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MOT due in South Wales? Here’s where we answer your questions!
OK, to be honest, we’ve also added questions that aren’t yours at all. BUT, if you memorise the answers, you’ll be a much more interesting person that everyone wants to talk to. No, really, you will!
Off we go.
Where can you get your MOT done in South Wales?
Yes, it’s a shameless plug for our own service… but if you need to get your MOT done in the Cardiff/South Wales area, you should definitely drop us a line today or give us a bell on 01446 421 954.
Here’s why:
- We’re just a few miles from central Cardiff
- We’re a trusted, well-established MOT centre
- Our garage gets great reviews for its reasonable costs and standard of service.
- We specialise in VW, Skoda, Audi, SEAT and Cupra vehicles, but we can (and do) work on pretty much any marque.
How can you find when your MOT is due?
The obvious answer is to look on the paperwork from your last MOT, but that does sometimes get lost. Fortunately, the date that your vehicle, or anyone else’s, is due for its MOT, is available online. just visit vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/. Enter the vehicle registration, check the description, and Bob’s your uncle. The service is also available in Welsh.
What are your chances of passing your MOT?
If your car is in the most common groups (Class 3 and 4, Cars, vans and passenger vehicles with up to 12 seats), your chances of passing your MOT first time are about 72% (figures for July to September, 2024).
Obviously, that varies greatly with the age of your vehicle, how well maintained it has been, how much wear and tear it gets, and so on – see below.
What’s your car most likely to fail on?
According to the RAC, the five most common failures are for:
- Lighting and signalling (18.9% of failures)
- Suspension (13%)
- Brakes (10%)
- Tyres (7.7%)
- Issues affecting driver’s view of the road (7.2%)
The last one includes cracks in your sightline, but also insecure bonnet catches, faults with windscreen wipers and even having enough wiper fluid.
Could you be driving around in a dangerous vehicle?
The DVLA’s statistics tell us whether the MOT failure is due to at least one dangerous item.
Alarmingly, in the most recent set of data, that was 7.54%, which meant that 652, 098 vehicles were on our roads with at least one potentially dangerous defect. Blimey.
This means that, on average, the chances that you’re driving about in a dangerous vehicle are about 1 in 14.
What car models get the highest MOT pass rates?
Research by tempcover.com (reported here) shows us the five models most likely to pass their MOT. It’s an eye-opener!
1 Honda Jazz Crosstar EX i-MMD CVT 97.19%
2 Ferrari 488 97.07%
3 Peugeot Expert S L1 BlueHDi 97.03%
4 Honda Jazz EX i-MMD CVT 96.67%
5 Suzuki Swift SZ3 Dualjet SHVS 96.66%
No surprises that Honda makes the top five twice, but hold on a minute… Ferrari? That poster-child for temperamental supercars? Well, apparently.
What this tells us is that investing in a Ferrari 488 will pay for itself in the long run. Though admittedly, that long run might be longer than you live.
What are the MOT pass rates for the UK’s most popular models?
The Ferrari 480 only makes up 0.0057% of the UK car market, and the Peugeot Expert S is a van. So what about the UK’s best-selling models? We’re going back to our tempcover research again to find the answers:
| Marque | Model | Pass rate | |
| 1 | MG | HS Exclusive | 91.86% |
| 2 | Volvo | XC40 | 91.30% |
| 3 | Hyundai | Tucson | 85.59% |
| 4 | Kia | Sportage | 80.92% |
| 5 | Volkswagen | Golf | 77.16% |
| 6 | Nissan | Qashqai | 74.92% |
| 7 | Nissan | Juke | 74.49% |
| 8 | Volkswagen | Polo | 72.59% |
| 9 | Ford | Puma | 63.49% |
Obviously, we’d love VW to be higher in the list, but the Golf is still above the average pass rate and the Polo is sitting right on the average.
How many MOTs are there per year?
Literally no one has ever asked us this question, but here’s the answer anyway. Roughly 30 million. Boom!
The WVS blog covers all sorts of motoring issues, from light hearted to contentious. If you’re in South Wales, and you need your car serviced, repaired or MOTed, we’ll be here to give you a main dealer level of care at affordable prices. To book your vehicle in, or for any enquiries, get in touch. We specialise in VW Group marques like Volkswagen, Skoda, SEAT and Audi, but we’ve got shedloads of experience with other cars too.