The best and worst used cars to buy right now, according to 58 million MOT tests

Every year, the DVSA publishes the results of every MOT test conducted in the UK. Not a survey. Not a sample. Every single test: 58 million of them in the 2024 dataset.

We filtered that dataset down to cars registered between 2014 and 2019: the 7-12 year old sweet spot where most used car buyers are shopping. Then we excluded anything with fewer than 5,000 tests (too small to be statistically meaningful) and stripped out supercars, vans, and taxis. What's left is the real-world MOT record of every mainstream car you might actually buy.

The gap between the best and worst national groups is 8.3 percentage points. That translates to real money: the difference between a car that sails through its MOT and one that needs £300-500 in repairs first.

German topping the list might surprise people who associate VW Group with expensive repairs. But VAG-platform cars (Golf, Karoq, Ateca, T-Roc) dominate the top 20 because they're built to pass the specific things an MOT checks: suspension geometry, brake components, lighting, and structural integrity. They're not necessarily cheaper to run overall, but they pass the test.

The top 10

Honda takes the top three spots. The Jazz at 92.3% across nearly 18,000 tests is the standout. It's the cheapest car in the top 10 (around £12-14k for a 2019 model) and it's beating crossovers costing twice as much. This isn't a new finding. the Jazz has topped MOT pass rate rankings in every analysis we've seen, including Honest John's and Auto Express's. Our data confirms the pattern holds in the 2024 dataset.

The VW Golf at position 10 is worth noting: 90.6% from 84,904 tests. That's not a small sample; it's the statistical equivalent of testing every Golf in a mid-sized city. When the sample is that large, the number is rock solid.

The Prius anomaly

The Toyota Prius doesn't appear in the top 10 because we filtered by registration year, and a 2018 Prius hits 90.4%. But here's what makes it remarkable: the average 2018 Prius in this dataset has 83,600 miles on it. The average 2019 Jazz has 24,000. The Prius is passing its MOT at 90%+ despite having three and a half times the mileage, because Priuses are the dominant private hire vehicle in the UK, racking up huge miles but getting maintained on strict schedules. The hybrid drivetrain also means less brake wear (regenerative braking) and no clutch to fail.

If you're buying on a budget and don't mind high mileage, an ex-PHV Prius with 150,000 miles and a full service history may actually be a smarter buy than a low-mileage car that's been neglected.

The bottom 10

Eight of the bottom 10 are French or Italian. The Renault-Nissan-Dacia alliance accounts for three of the four worst performers. This is consistent with Tempcover's analysis of 33 million tests, which also found Peugeot and Fiat at the bottom of the brand rankings. The Vauxhall Corsa, Britain's most-tested car at 109,692 results for the 2014 model year alone, sits at 69.3%. Zuto's 2024 study similarly named the Renault Clio as the car least likely to pass its next MOT.

The Corsa number is worth dwelling on. 109,692 tests is an enormous sample. At that volume, the margin of error is essentially zero. When we say the 2014 Corsa passes 69.3% of the time, that's not an estimate; it's a census.

Controlling for mileage

There's an obvious objection to the tables above: the best cars are all 2019 models with 24-42k miles. The worst are all 2014 models with 67-91k. Are we just measuring age and mileage, not build quality?

To test this, we took every 2016 model with 5,000+ tests and filtered to a single mileage band: 45,000-75,000 miles. Same age. Similar wear. 99 models qualified.

The Renault Clio at 57,000 miles passes 71.7% of the time. The BMW 1 Series at 60,000 miles passes 91.8%. That's a 20 percentage point gap between cars of the same age, at almost identical mileage. The VW Golf at 69,000 miles (87.9%) and the Dacia Sandero at 57,000 miles (72.6%). The lower-mileage car fails more often.

Mileage matters. Age matters. But when you control for both, a 15-20 point gap remains between the best and worst mainstream cars. That gap is build quality: suspension bushing spec, brake pad compound, bulb housing design, spring steel grade. The things that determine whether a component lasts 60,000 miles or 40,000.

The age trap

The cheapest used cars are the oldest ones, and the data shows they're the most expensive to keep on the road. A 2014 Vauxhall Corsa might cost £3,000 to buy. A 2019 Honda Jazz might cost £13,000. But the Corsa fails its MOT 30.7% of the time, and each failure typically costs £200-500 to fix. Over three years of ownership, the £3,000 car can easily cost more in MOT repairs than the £13,000 car costs in total depreciation. If you do buy older, an extended warranty can take the sting out of unexpected bills.

What MOT data can't tell you

One caveat. The MOT tests brakes, lights, suspension, steering, tyres, emissions, and structural integrity. It does not test engine internals, gearbox, electrics, air conditioning, infotainment, or most of the things that cause expensive breakdowns. A car can have a 95% MOT pass rate and still strand you with a dead turbo ( breakdown cover exists for a reason). The full list of what's tested is published by the UK government.

But for the question “will this car pass its MOT without costing me hundreds in repairs first?” This is the best data there is. 58 million tests. No surveys. No opinions. Just results.