Analysis of 24.5 million MoT records obtained by “honest john” has shown that 1 in 5 cars fail their first MOT, with French cars leading the field as the worst offenders.
As you know, when cars reach the ripe old age of 3, they are required to join the rest of us in having a yearly MoT test at our local garage. The staggering number of failures points out that general maintenance is not being picked up within the first 3 years of a cars life, putting other motorists and road users in danger.
From a total of 352,000 Mot failures the most common reasons were lighting and signalling (164,837 failures), followed closely by tyres (96,760 failures), headlight aim (82,555 failures) and issues with the driver’s view of the road (80,605 failures). All of the above are cause of grave concern for those of us who have assumed that newer cars are automatically safer.
It would be easy at pointing the blame at manufacturers, blaming “shoddy” build quality of their cars, but the real truth is that it’s down to poor maintenance and the owners in ability to ensure the safety of their “new” car.
I’ve long been a believer that the 3 year delay on having an MOT is long over due for a rethink. A basic annual safety check would be a better option to ensure that unsafe vehicles are not allowed a pass due to the age of the car.
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Read more for a break down of failures by manufacturer.
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Top 5 pass rates by manufacturer
- 1. Lexus 88%
- 2. Suzuki 86%
- 3. Honda 85%
- 4. Saab 84%
- 5. Toyota 83%
Bottom 5 pass rates by manufacturer
- 1. Renault 76%
- 2. Mini 76%
- 3. Citroen 76%
- 4. Chevrolet 76%
- 5. Peugeot 77%
