The biggest category of failure remains tyres. Over one million vehicles failed their MOT because their tread depth was below the legal 1.6mm limit. But after tyres, suspension problems take center stage. Broken springs caused nearly 822,000 failures. Even more unusual, 394 cars were failed because entire suspension springs were missing. Another 20 vehicles suffered failure due to a missing suspension arm. On top of that, 14 cars were caught without whole MacPherson struts—all essential parts for safe, stable handling.
Light system issues were also a cause for concern. Sixty-one vehicles were driving with mismatched headlights. That’s an easy fix but one apparently overlooked by some. More common still was missing wiper blades, which brought down 3,485 cars during tests. A simple replacement could have saved many drivers the trouble and expense of failure.
Abir Tewari, UK Director of Commercial Operations, Parts & Accessories at eBay, put it plainly: “Too many motorists fail for avoidable reasons, like worn tyres or a missing wiper blade. These fixes don’t take long or cost much, especially when eBay’s My Garage tool helps find the right part for your exact vehicle.”
The data behind these findings came from a Freedom of Information request submitted to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). It covered MOT failures between June 2024 and June 2025.
Besides tread depth, eBay’s analysis revealed some other notable concerns. Eight vehicles failed because their tyres had inadequate speed ratings. This poses a real risk of overheating or blowouts on faster roads. Another 414 cars had different size tyres on the same axle—something that can affect stability and handling.
Some safety issues were even handier to spot. There were 265 failures due to brake performance problems—like cars swerving during the test. Seatbelt problems cropped up too, with 516 failures caused by cut or reworked seatbelt webbing, potentially weakening protection in a crash.
To help motorists avoid these common pitfalls, eBay offers its My Garage tool. Enter your car’s registration number, and it will list the correct parts you need. Plus, there’s an Assured Fit guarantee which lets buyers return parts that don’t fit for free and get their money back.
Right now, eBay is running a 20% discount on selected MOT parts through October 31. It’s a good chance to get your car ready and avoid last-minute test failures.
Here is the table with the UK’s most common MOT failure categories, including the most and least common individual reasons, formatted for gaukmotorbuzz.com:
| Failure Category | Total Failures | Most Common Sub-category | Reason for Failure | Number of Failures | Least Common Sub-category | Reason for Failure | Number of Failures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 4,917,714 | Springs | Fractured or broken | 821,911 | Springs | Attachment fractured | 2 |
| Suspension rods | Mounting modified so suspension inoperative | 2 | |||||
| Lamps, Reflectors and Electrical Equipment | 4,550,208 | Position lamps | Not working | 767,167 | Electrical equipment | Connectors for steering disconnected | 3 |
| Outline marker lamps | Has product on lens showing red light to front | 3 | |||||
| Brakes | 4,119,090 | Mechanical brake components | Less than 1.5 mm thick | 768,436 | Hand operated control valves | Operating spindle insecure | 1 |
| Other components and prescribed areas | Does not allow gradual variation in electronic retarder | 1 | |||||
| Pressure storage reservoirs | Heavily damaged | 1 | |||||
| Tyres | 3,079,882 | Tread depth | Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm | 1,081,318 | Size/type | Has an inadequate speed rating | 8 |
| Body, Chassis, Structure | 1,584,075 | Transmission | Constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents ingress of dirt | 556,211 | Cabs | Obviously not squarely located on chassis | 3 |
| Driving controls | Not functioning correctly | 3 |
This table captures the full range of failure categories, total failures, and key sub-categories with their reasons and failure counts.
*Data sourced from FOI request submitted to DVSA. MOT failures between 1st June 2024 and 30th June 2025
