Common problems

Renault Master common problems

What MOT testers find on the Renault Master: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 63,499 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 16 years, the most tested age

Brakes fails per 100 MOTs (n=4,726)17.7

All cars at 16 years (n=4,858,625)11.6

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=4,726)31.3

All cars, same age (n=4,858,625)29.5

What stands out

Brakes fails show up on 17.7 of every 100 MOTs of a Renault Master at 16 years old (n=4,726), against 11.6 for all cars of that age (n=4,858,625).
Suspension fails are less common: 9.7 per 100 MOTs against 17.1 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 16 years: handbrake too weak, on 7.7 per 100 MOTs (all cars 2.5).
The most common advisory or minor defect: brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened, on 16.5 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 16 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Renault Master at 16 years (n=4,726) against all cars at 16 years (n=4,858,625). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Brakes	17.7	11.6	31.3	29.5
Lights and electrics	17.2	20.4	13.5	15.3
Suspension	9.7	17.1	23.8	33.7
Body and structure	6.4	7.6	7.5	12.6
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.9	6.8	6.1	5.7
Steering	5.1	3.4	6.9	4.6
Seat belts and airbags	3.6	2.1	1.1	1.1
Tyres	3.1	7.5	14.6	28.4
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	1.8	6.2	8.9	12.0
Number plates and VIN	0.4	0.6	3.2	4.8
Road wheels	under 0.1	0.6	0.3	1.5

What testers fail most on the Master at 16 years

Fail items on the Renault Master at 16 years (n=4,726), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=4,858,625).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Handbrake too weak	Brakes	7.7	2.5
Parking brake performance: inoperative on one side	Brakes	3.9	1.2
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	3.9	5.9	£10 to £47 per lamp
Steering rack: gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt	Steering	3.7	0.5	£63 to £147 per side (rough guide)
Service brake performance: excessively binding	Brakes	3.4	1.4	£55 to £267 per wheel (rough guide)
Suspension ball joint worn	Suspension	3.3	2.5	£75 to £237 per side (rough guide)
Driveshaft CV boot split	Body and structure	3.3	2.9	£88 to £196 per boot (rough guide)
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	3.2	2.6	£15 to £30 per blade
Rbt (sp): efficiency less than 50% of the required value	Brakes	2.6	0.7
Airbag (SRS) warning light on	Seat belts and airbags	2.5	1.0	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 16 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Renault Master at 16 years (n=4,726), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=4,858,625).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	16.5	11.2	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Suspension arm ball joint: ball joint has slight play	Suspension	10.6	2.3	£75 to £237 per side (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	7.9	9.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	7.6	10.7
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	6.6	6.8	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	6.3	18.2	£88 to £145 per tyre
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	Brakes	6.1	8.8	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	6.0	5.9
Play in steering rack inner joint(s)	Other	5.0	3.0
Drive shaft joints: constant velocity boot severely deteriorated	Body and structure	4.7	3.5

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 16 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Brakes	Lights and electrics	Suspension
3 years	2,870	4.0	12.5	2.1
4 years	2,889	5.1	12.2	2.6
5 years	2,785	5.2	11.5	2.3
6 years	2,930	6.2	12.8	2.9
7 years	3,026	7.6	13.7	3.0
8 years	2,915	8.6	12.7	3.7
9 years	3,063	9.3	13.2	4.6
10 years	2,972	10.8	12.5	4.5
11 years	2,961	11.8	17.2	5.8
12 years	3,063	13.0	17.2	6.7
13 years	3,183	15.9	19.8	10.3
14 years	3,641	18.4	19.1	10.5
15 years	4,331	17.1	18.4	9.2
16 years	4,726	17.7	17.2	9.7
17 years	4,646	18.8	17.8	10.0
18 years	4,036	19.6	20.2	11.2
19 years	3,059	20.3	21.7	12.4
20 years	2,165	22.2	22.7	13.6
21 years	1,712	24.1	23.2	16.5
22 years	1,415	25.1	21.3	18.7
23 years	1,111	25.7	26.5	18.6

Mileage

At 16 years, Renault Master cars showing 30,000 to 60,000 miles failed 27.4% of MOTs (n=1,114); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 43.0% (n=1,322). For pass and fail rates by age, see MOT fail rates by model.

What to check on a viewing

On the Renault Master, testers most often record handbrake too weak; parking brake performance: inoperative on one side; side/position light not working. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Renault Master?

At 16 years, the age with the most MOT tests (4,726), the fail items testers record most often on the Renault Master are handbrake too weak (7.7 per 100 MOTs), parking brake performance: inoperative on one side (3.9 per 100 MOTs), side/position light not working (3.9 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (16.5) and suspension arm ball joint: ball joint has slight play (10.6).

Which parts of the Renault Master fail more often than on other cars?

At 16 years: brakes (17.7 per 100 MOTs against 11.6 for all cars); steering (5.1 per 100 MOTs against 3.4 for all cars); seat belts and airbags (3.6 per 100 MOTs against 2.1 for all cars). Compared with 4,858,625 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Renault Master problems by area

Other Renault models

All Renault models · Common problems by make

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.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Renault Master?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

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