MoT Files: 10 postcodes where your car is most likely to fail
There's a huge number of factors influencing your car's likelihood of passing its MoT test - including where you live. The latest Government data reveals the areas with the lowest pass rates in the UK - we reveal the top 10.
>>> Top 10 postcodes with the highest MoT pass rates
Kirkcaldy (KY) – 55.0% pass rate
The remote, Scottish coastland area covered by the Kirkcaldy postcode has some challenging roads and poor weather conditions, which might explain why it has the lowest MoT pass rate in Britain. Premium vehicles do particularly poorly here, with Porsche, Audi and Mercedes-Benz cars all having a much lower pass rate than the national average.
Plymouth (PL) – 55.3% pass rate
Plymouth's postcode area covers a large area of countryside, including the Dartmoor national park, so vehicles in this area have to face roads in tough weather conditions. That might explain why, out of the 245,000 vehicles to be MoT’d, almost half fail.
Dundee (DD) – 55.6% pass rate
Suspension issues plague the cars of Dundee - as do steering and brake problems, both of which are picked up more than twice as often in the MoT test as the national average. The car brands with the lowest pass rate in Dundee are Saab, Renault and Rover.
Truro (TR) – 56.5% pass rate
Bad news if you're a driver in the Truro area. A little over half of cars pass their MoT here, with lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment posing the most issues. MINI models are among the few modern cars that perform better than the national average.
Exeter (EX) – 57.8% pass rate
More than a quarter of a million cars took their MoT in the Exeter area in 2017, with Citroen, Peugeot and Renault being the mainstream manufacturers with the highest failure rates (smaller car makers like Rover, Talbot and Daewoo did even worse). It's good news for Exeter's Ferrari and Dacia owners, though, they had impressive failure rates of just 1.5 and 13.6 per cent respectively.
Torquay (TQ) – 58.1% pass rate
Torquay has a pass rate only marginally higher than Exeter's. It's still bad news across the board, with common test items having a higher failure rate than the national average. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment represent the biggest issue for Torquay's motorists, with 20 per cent of failures caused by these.
Hull (HU) – 59.1% pass rate
Following the coastal theme, cars in the Hull postcode area have a harsh time of it. According to the MoT Files, Rovers, Renaults and Citroens perform particularly badly in Hull. Lexus tops the list, with an impressive failure rate of just 18.0 per cent - considerably lower than the national failure rate for this brand.
Aberdeen (AB) – 59.4% pass rate
The hilly roads of Aberdeen might explain why 15.4 per cent of MoT failures here are brake related. Suspension tops the charts, however, with a failure rate of 17.5 per cent - compared to 12.1 per cent nationally. No car brand performs well in Aberdeen, although Saabs, Renaults and Rovers are least likely to pass.
Bristol (BS) – 59.6% pass rate
Renault has the poorest MoT rate of any mainstream car brand in Bristol, with an average failure rate of 51.9 per cent. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are the biggest cause of MoT failures, followed by suspension and brake issues.
Taunton (TA) – 59.8% pass rate
Taunton would have a much lower pass rate if it wasn't for classic TVR and Triumph models. Out of the mainstream brands, Kia performs the best in the Somerset area with less than a third of all cars failing the MoT.
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