Repair costs
Headlight lens restoration garage rates and how often MOTs call for it
What UK garages charge per hour, from ONS price quotes, and how often MOT tests fail on the items this repair fixes, from 130,233,413 DVSA MOT tests (2022 to 2025).
Prices updated . MOT data updated .
Garage labour rates
No public source records the price of this whole job, and the time it takes varies from car to car, so we do not publish a single figure. Garages charge by the hour, so ask for a quote that lists labour time and parts. The rates below are what UK garages charge per hour.
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.
MOT defects this repair fixes
- Headlamp has a product on the lens but not seriously reducing light output0.74 per 100
- Headlamp has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced0.14 per 100
Records per 100 MOT tests at all ages (n=130,233,413 tests).
How often by age
All cars: 0.14 fail items per 100 MOTs that this repair fixes (n=130,233,413 tests), highest at 19 years with 0.95 per 100 (n=2,479,858). A test with two such items counts twice.
| Age | Per 100 MOTs | Tests (n) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 0.001 | 8,016,463 |
| 4 years | 0.002 | 8,699,937 |
| 5 years | 0.002 | 9,425,360 |
| 6 years | 0.003 | 10,382,720 |
| 7 years | 0.004 | 10,537,318 |
| 8 years | 0.006 | 10,440,457 |
| 9 years | 0.010 | 9,949,012 |
| 10 years | 0.017 | 9,049,507 |
| 11 years | 0.033 | 8,087,514 |
| 12 years | 0.058 | 7,303,151 |
| 13 years | 0.10 | 6,612,160 |
| 14 years | 0.16 | 6,054,526 |
| 15 years | 0.29 | 5,591,675 |
| 16 years | 0.49 | 4,858,625 |
| 17 years | 0.72 | 4,040,458 |
| 18 years | 0.87 | 3,261,622 |
| 19 years | 0.95 | 2,479,858 |
| 20 years | 0.92 | 1,845,952 |
| 21 years | 0.82 | 1,321,417 |
| 22 years | 0.70 | 913,980 |
| 23 years | 0.56 | 619,531 |
| 24 years | 0.38 | 428,815 |
| 25 years | 0.24 | 313,355 |
Models that fail on these items more often
At least 1.3 times the rate of cars of the same ages and fuel, over ages with at least 1,000 tests each and 20,000 in total. Each generation of a model is compared on its own. 11 of these have their own page.
| Model | Times as often | Tests (n) |
|---|---|---|
| Mazda 2 | at least 3.6 | 509,644 |
| Honda Insightfirst used 2009 or later | at least 2.5 | 34,023 |
| Toyota Yaris | at least 2.0 | 1,812,318 |
| Nissan Note | at least 1.9 | 620,623 |
| Ford C-Max | at least 1.8 | 527,219 |
| Honda Civic | at least 1.8 | 1,140,581 |
| Mazda 6 | at least 1.8 | 259,157 |
| Toyota Corollafirst used before 2019 | at least 1.7 | 238,334 |
| Honda Accord | at least 1.7 | 111,371 |
| Honda CR-V | at least 1.6 | 806,907 |
| Honda Jazz | at least 1.6 | 1,350,206 |
| Honda FR-V | at least 1.5 | 29,995 |
| Ford Fusion | at least 1.5 | 220,682 |
| Toyota Estima | at least 1.4 | 63,559 |
Models that fail on these items less often
At most 0.7 times the rate of cars of the same ages and fuel, on the same rules.
No model meets the rule.
Other repairs
- Exterior bulb replacement£3.99 median
- Tyre replacement£87.05 median
- Headlight alignmentlabour rate
- Coil spring replacementlabour rate
- Wiper blade replacement£9.99 median
- Handbrake repairlabour rate
- Brake pad replacementlabour rate
- Suspension ball joint replacementlabour rate
- Anti-roll bar link replacementlabour rate
- Headlight bulb replacement£3.99 median
- Engine warning light diagnosislabour rate
- Screenwash top-uplabour rate
- Suspension arm bush replacementlabour rate
- CV boot replacementlabour rate
- Track rod end replacementlabour rate
- Brake disc and pad replacementlabour rate
- Shock absorber replacementlabour rate
- Corrosion welding repairlabour rate
- Binding brake repairlabour rate
- Washer system repairlabour rate
- Exhaust repair£212.09 median
- Emissions fail repairlabour rate
- Brake pipe replacementlabour rate
- ABS warning light repairlabour rate
- Airbag warning light repairlabour rate
- Brake imbalance repairlabour rate
- Wheel bearing replacementlabour rate
- Tyre pressure sensor replacementlabour rate
- Horn repairlabour rate
- Number plate replacementlabour rate
- Exhaust mounting repairlabour rate
- Wheel nut or bolt replacementlabour rate
- Steering rack gaiter replacementlabour rate
- Brake efficiency repairlabour rate
- Headlight mounting repairlabour rate
- Headlight unit replacementlabour rate
- Swivel pin replacementlabour rate
Buying a used car?
These figures describe all cars, not any one car. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report would tell you.
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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 . Prices updated .
Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA or the Office for National Statistics. How we calculate these figures · Data sources