Every MOT in Great Britain is recorded, and the DVSA publishes the results in anonymised form. We analysed all 33,075,230 regular car MOT tests from 2025 to find which models pass first time most and least often.
How we ranked them
A plain pass-rate league table mostly tells you which cars are youngest, because older cars fail more often. Across all cars in 2025 the first-time pass rate was: 3 years 88%, 5 years 86%, 8 years 78%, 10 years 72%, 12 years 66%, 15 years 59%. So we compare each model with the average car of the same age, and rank by the difference in percentage points. We split the rankings into three age groups, because a car that is reliable at four years old is not always reliable at twelve.
A first-time pass means the car passed without any fault being fixed at the test. Only models with at least 3,000 tests in an age group are ranked. Full details are in how we analyse MOT data.
Nearly new: 3 to 5 years old
103 models had at least 3,000 tests at this age. The most reliable was the Porsche Cayenne: 93% passed first time, 5.8 points better than the average car of the same age.
10 most reliable
| # | Model | Tests | Passed first time | vs average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porsche Cayenne | 4,380 | 93% | +5.8 |
| 2 | Volkswagen Up | 3,540 | 92% | +5.5 |
| 3 | Lexus NX | 8,291 | 92% | +5.4 |
| 4 | Audi Q5 | 7,175 | 91% | +5.3 |
| 5 | Honda HR-V | 3,780 | 91% | +5.2 |
| 6 | Honda CR-V | 15,949 | 92% | +5.2 |
| 7 | Toyota RAV4 | 27,891 | 92% | +5.2 |
| 8 | Audi Q2 | 36,304 | 92% | +5.1 |
| 9 | Audi TT | 7,305 | 92% | +4.8 |
| 10 | Honda Jazz | 4,965 | 90% | +4.5 |
10 least reliable
| # | Model | Tests | Passed first time | vs average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford Galaxy | 3,561 | 79% | -7.4 |
| 2 | Dacia Sandero | 8,565 | 79% | -7.2 |
| 3 | Dacia Duster | 18,380 | 80% | -6.9 |
| 4 | Tesla Model Y | 29,854 | 84% | -4.5 |
| 5 | Peugeot 5008 | 5,424 | 82% | -4.2 |
| 6 | SEAT Leon | 6,900 | 82% | -4.1 |
| 7 | Renault Kadjar | 9,672 | 83% | -3.6 |
| 8 | Tesla Model 3 | 76,313 | 85% | -2.4 |
| 9 | Kia Ceed | 7,627 | 85% | -2.4 |
| 10 | Ford Ecosport | 21,666 | 85% | -2.1 |
Mid-life: 6 to 9 years old
189 models had at least 3,000 tests at this age. The most reliable was the Porsche 911: 94% passed first time, 14.8 points better than the average car of the same age.
10 most reliable
| # | Model | Tests | Passed first time | vs average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porsche 911 | 7,716 | 94% | +14.8 |
| 2 | Porsche Boxster | 4,121 | 94% | +14.6 |
| 3 | Audi TT | 25,359 | 89% | +10.1 |
| 4 | Lexus NX | 16,133 | 89% | +9.7 |
| 5 | Mazda MX-5 | 16,901 | 89% | +9.6 |
| 6 | BMW 520 | 13,662 | 85% | +9.6 |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz S-Class | 9,236 | 88% | +9.2 |
| 8 | Honda Jazz | 73,209 | 88% | +9.1 |
| 9 | Porsche Cayenne | 9,457 | 88% | +8.9 |
| 10 | Honda CR-V | 43,551 | 87% | +8.4 |
10 least reliable
| # | Model | Tests | Passed first time | vs average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Renault Clio | 76,411 | 65% | -14.5 |
| 2 | Fiat Punto | 3,226 | 64% | -12.8 |
| 3 | DS DS3 | 24,611 | 66% | -11.2 |
| 4 | Dacia Sandero | 53,920 | 68% | -11.0 |
| 5 | Dacia Duster | 36,339 | 69% | -10.9 |
| 6 | Citroën C4 Cactus | 18,515 | 69% | -10.8 |
| 7 | Citroën C4 | 25,362 | 67% | -10.5 |
| 8 | Vauxhall Mokka | 130,371 | 68% | -10.4 |
| 9 | Vauxhall Adam | 27,276 | 69% | -9.4 |
| 10 | Renault Megane | 13,856 | 70% | -8.0 |
Older: 10 to 15 years old
180 models had at least 3,000 tests at this age. The most reliable was the Porsche 911: 93% passed first time, 27.9 points better than the average car of the same age.
10 most reliable
| # | Model | Tests | Passed first time | vs average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porsche 911 | 8,697 | 93% | +27.9 |
| 2 | Porsche Boxster | 6,137 | 91% | +25.1 |
| 3 | Porsche Cayenne | 9,938 | 84% | +17.5 |
| 4 | Mercedes-Benz SL | 4,014 | 84% | +17.1 |
| 5 | Mercedes-Benz S-Class | 7,412 | 83% | +16.9 |
| 6 | BMW Z4 | 10,832 | 81% | +16.2 |
| 7 | BMW 530 | 8,576 | 80% | +15.0 |
| 8 | Audi Q7 | 14,550 | 81% | +14.7 |
| 9 | Lexus NX | 3,919 | 86% | +14.6 |
| 10 | BMW X5 | 25,633 | 80% | +14.3 |
10 least reliable
| # | Model | Tests | Passed first time | vs average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DS DS3 | 6,313 | 57% | -15.2 |
| 2 | Renault Clio | 120,845 | 51% | -14.8 |
| 3 | Peugeot 5008 | 10,266 | 51% | -14.4 |
| 4 | Citroën DS3 | 67,821 | 52% | -14.1 |
| 5 | Dacia Sandero | 33,142 | 56% | -13.6 |
| 6 | Renault Megane | 51,965 | 51% | -12.4 |
| 7 | Peugeot 3008 | 50,446 | 54% | -10.8 |
| 8 | Citroën C4 | 76,488 | 57% | -10.7 |
| 9 | Peugeot 207 | 57,695 | 51% | -10.0 |
| 10 | Dacia Duster | 17,031 | 59% | -10.0 |
What this means if you are buying
Who owns a car matters as well as how it is built. Sports cars such as the Porsche 911 and Boxster are often second cars driven a few thousand miles a year and serviced regardless of cost, which helps their MOT record. Budget cars are more often run on a tight budget, and vans and pick-ups (which we leave out of these rankings) do far higher mileages. So treat a big gap as a strong signal, and a small one as close to a tie.
A model’s record tells you about the odds, not about a specific car. A well-maintained example of a weaker model can be a better buy than a neglected one from the top of the table. Use these rankings to shortlist, then check each car’s own MOT history: repeated failures, advisories that keep returning and mileage gaps tell you far more about the car in front of you.
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You are welcome to quote or republish these rankings with a link to this page as the source. The underlying data is published by the DVSA under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT tests and results, 2025 (class 4 normal tests). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.