Used car rankings from MOT data
Most reliable older cars against cars the same age
We ranked 120 cars by how often they failed their MOT at 15 to 20 years old, each against all cars at the same ages. From 17,365,004 DVSA MOT tests in Great Britain, 2022 to 2025.
MOT data updated
First in this list: Porsche 911.
- 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 15 to 20 years, pooled, against all cars at the same ages.
- 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
Mileage matters: a model driven less fails less often, and the typical mileage column shows how far each row's cars had gone. To compare cars at the same mileage, see cars over 120,000 miles, cars at 90,000 to 120,000 miles, cars at 60,000 to 90,000 miles.
| # | Model | MOT fail rate | All cars, same ages | Difference | Ages | Tests (n) | Typical mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porsche 911Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 14.5% | 42.6% | 66% lower | 15 to 20 | 58,500 | 65,300 miles |
| 2 | Porsche BoxsterCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 20.8% | 42.8% | 51% lower | 16 to 20 | 42,709 | 73,000 miles |
| 3 | Jaguar XKCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 24.8% | 42.5% | 42% lower | 15 to 19 | 33,427 | 72,300 miles |
| 4 | Subaru ImprezaCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 27.2% | 42.8% | 36% lower | 16 to 20 | 36,059 | 98,600 miles |
| 5 | Audi Q7Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 27.2% | 42.1% | 35% lower | 15 to 17 | 23,285 | 135,000 miles |
| 6 | Jaguar XJCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 29.1% | 42.9% | 32% lower | 17 to 20 | 23,358 | 101,700 miles |
| 7 | Lexus RXCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 29.2% | 42.5% | 31% lower | 15 to 19 | 47,800 | 126,200 miles |
| 8 | BMW Z4Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 29.4% | 42.6% | 31% lower | 15 to 20 | 62,360 | 85,800 miles |
| 9 | Lexus ISCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 29.9% | 42.5% | 30% lower | 15 to 20 | 58,317 | 111,000 miles |
| 10 | Land Rover Range RoverCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 30.6% | 42.5% | 28% lower | 15 to 20 | 77,236 | 135,400 miles |
| 11 | BMW 5 SeriesCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 31.5% | 42.4% | 26% lower | 15 to 20 | 147,584 | 149,100 miles |
| 12 | Land Rover Range Rover SportCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 31.7% | 42.4% | 25% lower | 15 to 19 | 83,804 | 129,000 miles |
| 13 | Mercedes-Benz E-ClassCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 31.8% | 42.4% | 25% lower | 15 to 20 | 120,110 | 127,900 miles |
| 14 | Mercedes-Benz SLKCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 32.0% | 42.6% | 25% lower | 15 to 20 | 81,345 | 75,500 miles |
| 15 | Mazda MX-5Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 32.5% | 42.5% | 23% lower | 15 to 20 | 125,059 | 72,300 miles |
| 16 | Mercedes-Benz CLSCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 32.4% | 42.2% | 23% lower | 15 to 17 | 18,149 | 115,900 miles |
| 17 | BMW 3 SeriesCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 33.5% | 42.4% | 21% lower | 15 to 20 | 460,158 | 122,900 miles |
| 18 | Land Rover Defender (before 2020)Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 33.7% | 42.5% | 21% lower | 15 to 20 | 94,606 | 102,100 miles |
| 19 | Audi A6Common problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 33.7% | 42.3% | 20% lower | 15 to 19 | 82,685 | 155,200 miles |
| 20 | Mercedes-Benz M-ClassCommon problems · Recalls · ULEZ | 34.9% | 42.4% | 18% lower | 15 to 19 | 40,371 | 126,800 miles |
What stands out
- Porsche 911 comes first: 14.5% against 42.6% for all cars at the same ages, 66% lower (n=58,500).
- 56 of the 120 ranked cars fail less often than all cars at the same ages.
- In the 20 shown, the difference from all cars runs from 66% lower to 18% lower.
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 22 September 2026.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources