The car that fails its MOT half the time: five years of DVSA data name Britain's test-bay strugglers
Across 130+ million tests since 2019, the Nissan Primastar has failed first time in more than half of attempts every single year — while the national pass rate quietly improved to 71.4%.
A coin flip at the test bay
Analysis of DVSA anonymised MOT results — 32.8 million car tests in 2023 alone, and over 130 million back to 2019 — finds the Nissan Primastar is Britain's most-failed car, passing first time in just 47.1% of tests. Its record is remarkably consistent: 46.5%, 46.9%, 47.1% and 47.1% across the four years analysed.
The Peugeot 207 (50.7% across 157,922 tests), Citroen Xsara and Renault Modus join it at the bottom. At the other end, the Lexus RX passes 92.7% of first attempts, with the Porsche Macan and Jaguar I-Pace close behind.
The national picture is improving
First-time pass rates rose from 67.8% in 2019 to 71.4% in 2023 — a quiet improvement of nearly four percentage points, likely reflecting a younger tested fleet and the maturing of the 2018 MOT regime changes.
About this data
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test results (class 4 vehicles, normal tests, PRS counted as initial failure, models with 10,000+ tests). 2021 is excluded as the published file parsed to no valid records. Every model is searchable, with per-model report cards combining MOT and real-world safety data. Methodology at swiftassistuk.co.uk/methodology.
Journalists: this analysis is free to reuse with a link to the source page. Underlying data, methodology and CSVs: the data hub.
Need this data for your own work?
Site and junction reports from £95, next working day. Free for community groups, campaigners and journalists.