One in ten cars that pass their MOT should FAIL

DVSA retests resulted in 27 disciplinary actions for garages

One in ten cars that pass their MOT should FAIL

More than 10 percent of cars that passed their annual MOT test should have failed, according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) latest MOT Compliancy Survey 2021-22.

DVSA examiners retested 1732 cars and found that 10.1 percent should have failed the MOT test. That’s the equivalent of 1.3 million vehicles.

Further analysis showed that 12.2 percent of tests in 2021-22 were incorrect, and that 2.1 percent of cars that failed should have passed. Of the cars retested, a shocking 65.9 percent were found to have at least one defect which the test station incorrectly examined, recorded under something else, or missed altogether.

The most common defects areas where the DVSA disagreed with MOT test stations

  1. Tyres: 734
  2. Brakes: 660
  3. Suspension: 642
  4. Lights, reflectors and electrics: 422
  5. Noise, emissions and leaks: 171
  6. Body, chassis and structure: 164
  7. Visibility: 142
  8. Steering: 92
  9. Vehicle identification: 46
  10. Seatbelts: 45

According to What Car?, the retests resulted in 27 disciplinary actions for garages. A further 164 MOT testing stations received advisory warning letters.

Steve Huntingford, editor of What Car?, said the investigation ”highlights the differences between official vehicle roadworthiness standards and those upheld by some in the industry.

”With safety critical components such as tyres and brakes at the top of the list of defects missed there are potentially serious road safety concerns at play here. It might seem beneficial for owners to have their vehicle inspected by a favourable garage, but the test is there to provide a minimum standard of vehicle safety.”

In response, a DVSA spokesperson said: “The vast majority of MOT testers carry out testing to the highest standards. Our survey targets a random selection of vehicles and is designed to identify any problems with MOT testing so that we can put them right.

“We are delighted to see that standards have improved since the last report. This underlines the importance of DVSA taking action on the survey results and supporting testers with new digital tools, as well as demonstrating the hard work of MOT testers.”

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