Every year, a Sunday newspaper digs out some freedom of information stats relating to MOTs and I have a bit of a rant about them. No money changes hands, but I rather enjoy it and they mention Bangernomics to the masses. Obviously, there is a tabloid approach to things, which helps.
So here we go, based on 2000 MOT tests and with a failure rate of 21%: “The Dacia brand may advertise itself as being one of the cheapest ways to get inside a new car – but MOT stats show they are also the most likely to fail when driven in for their first MOT test.”
Well, it is all about ownership profiles; about the sort of person who buys that brand of vehicle and then expects a particular outcome. The Dacia is the bargain buy and the buyer expects it to maintain itself, so no surprise there. They don’t really care about cars. I realise that is very knee-jerk and I am, of course, not referring to any Autocar readers. But if you like the idea of a used Dacia, I spotted a 2013 Sandero Access, a poor little 1.2 with 50k miles, upmarket parking sensors and a full MOT – and all for £2695, which would be a very good start for someone who did want to play the budget game.
At the other end of the scale, if you can afford a Lexus brand new, then you are committed to keeping it in good condition. It certainly helps that the build quality is exceptional compared with a Dacia’s. Lexus’s Lexus RX comes top of the MOT table, with just 5% of them taken in for their first test failing to pass. At the value end, I saw a 2005 model advertised with one year’s MOT and a warranty, so that ticks all the boxes for £2490. Just over 110k miles, but really it’s a Toyota.
Well-known models that fail their initial MOT the most frequently include popular cars such as the Citroën C4 (18.6% failure rate), the Ford Galaxy (19.3%) and the Volkswagen Passat (19.5%).
Volkswagens are generally well put together whereas Citroëns can be rather more complicated and therefore more things can go wrong during the MOT test. Volkswagens, like Fords, are bought usually to do a tough job, a full working day up and down motorways, amassing higher than average mileages. Hence their appearance at the rough end of the chart. Working cars don’t get regular checks and breaks, unlike a Lexus.
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Worthless Data
My local, well regarded, garage, likes to MOT the car to find all the issues, give it a service and fix any problems and then re-test it. This saves them taking it apart twice. They don't charge for the re-test so its not an extra money making wheeze.
Therefore, even well maintained cars with known issues will show up as a fail first test. I doubt they're the only ones doing this which rather makes the MOT FOI data worthless. Many cars will be failing on trivial stuff like bulbs and wipers.
What were the reasons for the MOT failures?
Will86 wrote:
Or dodgy garages/MOT stations looking to make a few quid on gullible punters..
I bought the wife a new Japanese car a few years ago, just a little run around nothing special, I put a private plate on it, I had it dealer serviced from new, and it never missed a beat, however I decided to have its first MOT done a bit early because I was going away, and didnt want the wife to have the stress. I took it into the dealer, it failed on a couple of things, and I was quoted a not unreasonable amount of money for the repair, I assured the dealer I could get it done much cheaper elsewhere, he said "get a quote and I will match it". I replied it will cost nothing, thats impossible sir he said, even if you do it yourself, you still need to pay for the parts. He wasnt happy when I pointed out the car car despite what the registration plate said, was actually still under manufacturers warranty, and as such the repair would be free, he mumbled a bit, got a bit flustered and tried to make excuses about a computer error not showing the car was still under warranty, I got it repaired and re MOT'd at a non franchised dealer elsewhere under warranty and never used my local dealer again. I sailed though its next 2 mot's without even an advisory.