New Study Reveals Most Likely MOT Failures

Cars most likely to fail the MOT are revealed in a comprehensive study of top selling motors. Should you be thinking of buying a new car any time soon, think about getting a gap insurance quote and if the car is a few years old find out if the car you are about to buy has a car warranty as extended car warranties are an essential part of todays motoring costs.

Halfords-owned Nationwide Autocentres, which performs more MOTs than any other garage group, has undertaken research which details the how cars perform when it comes to the annual road worthiness test.

It found that three year old Renault Meganes examined in 2009 had a one in four chance of failing, while similarly aged Vauxhall Corsas had a one in five chance.

For five year old cars, the Corsa had the biggest number of failures, 39%, while over a third (35%) of Meganes failed. This compared with 1 in 5 Ford Fiestas, which was shown to be the best performer of the top 10 selling model of that year.

Nationwide Autocentres, which is to be renamed Halfords Autocentres following a buy out earlier this year by the car, bike and camping accessory retailer, examined the records of 265,000 tests carried out at 225 of its centres across the UK on three year old, five year old and ten year old cars.

The research, one of the most detailed examinations of cars taking their MOT, has been produced to mark the 50th anniversary of the test this month (September). While the research could not take into account the way a vehicle was driven or the frequency of servicing, it showed the need for higher mileage and older cars to be regularly maintained to avoid problems with the annual test.

With the average cost of work needed to repair a car failing the MOT being £82, the data revealed how Britons are spending over £920 million a year correcting faults thrown up by a test failure.

The Ford Focus, the UK’s top selling car in 1999, 2004 and 2006, the years covered by the report, performed better than the average and was 6% less likely to fail than the average vehicle.

The VW Golf was a solid performer across all ages having ranked second (06 cars), joint second (04) and joint third (99).

The BMW 3-series proved to be the least likely to fail (7% failure rate – twice as good as the average). Although more expensive to buy, owners of BMWs spend three times less on repairs than the owners of Renault Meganes (£18 v £63).

Overall 14% of cars facing their first MOT in 2009 failed compared with 24% of 2004 registered cars and 41% of 10 year old cars.

“The data we compile is the best available representative sample of MOT test results in the UK. We are the only organisation able to attach data on vehicle age and mileage at the time of an MOT, providing perhaps the clearest picture available on MOT trends” said Bill Duffy, Chief Operations Officer (and trained MOT tester) at Nationwide Autocentres.

“This report shows the importance of having the car regularly serviced and not relying on the MOT to show up faults. Motorists are spending money unnecessarily having repairs that could have been spotted and sorted much earlier in the life of a car.”

The study comes as the government considers a move to extend the legal gap between MOT tests to two years. It illustrates the huge number of modern cars on the road that have faults that if left undetected could lead to critical safety issues.

Notes:

Table shows model failure rate and number of cars examined

Percentage of most popular 2006 registered cars failing MOT in 2009*

1 Ford Focus 13% 963

2 Ford Fiesta 13% 868

3 Vauxhall Astra 14% 729

4 Renault Clio 13% 604

5 Vauxhall Corsa 20% 576

6 VW Golf 11% 470

7 Ford Mondeo 12% 372

8 Ford Ka 15% 343

9 Renault Megane 25% 341

10 BMW 3 series 7% 304

Percentage of most popular 2004 registered cars failing MOT in 2009*

1 Ford Focus 22% 1649

2 Ford Fiesta 20% 1159

3 Vauxhall Corsa 39% 1159

4 Vauxhall Astra 21% 1015

5 Renault Clio 34% 971

6 Peugeot 206 24% 939

7 VW Golf 21% 830

8 Ford Mondeo 27% 653

9 Renault Megane 35% 649

10 Peugeot 307 33% 544

Percentage of most popular 1999 registered cars failing MOT in 2009*

1 Ford Focus 38% 963

2 Ford Fiesta 46% 912

3 Vauxhall Astra 36% 715

4 Vauxhall Corsa 48% 693

5 Renault Clio 50% 571

6 Ford Mondeo 49% 551

7 VW Golf 38% 516

8 Peugeot 206 48% 490

9 Vauxhall Vectra 37% 429

10 Renault Megane 44% 298

*MOT tests carried out at Nationwide Autocentres

The study looked at the top 10 best selling vehicles in 2006 (3 years old and receiving first MOT test in 2009), 2004 (5 years old in 2009) and 1999 (10 years old in 2009)

It also looked at the average invoice value for vehicles failing their MOT. This value excludes service and MOT fees but includes spend on the following items: Clutch, Brakes, Steering & Suspension, Electrics, Tyres, Balancing & Aligment, Exhausts, Extra Items, Cambelts, Aircon. We believe that it is reasonable to assume that work done at the time of an MOT is a direct consequence of the MOT.

Nationwide Autocentres does not have hold background information on the cars tested, and cannot say whether the cars MOT’d have had annual services or not. The minimum sample of car model looked at in any year was 244. The maximum was 1,649.

An annual MoT test is compulsory for every car over three years old and is checked for a number of different things, including steering, suspension and braking. If a vehicle fails on one aspect (no matter how trivial) it cannot pass.

Nationwide Autocentre’s MOT self help guide:

1. Tyres

- Make sure all the tyres are inflated to the correct pressure, and there is at least 1.6mm of tread across the 3/4 of the tyre. Ensure there are no cuts, lumps of bulges.

2. Vision

- Windscreen wipers should not be damaged or worn and must be able to clear the screen efficiently. Also make sure the washer bottle is full. Also check for chips and cracks in the windscreen. In an area in front of the driver a chip cannot be bigger than 10mm, in other areas swept by the wipers that damage cannot be more than 40mm.

3. Lights

- Make sure all the lights, including those such as the rear registration light, which can be hard to see in daylight, are working correctly, and check lens and/or casings are not cracked or damaged.

4. Seatbelts

- All seatbelts must be in good condition and working. Dog owners beware – a surprising number of cars fail due to seatbelts that have been chewed by man’s best friend!

5. Number plates

- Number plates must be securely fastened and not obscured. Boy racers and ‘personal plate’ owners beware - the letters should be of the correct size and spacing.

www.nationwideautocentres.co.uk