Tesla Model S MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Tesla Model S in Great Britain in 2025 — 10,837 tests. Figures cover every Model S first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the Model S ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
79.8%
7.5 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
10,837
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
8.6%
of Model S first tests; national 7.3%
Typical mileage at 10 years
103,750
middle half: 76,250–136,250 miles (2,500-mile-band midpoints)

How many Tesla Model S cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 10,380 Tesla Model S cars that were taxed or on SORN: 10,090 taxed and 290 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper). The MOT figures above count tests; these count cars, across the whole United Kingdom, cars only. Tesla Model S vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
10,090
97.2% of the 10,380 Model S cars taxed or on SORN; 21 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
290
declared off the road by their keepers — 2.8% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed Model S cars peaked at 10,349 at the end of 2021 and has since fallen by 259 (2.5%) to 10,090 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 9 at the end of 2015 to 290 at the end of 2025, up 3122.2%. A car leaves the taxed count when it is scrapped, exported or declared off the road; the year-end counts do not say which.

Taxed Model S cars, year by year

Cars of this model taxed and on the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025.

05k10k15k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed Model S cars, year 2014: 697Taxed Model S cars, year 2015: 2kTaxed Model S cars, year 2016: 4kTaxed Model S cars, year 2017: 7kTaxed Model S cars, year 2018: 9kTaxed Model S cars, year 2019: 10kTaxed Model S cars, year 2020: 10kTaxed Model S cars, year 2021: 10kTaxed Model S cars, year 2022: 10kTaxed Model S cars, year 2023: 10kTaxed Model S cars, year 2024: 10kTaxed Model S cars, year 2025: 10k10k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed Model S cars
2014697
20152,086
20164,453
20176,971
20188,660
20199,534
202010,266
202110,349
202210,225
202310,272
202410,226
202510,090

Model S cars on SORN, year by year

Cars of this model declared off the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025. Its own scale — SORN counts are a fraction of the taxed count.

01002003002014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Model S cars on SORN, year 2014: 0Model S cars on SORN, year 2015: 9Model S cars on SORN, year 2016: 35Model S cars on SORN, year 2017: 46Model S cars on SORN, year 2018: 67Model S cars on SORN, year 2019: 87Model S cars on SORN, year 2020: 125Model S cars on SORN, year 2021: 116Model S cars on SORN, year 2022: 134Model S cars on SORN, year 2023: 166Model S cars on SORN, year 2024: 214Model S cars on SORN, year 2025: 290290
View this chart as a table
YearModel S cars on SORN
20140
20159
201635
201746
201867
201987
2020125
2021116
2022134
2023166
2024214
2025290

Which model years survive

Taxed Model S cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 10,090 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. A build year's count depends on how many were sold that year as well as how many have lasted.

Year of manufacture Taxed, end of 2025Share of taxed Model S cars
20208368.3%
20191,14611.4%
20181,70316.9%
20172,34723.3%
20162,17121.5%
20151,21012.0%
20145715.7%
All other build years (seven years, each under 1%)1061.1%

Population source: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026; counts of the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, United Kingdom, cars only, excluding cars recorded with no model name. SortedCars groups DVLA's model name MODEL S under this model. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, DVLA or the Department for Transport.

How the Model S ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, Model S vs all cars, 2025.

Tesla Model SAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Tesla Model S, vehicle age 5: 81.2%Tesla Model S, vehicle age 6: 84.5%Tesla Model S, vehicle age 7: 82.2%Tesla Model S, vehicle age 8: 80.5%Tesla Model S, vehicle age 9: 78%Tesla Model S, vehicle age 10: 75.5%Tesla Model S, vehicle age 11: 73.2%All cars, vehicle age 3: 88.5%All cars, vehicle age 4: 87.2%All cars, vehicle age 5: 86%All cars, vehicle age 6: 83.5%All cars, vehicle age 7: 80.9%All cars, vehicle age 8: 78.2%All cars, vehicle age 9: 74.9%All cars, vehicle age 10: 71.9%All cars, vehicle age 11: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 12: 65.8%All cars, vehicle age 13: 63.5%All cars, vehicle age 14: 61.2%All cars, vehicle age 15: 59.3%All cars, vehicle age 16: 58.3%All cars, vehicle age 17: 57.2%All cars, vehicle age 18: 57.4%All cars, vehicle age 19: 57%All cars, vehicle age 20: 57.6%Tesla Model S 73.2%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Model S testsModel S pass rateAll cars
593081.2%86.0%
61,25384.5%83.5%
71,89482.2%80.9%
82,54580.5%78.2%
92,31878.0%74.9%
101,27575.5%71.9%
1159773.2%68.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

The Model S's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the Model S beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

Model S aheadModel S behind
-6-3+0+3+6Age 5: -4.8 points vs the average car5Age 6: +1.0 points vs the average carAge 7: +1.3 points vs the average car7Age 8: +2.3 points vs the average carAge 9: +3.1 points vs the average car9Age 10: +3.6 points vs the average carAge 11: +4.6 points vs the average car11Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
5-4.8
6+1.0
7+1.3
8+2.3
9+3.1
10+3.6
11+4.6

The Model S fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the Model S fleet still in use.

07501k2k3kAge 5: 9305Age 6: 1kAge 7: 1k7Age 8: 2kAge 9: 2k9Age 10: 1kAge 11: 59711Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
5930
61,253
71,894
82,545
92,318
101,275
11597

What a Model S fails on

Where the failure items land when a Model S fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Tyres35.3%
Suspension23.5%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment10.6%
Brakes10.2%
Visibility8.6%
Steering5.1%
Body, chassis, structure2.9%
Identification of the vehicle1.6%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (97.8% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a Model S, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Tyres: 38.7% of advisories38.7%Brakes: 27.3% of advisories27.3%Suspension: 25.7% of advisories25.7%Non-component advisories: 3.8% of advisoriesSteering: 2.2% of advisoriesIdentification of the vehicle: 1.3% of advisories
TyresBrakesSuspensionNon-component advisoriesSteeringIdentification of the vehicle
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Tyres38.7%
Brakes27.3%
Suspension25.7%
Non-component advisories3.8%
Steering2.2%
Identification of the vehicle1.3%

What mileage is normal for a Model S?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Model S; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

Typical Model S (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k57911Vehicle age (years)Age 5: typical 53,750 miles (middle half 38,750–76,250)Age 6: typical 61,250 miles (middle half 46,250–83,750)Age 7: typical 73,750 miles (middle half 53,750–98,750)Age 8: typical 81,250 miles (middle half 61,250–106,250)Age 9: typical 93,750 miles (middle half 71,250–123,750)Age 10: typical 103,750 miles (middle half 76,250–136,250)Age 11: typical 108,750 miles (middle half 81,250–146,250)108k mi

Mileage values are midpoints of 2,500-mile bands.

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
538,75053,75076,250
646,25061,25083,750
753,75073,75098,750
861,25081,250106,250
971,25093,750123,750
1076,250103,750136,250
1181,250108,750146,250

What fails at each age

The Model S's failure mix by age band, 2025 — each band's top categories at their true share of that band's failure items; the pale remainder is everything else. How the mix shifts with age is the point of the chart.

TyresSuspensionLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentBrakesVisibilityEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsTyres47.8%
3-5 yrsSuspension24.2%
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment6.7%
3-5 yrsBrakes6.4%
3-5 yrsVisibility5.4%
3-5 yrsEverything else9.5%
6-9 yrsTyres38.5%
6-9 yrsSuspension21.5%
6-9 yrsBrakes10.9%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment9.1%
6-9 yrsVisibility7.2%
6-9 yrsEverything else12.8%
10-13 yrsSuspension34.1%
10-13 yrsTyres26.2%
10-13 yrsBrakes11.7%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment11.0%
10-13 yrsVisibility6.1%
10-13 yrsEverything else10.9%

More vehicles we've checked

How these figures are computed. Every number on this page is calculated by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (every MOT test in Great Britain — 2025 for single-year figures; trend figures state their span, currently 2023–2025). Where a figure comes from a sample or uses banded values (mileage is banded to 2,500 miles), the page says so beside the figure. Test class 4 only, first tests only — retests are excluded. Class 4 is the car MOT class and also covers car-derived vans, pickups and motorhomes tested to the same standard; where this page says "cars" it means class 4. Pass rate = passes ÷ (passes + failures + pass-after-rectification): a vehicle that failed and was fixed during the visit counts as a fail. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Alias spellings of a make in the DVSA file are counted under one make name, and all trims and variants of a model are grouped under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables. The taxed and SORN counts on this page are the one exception: they are not computed from MOT records but taken from the Department for Transport's vehicle licensing statistics (DfT/DVLA table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0), which count the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, UK-wide, cars only. They describe a model as a whole, grouped under SortedCars' model names, and say nothing about any one car. “Dangerous” is DVSA's statutory defect category (in force since May 2018): a defect posing an immediate risk to road safety — driving the vehicle before repair is an offence. What these figures are for. These statistics are general information about groups of vehicles. They are not advice, a valuation or a recommendation to buy, avoid or price any particular vehicle, and no decision about one car should rest on them alone — check the car itself and its own records. We take care over the calculations, but we cannot guarantee they are complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for loss arising from reliance on them. This does not limit any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — see our Terms & Conditions. If you believe any figure on this page is inaccurate, contact us. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DVSA or DVLA. DVSA publishes the raw test records; the statistics on this page are SortedCars' own calculations from them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.