Currently reading: Owners, not cars fail MOTs
Nationwide Autocentre says regular servicing will help stop MOT failures

Regular servicing and limiting your mileage, not your make and model, are the deciding factors in MOT failures, according to new data from Nationwide Autocentre.

Nationwide Autocentre, the UK's largest MOT test provider, has drawn this conclusion after analysing its own MOT data.

Among its findings are that:- 20 per cent less cars fail when serviced regularly- more miles in a short space of time will increase the chance of MOT failure- the cost of rectifying a failure item reduces when vehicles are serviced regularly by around 37 per cent

“If you run your car into the ground, it’ll cost you more,” said commercial director Mark Taylor. “The Megane is relatively cheap to fix – the average bill is just £176, but the stats show servicing reduces the chances and the cost of failing its MOT.”

Renault pointed out that the Megane was the best-selling car in its segment, with a lot of sales to company fleets: “It’s unfortunate the DfT data doesn’t take the effect of higher mileages into account as there are a multitude of reasons why a car can fail that relate to use and maintenance."

Nationwide Autocentre’s stats also give drivers some insight into the running costs and reliability of some of the most popular models.

The Vauxhall Astra’s failure rate drops from 17 per cent to just 8 per cent with servicing and the cost of repair falls from £199 to £57 on average. Taylor suspects that the remaining failures could be due to drivers not bothering with a simple five point check before the test.

“Around 30 per cent of all MOT failures are down to people not checking their tyres, wipers and screen, lights, number plates and seatbelts before the test,” said Taylor. “You’d be amazed how many people didn’t realise their dog’s been chewing the rear seatbelts.”

And it seems to be true that if you look after a VW Golf properly, it will run like clockwork. The 04 VW Golf has an average failure rate of 13.6 per cent, but this falls to zero among serviced models.

The BMW 3 Series also does well. Its 8.4 per cent failure rate makes it the best by some way in Nationwide’s books. And, with servicing, it also drops to zero.

The Ford Focus shows how much money regular servicing can save you. On 04 examples, the cost of fixing MOT failures halved to around £100 on cars that were properly maintained.

Read the Megane tops MOT failure chart story to see how UK cars fare in MOTs according to the BBC and DfT data

According to the DfT data, these were the top ten MOT failures

Mazda RX-7 60 per centMazda 626 50 per centAudi S6 42.9 per centFerrari 612 Scaglietti 36.8 per centMercedes 220CE 33.3 per centChevrolet Tacuma 33.3 per centPeugeot 407 31.5 per centFiat Multipla: 30.6 per centPeugeot 807: 29.8 per centFiat Doblo: 28.8 per cent

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Talksteer 2 February 2010

Re: Owners, not cars fail MOTs

If you look at the second car on the list it fully reinforces the message that its owners not cars that fail. The Mazda 626 was pretty much the most reliable car you could buy when it was still on the market. It came out at the top of numerous reliability surveys.

Today most of them are classed as bangers and serviced on the basis of run it till it breaks.

Uncle Mellow 26 January 2010

Re: Owners, not cars fail MOTs

This is about cars failing their first MOT , and few cars should need anything more than regular servicing before their first Test is due.

rhw0104 26 January 2010

Re: Owners, not cars fail MOTs

I agree with the story that most cars fail MOT's due to poor maintenance and servicing also when a fault occours and is fixed by joe blogs grease monkeys you have no idea of what part they have fitted for example cheap unipart rubbish that will last just over the 12 month warrenty then fail again. My dad who happens to be AA, peugeot, citroen and ford trained for many years says he wouldnt trust nationwide to fix a wheelbarrow so their evidence is flawed too.

Many factors effect the MOT failiure like previous owners, proper servicing, poor cheap petrol, sub standard replacement parts being fitted and useless mechanics not doing simple tasks properly like one mechanic at a body shop recently who failed to put a split pin in a steering joint on an espace and caused total loss of steering and caused a major accident its just lucky the people escaped unhurt.