One car in 16 failed its 2025 MOT on tyres

In 2025, more than two million cars failed their MOT on tyres. That's one car in every 16 tested, and nearly three-quarters of those tyre failures were serious enough to be graded dangerous. We went through every car MOT in Great Britain last year to see what fails, which cars fail most, and what it means for yours.

The headline figures

• 33.2 million car MOTs were carried out in Great Britain in 2025.
• 2.07 million (6.2%) failed on at least one tyre fault. That's one in 16.
• 1.49 million (4.5%) had a tyre fault graded dangerous, meaning the car shouldn't be driven until it's fixed.
• Tyres were part of more than one in five (22.5%) failed MOTs.
• Another 8.5 million (25.5%) passed with a tyre advisory, most often tread worn close to the legal limit.
• Electric cars failed on tyres about 60% more often than petrol, diesel and hybrid cars of the same age.

What fails

Worn-out tread is the biggest single reason, but damage comes close behind. These are the tyre faults that failed the most cars in 2025. A car can have more than one.

Two things stand out. First, around 160,000 cars failed because the tyre pressure monitoring system wasn't working, a fault that has nothing to do with the tyres themselves. Second, the advisories show how many more are on the way: testers recorded tread worn close to the limit or on the edge almost 8.8 million times, and cracking or perishing rubber 4.4 million times. Only about 72,000 tyres were noted as obviously under-inflated, but testers only flag the obvious ones, and a tyre can be well below its correct pressure without looking flat.

Older cars, and higher mileages, fail more

The chance of a tyre failure climbs steadily with age, from 5.0% at a car's first MOT to around 7% from ten years old. Mileage matters even more: cars that had covered more than 90,000 miles were more than twice as likely to fail on tyres as cars under 30,000.

The oldest cars buck the trend. Cars 20 years old or more failed on tyres only 5.2% of the time, probably because many are cherished cars that do few miles.

Electric cars fail on tyres more often

Electric cars are newer than most cars on the road, so the fair comparison is with cars of the same age. Among cars three to six years old, 7.7% of electric cars failed on tyres, against 4.8% of everything else: about 60% more often.

It isn't just that electric cars do more miles. At every mileage, they failed on tyres more often than petrol, diesel or hybrid cars:

Electric cars are heavier and deliver their power instantly, and both work tyres harder. Tesla had the highest tyre failure rate of any make with more than 100,000 tests, at 11.2%, despite its cars averaging just over four years old. The Model 3 Performance failed on tyres 15.6% of the time, and the Model Y Long Range, at an average of three years old, 12.0%. If you drive an electric car, check the tread and the pressures more often than you would on a petrol car. More on tyres for electric cars.

By make

Among makes with more than 100,000 tests, tyre failure rates ran from 3.5% to 11.2%. Age plays a part, so we've included the average age of the cars tested.

By model

Of the 196 models with more than 30,000 tests, these failed on tyres most often. Big, heavy family cars and people carriers feature heavily.

Britain's most-tested car, the Ford Fiesta, failed on tyres 8.2% of the time across 1.28 million tests.

And these failed least. Many are pick-ups, sports cars and the vans most motorhomes are built on, which tend to do fewer miles.

Where

Tyre failure rates varied widely across the country, from 8.7% in the Salisbury (SP) postcode area to 4.3% in Romford (RM). The south coast stood out: Portsmouth (PO) 8.6% and Brighton (BN) 8.3%, along with Blackpool (FY) 8.3%, Kirkcaldy (KY) 8.0%, Plymouth (PL) 7.8% and Cardiff (CF) 7.8%. The lowest rates were mostly around London: Southall (UB) 4.5%, Ilford (IG) 4.6%, Slough (SL) 4.6% and East London (E) 4.6%, plus Inverness (IV) at 4.5%. The data doesn't say why, and road conditions, mileage and how often cars are checked between MOTs could all play a part.

No winter spike

The tyre failure rate barely moved through the year, between 6.1% and 6.4% every month. Tyres wear out whatever the season, so the time to check them is now, not just before winter or the MOT.

What it means for you

• Check your tread once a month. The legal limit is 1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the tyre, all the way round. The 20p test is a quick guide. What the MOT tester checks.
• Look at the sidewalls. Cuts, bulges, tears and exposed cords were behind 1.5 million failures, and cracking or damage behind over five million advisories.
• Keep the pressures right. Under-inflated tyres wear faster on the edges and are more easily damaged. Look up your car's pressures by registration.
• Don't ignore the warning light. 160,000 cars failed because the tyre pressure monitoring system wasn't working.
• Act on advisories. A tyre worn close to the limit at the MOT won't be legal for long, and the fine is up to £2,500 and three points per tyre.

How we worked it out

We used DVSA's anonymised MOT data for 2025, which records every MOT test in Great Britain. We included every first MOT test (not retests) of cars, taxis and light passenger vehicles (class 4) that ended in a pass, a fail, or a pass after a fault was put right at the test: 33,210,951 tests. A test counts as a tyre failure if at least one tyre fault graded major or dangerous was recorded, including faults fixed during the test, and including the tyre pressure monitoring system. Figures for makes, models and areas only include those with enough tests to be reliable. Ages are from the date the car was first used to the date of the test. Fault counts are the number of times a fault was recorded, so one car can count more than once.