Repair costs

Car repair costs for common MOT defects

38 repairs that MOT defects lead to: what UK garages charge, from ONS price quotes, and how often MOT tests fail on items each repair fixes, from 130,233,413 DVSA MOT tests (2022 to 2025). Prices are national ranges. We publish no labour times, because no public source records them and they vary by car.

Prices updated 22 September 2026. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

What garages charge per hour

Local garage labour, per hour (65 shops)£78

Local garage, middle half£70 to £96

Main dealer labour, per hour (62 shops)£156

Main dealer, middle half£144 to £174

Median hourly rate charged for car repairs, from 1,058 local garage and 953 main dealer price quotes collected by the ONS, September 2025 to August 2026. The same shops are priced each month, so the number of shops is the real sample.

Prices the ONS collects

Middle half of UK prices, September 2025 to August 2026.
Repair	ONS item	Median	Middle half	Shops
Exterior bulb replacement	CAR BULB 12 VOLT SPECIFY WATTS, per bulb	£3.99	£2.50 to £7.99	78
Tyre replacement	CAR TYRE, STATE SIZE, per tyre	£87.05	£72.57 to £113.93	98
Wiper blade replacement	WINDSCREEN WIPER BLADES	£9.99	£6.99 to £13.99	78
Headlight bulb replacement	CAR BULB 12 VOLT SPECIFY WATTS, per bulb	£3.99	£2.50 to £7.99	78
Exhaust repair	EXHAUST FITTING FAST FIT	£212.09	£182.35 to £263.41	80

All repairs

MOT fail items each repair fixes, per 100 MOT tests at all ages (n=130,233,413 tests). A test with two such items counts twice.
Repair	Fail items per 100 MOTs	Price data
Exterior bulb replacement	7.33	ONS price
Tyre replacement	6.34	ONS price
Headlight alignment	3.34	Labour rate only
Coil spring replacement	2.37	Labour rate only
Wiper blade replacement	2.13	ONS price
Handbrake repair	2.05	Labour rate only
Brake pad replacement	2.02	Labour rate only
Suspension ball joint replacement	1.86	Labour rate only
Anti-roll bar link replacement	1.85	Labour rate only
Headlight bulb replacement	1.66	ONS price
Engine warning light diagnosis	1.46	Labour rate only
Screenwash top-up	1.42	Labour rate only
Suspension arm bush replacement	1.38	Labour rate only
CV boot replacement	1.35	Labour rate only
Track rod end replacement	1.33	Labour rate only
Brake disc and pad replacement	1.13	Labour rate only
Shock absorber replacement	1.08	Labour rate only
Corrosion welding repair	0.97	Labour rate only
Binding brake repair	0.82	Labour rate only
Washer system repair	0.76	Labour rate only
Exhaust repair	0.75	ONS price
Emissions fail repair	0.72	Labour rate only
Brake pipe replacement	0.64	Labour rate only
ABS warning light repair	0.59	Labour rate only
Airbag warning light repair	0.47	Labour rate only
Brake imbalance repair	0.47	Labour rate only
Wheel bearing replacement	0.44	Labour rate only
Tyre pressure sensor replacement	0.38	Labour rate only
Horn repair	0.29	Labour rate only
Number plate replacement	0.28	Labour rate only
Exhaust mounting repair	0.28	Labour rate only
Wheel nut or bolt replacement	0.25	Labour rate only
Steering rack gaiter replacement	0.20	Labour rate only
Brake efficiency repair	0.17	Labour rate only
Headlight mounting repair	0.16	Labour rate only
Headlight unit replacement	0.15	Labour rate only
Headlight lens restoration	0.14	Labour rate only
Swivel pin replacement	0.091	Labour rate only

Which models fail on these items more or less often

Each repair page lists the model generations whose MOT tests fail on that repair’s items at least 1.3 times, or at most 0.7 times, as often as cars of the same ages and fuel, from at least 20,000 tests: 2,805 rows in all.

958 of them have their own page: a model’s main generation (the one with the most MOT tests) that fails on the items at least 1.5 times as often, from at least 50,000 tests. Prices stay national.

What each MOT defect means

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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, and the MOT inspection manual published on GOV.UK. Prices: ONS consumer price inflation price quotes, September 2025 to August 2026, UK.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026. Prices updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA or the Office for National Statistics. How we calculate these figures · Data sources