The short answer
Suspension is the fault family where models of the same age differ most. Across all gated models first used 2012 to 2015, about 1 in 17 first tests (6.0% of 44,395,361 tests, 2021 to 2025) failed with at least one suspension item. The ten models with the highest shares ran from 11.0% to 15.6% of their first tests. That is a share of tests, not a share of fails, and it is the only basis on which models can be compared fairly.
If you are viewing a car of this age, read its MOT history for suspension advisories, listen for knocks over bumps on the test drive, and ask whether coil springs have been replaced. Those three steps cover most of what the data describes.
How to read this table
Every row is a fleet: all first tests, in all five test years, on one model first used in the cohort years 2012 to 2015. The first percentage is the share of those tests that failed with at least one suspension item. The second is the same count as a share of that model's fails, which tells you what its fails were made of, not how often it failed. The third column is the model's overall fail rate including pass after rectification (a fault fixed during the test and recorded as PRS). The last column shows how many of the four cohort years passed the 500-test floor for that model; a row resting on one year is thinner evidence than a row resting on four.
The national row covers every gated model in the cohort, cars and car-derived vans alike; the model rows exclude van, pickup and motorhome names so that passenger cars are compared with passenger cars.
What the data shows
| Model, first used 2012-2015 | Suspension fail, share of tests | Share of that model's fails | Overall fail rate incl. PRS | Cohort years covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Aveo | 15.6% | 42.2% | 43.8% | 2 |
| Renault Clio | 13.1% | 35.3% | 43.1% | 4 |
| Renault Megane | 12.5% | 33.5% | 44.0% | 4 |
| Renault Zoe | 12.4% | 39.8% | 36.3% | 2 |
| Jeep Compass | 12.0% | 36.3% | 39.0% | 1 |
| Chevrolet Trax | 11.3% | 39.6% | 34.1% | 1 |
| Nissan Juke | 11.1% | 36.1% | 36.3% | 4 |
| All gated models, national | 6.0% | 26.0% | 28.9% | 4 |
The recipe returned ten rows. The three that follow the table were level on 11.0% of tests: the Nissan X-Trail (40.3% of its fails, four cohort years), the Nissan Leaf (39.6% of its fails, three years) and the Volvo V50 (31.7% of its fails, one year). The test counts behind every row are in the note at the foot of the page.
Three things stand out. The two largest fleets in the table, the Renault Clio and the Nissan Juke, have more than enough tests for their figures to be stable, and both sit well above the national share. The Jeep Compass, the Chevrolet Trax and the Volvo V50 each rest on a single cohort year and a few thousand tests, so treat them as an indication, not a verdict. And a high share of fails does not mean a high share of tests: the Renault Zoe's suspension items make up a large part of its fails because it fails on little else.
What a suspension fail usually is
In the national figures the suspension family is led by three items at every age: a fractured or broken coil spring, a worn ball joint, and worn pins or bushes. All three are wear items on cars that are now six to thirteen years old. None is a reason to walk away from a car on its own; all three are reasons to ask what has been replaced and to budget for what has not. Our piece on suspension faults by car age shows how the family's share rises year by year.
What to check when you view one
- History first. The free GOV.UK MOT history service lists every fail and advisory since 2005. A suspension advisory that appears two years running and then vanishes usually means a repair; one that is still there means a bill.
- Look at the car standing level. One corner sitting low, or a gap between the top of a tyre and the arch that differs side to side, points at a spring.
- Push down on each corner. The car should settle once. More than that is a worn damper.
- Listen on the test drive. Knocks over speed bumps and clonks when turning at low speed are the sounds of ball joints and bushes. Do it with the radio off.
- Check tyre wear. Uneven wear across the tread of one tyre often traces back to a worn suspension part.
- Ask directly. Have the springs or any suspension arms been replaced, and is there a receipt.
What this does not mean
These are fleet figures. They describe how a population of cars tested between 2021 and 2025, not how the one on the drive in front of you will do. A well-kept example of a model near the top of the table can pass clean; a neglected example of a model with a low share can fail. The data records what was found at the test, never why: age, mileage, roads, loads and the previous owner's habits all sit behind a broken spring, and the test does not separate them. The models at the top of this list are not described here as faulty, and nothing in the figures says they were built badly. Use the table to decide what to check, not whether to buy.
Frequently asked questions
Share of tests asks the same question of every model: out of all its first tests, how many failed with a suspension item. Share of fails depends on what else the model fails on, so a model that rarely fails except on suspension would look far worse than it is. The table shows both, but only the first is used for the order.
No. The MOT records what was found, not why. Springs, ball joints and bushes wear with age, mileage, road surface and how a car is loaded. The figures tell you what to check on a car of this age, not what caused it.
Less than the others. A row resting on one first-used year and a few thousand tests can move a lot with a small change in the mix of cars tested. The Clio and Juke rows rest on four years and hundreds of thousands of tests, so they are far more settled.
A fault found during the test and fixed there and then, so the car leaves with a pass. GOV.UK counts it as a fail in the national pass rate, and so does every figure on this page.
Sources and method
Rows are gated models (500 or more first tests in a first-used year) first used 2012 to 2015, all test years 2021 to 2025 pooled, cars only (van, pickup and motorhome model names removed; the national row keeps them). Share of tests is failed first tests recording at least one suspension item divided by all first tests. Test counts behind the rows: Chevrolet Aveo 14,078; Renault Clio 434,866; Renault Megane 152,269; Renault Zoe 12,788; Jeep Compass 3,741; Chevrolet Trax 4,990; Nissan Juke 680,084; Nissan X-Trail 76,772; Nissan Leaf 41,700; Volvo V50 15,834; national 44,395,361 first tests, of which 10,217,526 failed and 2,653,312 failed with a suspension item.
- DVSA anonymised MOT results, class 4 first tests, 2021-2025
- GOV.UK: Check the MOT history of a vehicle
About these figures. Figures are computed by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (class 4, first tests only, test years 2021-2025), published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Pass rate = passes divided by first tests, with pass-after-rectification counted as a fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Test class 4 only, first tests only; retests are excluded. 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. Alias spellings of a make are counted under one make name and all trims of a model under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables.
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.
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