Bedford Driving Lessons

It’s the time of year that many motorists dread. But it seems some should be more worried than others. Official figures have revealed that some of the country’s most popular cars and vans are more likely to fail their first MoT test than others. A Ford Transit Connect and its larger brother the Transit — a favourite mode of transport for White Van Man — had two of the three highest failure rates at 30.5 per cent and 26.3 per cent. Lottery: Figures reveal some of the country’s most popular cars and more than likely to fail their MoT Separating them was the Renault Megane at 28.1 per cent. The best performer was the Toyota Corolla, which had a failure rate of 11.2 per cent. The league tables were published by the Vehicle and Standards Agency, following a Freedom of Information request by the BBC. The agency had initially refused to publish the figures, claiming they could breach commercial confidentiality. However, the Information Commissioner watchdog overruled its decision and ordered that the statistics be released. John Glynn, of Glass’s Guide, the industry’s manual on used car prices, welcomed their publication. ‘It’s an amazing collection of facts and figures,’ he said. ‘But I’m not sure it portrays the correct position because of the high number of small items that can lead to an MOT failure.’ He pointed out that annual MoT tests, compulsory for every car over three years old, take into account a number of factors including whether steering, suspension and tyres work. Even if a vehicle fails one aspect of the test, no matter how trivial, it cannot pass its MoT. Kieren Puffett, editor of Parker’s Car Guide, said the figures were a good ‘cross-reference’ to the reputation of cars’ reliability. ‘This shows the importance of MoTs picking up if cars have faults and problems,’ he added. ‘They provide a safety net to see if cars are up to the job.’ He said further details about the reasons for failures would prove useful to motorists. More