Brake faults at the MOT: how the share rises with car age, and the wet-road check

The short answer

Brake faults are an age story. Across models with 500 or more tests, about 1 in 60 first tests on cars first used in 2021 (1.6% of 2,021,332 tests) failed with a brake item, in tests carried out 2021 to 2025. For cars first used in 2006 it was about 1 in 15, or 6.6%. Every first-used year in between sits on the same slope: 2.0% for 2018 cars, 3.3% for 2015, 4.7% for 2012, 5.7% for 2009.

What makes brakes different from the other fault families is the other measure. Whatever the car's age, brakes feature in roughly the same slice of the fails that do happen: between 16.7% and 21.0% of failed tests in every first-used year from 2006 to 2021. Brakes are not a young-car problem or an old-car problem. They are a constant part of failing, and older cars fail more.

With a wet, windy end to the week forecast, the practical point is that the brake items recorded most are ones you can see or feel before the test: thin pads, a brake that binds, a handbrake that holds on one side.

Brake fails by item and car age

Each cell is the share of all first tests in that age band that failed with the item, pooled across 2021 to 2025. A dash means the item was outside the eight most recorded for that band.

Two patterns stand out. Pads are the top item on cars aged 3 to 5 and stay near the top at every age: they are a wear item, and they wear. Everything that depends on time and weather rather than miles, corroded pipes, a binding caliper, a handbrake that works on one side, barely registers under six years and leads the list past fifteen. The roller-test efficiency fail follows that second curve, because a binding or corroded brake is what drags the reading down.

Why this matters on a wet road

The Highway Code says stopping distances in wet weather will be at least double those on a dry road, because the tyres have less grip, and that the two-second gap on fast roads should be at least doubled on wet roads and up to ten times greater on ice. The Met Office has a yellow wind warning for southern England, Wales and Herefordshire from midnight to midday on Friday 23 October, with a small chance that some roads and bridges close. A brake that binds, pulls or holds unevenly shows itself first on a wet road at speed.

The rules behind the table come from the DVSA inspection manual. A pad below 1.5 mm is a dangerous defect; worn down to the wear indicator is major. A rigid brake pipe whose wall is reduced by a third by corrosion is rejected, and a leaking pipe is dangerous. On the rollers, a car first used on or after 1 September 2010 must reach 58% service brake efficiency and an earlier car 50%; the handbrake must reach 16%. If one wheel brakes at less than 70% of its partner on the same axle, that is a major fail; below 50% on the steered axle it is dangerous.

What to check before the test, and before the weather

1. Pad thickness. Look through the wheel spokes with a torch, or ask whoever last serviced the car. A squeal from the wear indicator is the cue the manual uses.
2. Pull and feel. On an empty dry road at low speed, brake firmly. Pulling to one side, a pulsing pedal or a smell of hot brakes after a short run point to binding or an imbalance across the axle.
3. Handbrake on a slope. It should hold the car still and release cleanly. A brake that holds on one side only is on the list above.
4. The ABS lamp. It should light with the ignition and go out after a few seconds. One that stays on is a fail in its own right, recorded on 1.0% of tests on cars aged 15 and over.
5. Underneath. Brake pipes run along the sills and over the rear axle. Flaking rust on a steel pipe is where the figure for the oldest band comes from.
6. Discs. A pronounced lip at the outer edge, deep scoring or blue heat marks are what the tester records as significantly worn.

Brakes are not on GOV.UK's list of items that qualify for a free partial retest the next working day. If the car fails on brakes and you take it away for repair, take it back to the same centre within 10 working days for a partial retest, for which a fee may be charged; longer than that means a full test and the full fee again. A car that fails with a dangerous item cannot be driven away except for repair: GOV.UK gives a fine of up to £2,500, three penalty points and a possible ban. Last year's brake advisories are on the free MOT history service.

What this does not mean

These are fleet figures pooled across every model with 500 or more tests. They do not say a 2006 car has bad brakes or a 2021 car has good ones. A car that has had its pads, discs and pipes looked at every year can reach twenty with nothing on this list; a car four years old that has done the miles of a car ten years old can fail on pads at its first test. The store records what the tester found on the day, not why: mileage, the kind of driving, where the car is kept and how the last owner treated it are not in it. A rise with age is partly just time, time to wear pads and time for salt to reach a steel pipe. The data cannot separate those causes, and neither can this article.

Sources and method

Cohort shares are class 4 first tests, 2021-2025, across models with 500 or more tests, by first-used year (4,746,066 tests first used 2006 to 2,021,332 first used 2021), shown as the share of all first tests that failed with at least one brake item and, separately, as the share of failed tests that involved a brake item. Item shares are each brake item as a share of all first tests in the age band (33,793,352 tests aged 3-5, 50,103,915 aged 6-9, 44,980,002 aged 10-14, 31,405,150 aged 15 and over); a test can record more than one item, so rows do not add up, and a dash means the item was outside the eight most recorded for that band. National context: 72.3% of 33,210,951 first tests passed in 2025.

• DVSA anonymised MOT results, class 4 first tests, 2021-2025 (data.gov.uk)
• GOV.UK: The Highway Code, driving in adverse weather conditions, rules 226 to 237
• GOV.UK: The Highway Code, general rules for all drivers, rules 103 to 158
• GOV.UK: MOT inspection manual, section 1, brakes
• GOV.UK: MOT retests after a repair
• GOV.UK: MOT test result
• Met Office: UK weather warnings
• GOV.UK: Check the MOT history of a vehicle

This article is general information drawn from published test records. It is not professional, mechanical or legal advice, and an MOT pass or a clean MOT history does not guarantee that a car is roadworthy today. If you are unsure about a car, have it inspected by a qualified mechanic. You can check any vehicle's MOT history free on the official GOV.UK MOT history service.