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Open data

UK MOT pass rates by make and model

The figures behind our MOT pass-rate pages, free to download, reuse and quote. Built from the official DVSA MOT testing data and released under CC BY 4.0.

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About the data

The DVSA publishes a record of every MOT test on a light vehicle in Great Britain: the result, the recorded mileage and each defect or advisory. We aggregate those records by make and model to give each model's pass rate, how it compares with the average across all cars, the defect areas it records most often, and how its fail rate changes with mileage and year of manufacture.

  • Only models with at least 1,000 recorded tests are included, the same threshold we use before publishing a model page.
  • Years of manufacture and mileage bands with fewer than 50 tests are left out rather than shown as noisy rates.
  • Defect area percentages count advisories as well as failures, so they show what testers notice, not only what fails a car.
  • Rank orders the models by pass rate, 1 being the highest.
  • Aggregates only. There are no registrations, VINs or per-vehicle records in any file.

Columns

mot-pass-rates-by-model.csv

Column Type Description
make string Manufacturer, as recorded by DVSA, with brand capitalisation restored (BMW, MG, Mercedes-Benz).
model string Model name, as recorded by DVSA, with model codes capitalised (CR-V, SX4). Trim levels and engines are not separated.
vehicle_type string car, van (including pickups), motorcycle or other (taxis, trucks, tractors). Classified from make and model names, as DVSA records no vehicle class in this data.
total_tests integer MOT tests recorded for the model in the period.
pass_rate number Percentage of tests that did not end in a fail (100 minus fail_rate).
fail_rate number Percentage of tests with a fail result.
national_fail_rate number Fail rate across every test in the source data, all models, for comparison.
rank integer Position by pass rate among models of the same vehicle_type in this file, 1 = highest pass rate.
total_ranked integer Number of models of the same vehicle_type in this file.
top_defect_area string Defect area (excluding other) with the largest share of the defects and advisories recorded for this model.
top_defect_area_pct number Share of all defects and advisories recorded for this model that fall in top_defect_area, as a percentage.
data_period string Years in which the tests were completed.
url string CarBuyerIQ page for the model, with charts and context.

mot-fail-rate-by-model-year.csv

Column Type Description
make string Manufacturer.
model string Model.
year_of_manufacture integer Year the vehicle was first used (DVSA first-use date, falling back to manufacture date).
tests integer MOT tests recorded for vehicles of that year. Years with fewer than 50 tests are omitted.
fail_rate number Percentage of those tests with a fail result.

mot-fail-rate-by-mileage.csv

Column Type Description
make string Manufacturer.
model string Model.
mileage_band string Odometer reading at test: 0-40k, 40-80k, 80-120k or 120k+ (miles).
mileage_from integer Lower bound of the band, inclusive.
mileage_to integer Upper bound of the band, exclusive. Empty for the open top band.
tests integer MOT tests in the band. Bands with fewer than 50 tests are omitted.
fail_rate number Percentage of those tests with a fail result.

mot-defect-categories-by-model.csv

Column Type Description
make string Manufacturer.
model string Model.
category string Defect area: bodywork, brakes, corrosion, drivetrain, electrical, exhaust, fuel, lights, other, steering, structure, suspension, tyres or windscreen.
percentage number The area's share of all defects and advisories recorded for the model, as a percentage. Advisories included.

The JSON file holds the by-model table with each model's defect areas, mileage bands and years of manufacture nested inside it.

Licence

Our aggregation is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). You may share and adapt it for any purpose, commercial included, as long as you credit CarBuyerIQ and link back to this page.

The underlying data is Crown copyright, published by the DVSA under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: MOT testing data for Great Britain.

How to cite

Journalists and researchers: please credit CarBuyerIQ and link to this page, or to the specific model page when quoting one car's figures.

CarBuyerIQ (2026). UK MOT Pass Rates by Make and Model [Data set]. Derived from DVSA MOT testing data. https://www.carbuyeriq.com/data
@misc{carbuyeriq_mot_pass_rates_2026,
  author       = {{CarBuyerIQ}},
  title        = {UK MOT Pass Rates by Make and Model},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {CarBuyerIQ},
  howpublished = {\url{https://www.carbuyeriq.com/data}},
  note         = {Derived from DVSA MOT testing data for Great Britain (Open Government Licence v3.0). Licensed CC BY 4.0.}
}

For AI tools and developers

MOT pass rates by model

Every model, with charts and context.

The MOT report

Headline findings from the data.

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Free, by registration number.