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MOT fail rates

Porsche 911 MOT fail rate by age

How often the Porsche 911 fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 174,386 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 19 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 19 (n=10,748)16.0%
All cars at 19 years (n=2,479,858)43.2%
Median mileage at test70,956
All cars, median mileage104,356

4 of 226 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 19 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Porsche 911 fails 4.9% of MOTs (8,273 tests), 7.1 points below the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 18.7% (4,006 tests), 17.7 points below the 36.3% average.
  • The gap is widest at 15 years: 30.4 points below all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 19 years: Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded, at 2.8 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 25 years 47.6%

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Porsche 911: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
AgeMOT fail rateTests (n)All carsDifferenceMedian mileage
3 years4.9%8,27312.1%−7.1 pts10,217 miles
4 years4.9%8,02813.4%−8.5 pts13,277 miles
5 years5.4%8,07215.3%−9.9 pts16,909 miles
6 years5.4%8,22817.8%−12.4 pts19,740 miles
7 years5.4%7,58220.6%−15.2 pts22,594 miles
8 years5.7%6,99523.8%−18.0 pts26,883 miles
9 years5.6%6,38727.1%−21.5 pts31,399 miles
10 years6.8%6,22830.3%−23.5 pts36,103 miles
11 years7.5%5,75033.3%−25.7 pts39,639 miles
12 years7.6%5,89036.0%−28.3 pts43,811 miles
13 years8.4%6,12038.3%−29.8 pts47,960 miles
14 years10.3%6,47040.3%−29.9 pts50,219 miles
15 years11.2%7,69741.6%−30.4 pts54,265 miles
16 years13.0%8,83842.6%−29.6 pts59,088 miles
17 years13.5%10,11743.1%−29.6 pts62,616 miles
18 years14.8%10,68043.3%−28.4 pts66,143 miles
19 years16.0%10,74843.2%−27.2 pts70,956 miles
20 years17.3%10,42042.8%−25.5 pts74,388 miles
21 years18.2%9,17142.1%−23.9 pts78,414 miles
22 years19.7%7,60641.0%−21.3 pts82,061 miles
23 years19.6%6,18439.6%−20.1 pts85,988 miles
24 years19.0%4,89637.8%−18.8 pts90,912 miles
25 years18.7%4,00636.3%−17.7 pts89,080 miles

Most common fail items at 19 years

Split into structural or mechanical items and wear items. Wear items (tyres, brake pads, wipers, bulbs) say more about upkeep than about the design.

Structural and mechanical

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded Major2.8
Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Major2.5
Driveshaft CV boot split Major1.4

Out of 10,748 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Headlight aimed too high Major1.9
Side/position light not working Major1.9
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous1.2
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous1.1
Wipers not clearing screen Major1
Headlamp aim: too low Major1
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major0.9

Out of 10,748 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 19 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Porsche Boxster22.4%9,90643.2%
Porsche Cayenne27.3%4,02843.2%
Ford Fiesta46.4%108,13843.2%

MOT fail rate by first-use year

Each year has its own page: the fail rate for cars first used that year at each MOT from 2022 to 2025 with at least 1,000 tests, the most common faults at that age, and the car tax and ULEZ rules for that year.

First-use year data updated .

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First usedAge at testMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
199825 years in 202319.9%1,07336.3%
199925 years in 202419.9%1,23536.3%
200124 years in 202517.1%1,49537.8%
200223 years in 202519.4%2,38439.6%
200322 years in 202518.9%2,58641.0%
200421 years in 202515.4%2,46142.1%
200520 years in 202513.8%2,79442.8%
200619 years in 202513.4%2,74743.2%
200718 years in 202512.6%2,48143.3%
200817 years in 202510.7%1,83043.1%
200916 years in 202510.0%1,49442.6%
201015 years in 20259.4%1,75841.6%
201114 years in 20258.4%1,32840.3%
201213 years in 20256.7%1,55338.3%
201312 years in 20254.9%1,28736.0%
201411 years in 20256.5%1,55233.3%
201510 years in 20255.5%1,75030.3%
20169 years in 20256.0%1,72227.1%
20178 years in 20256.5%1,90323.8%
20187 years in 20255.3%2,17020.6%
20196 years in 20255.2%2,31417.8%
20205 years in 20254.3%1,51215.3%
20214 years in 20252.9%1,69913.4%

More on the Porsche 911

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.

Looking at one Porsche 911?

These are figures for the model, not for one car. The VetTheCar Buying Report looks at a single car: its MOT tests, defects, advisories and mileage readings.

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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