7 to 13 | 46,162 | 89,400 miles |
| 15 | Vauxhall Astra (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 33.0% | 29.6% | 11% higher | 3 to 15 | 735,646 | 95,400 miles |
| 16 | Volvo V40 (diesel) (from 2012)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 28.5% | 25.4% | 12% higher | 4 to 12 | 245,537 | 76,100 miles |
| 17 | Ford Focus (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 32.0% | 28.1% | 14% higher | 3 to 15 | 1,111,341 | 88,100 miles |
| 18 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta (diesel)Common problems · ULEZ | 38.8% | 33.1% | 17% higher | 9 to 13 | 35,019 | 100,000 miles |
| 19 | Kia Ceed (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 33.8% | 27.6% | 22% higher | 3 to 15 | 284,397 | 79,500 miles |
| 20 | Peugeot 308 (diesel)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 36.3% | 29.3% | 24% higher | 3 to 15 | 349,565 | 84,800 miles |
What stands out
- BMW 2 Series (diesel) comes first: 17.6% against 20.3% for all diesel cars at the same ages, 13% lower (n=182,520).
- 9 of the 25 ranked diesel family hatchbacks fail less often than all diesel cars at the same ages.
- In the 20 shown, the difference from all diesel cars runs from 13% lower to 24% higher.
- 4 other rows are within 5% of the first on the difference, 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.
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