ZEGO reveals the Cars with the most MOT issues

Around 1 in 5 cars fail their initial MOT annually, resulting in roughly 12.5 million failed tests each year1, and with the average cost of maintaining and running a car typically ranging from £500 to £1,000 a year2, some models can prove more expensive to keep on the road than others. But which cars are the UK’s most high maintenance? Note that it is a good job SsangYong has changed its name to KG Mobility.

To find out, the car insurance experts at [ZEGO] analysed a wealth of official MOT anonymised data to identify the car makes and models that rack up the most issues and discover which models could be leaving their owners with the most maintenance headaches.

Key Findings:

• SsangYong tops the highest maintenance ranking. 5 SsangYong models appear in the top 20 overall.

• The Ssangyong Musso model ranks the highest, requiring the most maintenance.

• Popular family car Citroen C4 Grand Picasso is among the most high maintenance vehicles, ranking sixth overall.

• The Nissan GT-R requires the least maintenance and ranks lowest overall.

• 4 Aston Martin models appear in the top 20 lowest maintenance cars. The UK’s most high maintenance cars ranked

Full dataset available here

The SsangYong Musso is revealed as the most high maintenance car

In first place, ranking highest for being the UK’s most high maintenance car is the SsangYong Musso model, with an overall score of 9.9. The SsangYong Musso had the highest failure ratio out of all the cars ranked, and had one of the highest dangerous defect ratios, with a score of 2.1. Despite initially costing less to buy upfront than its competitor brands like Toyota and Ford, the high upkeep for a SsangYong Musso suggests it may not be as affordable as it initially seems.

SsangYong is the make that gives drivers the most maintenance headaches

In fact, according to the ranking, SsangYong is the most high maintenance car brand when it comes to maintenance and upkeep. It features in the top four for the UK’s most high maintenance cars, with models like Rodius, Rexton, and Korando following the Musso model. They each score high for minor fault ratios and fail defect ratios resulting in an overall high score of 9.83 and above.

The Chevrolet Matiz ranks fifth for high maintenance

The Chevrolet Matiz comes in fifth on the ranking for high maintenance with an overall score of 9.82. It scores high for both failure defect ratio at 1.9 and dangerous defect ratio at 2.0, raising its overall score despite having a slightly lower failure ratio than the Musso and Rodius models. Though the Matiz delivers great fuel economy and tends to have very cheap used prices, the cost of the upkeep required means it could be one of the most expensive cars to maintain in the UK.

The UK’s cars that require the least maintenance

Popular household makes BMW and Audi rank in the top 10 for lowest maintenance

The BMW M5 model ranks sixth for the UK’s least high maintenance car, with an overall score of 1.16. With a low minor fault ratio and an even lower fail defect ratio, the M5 has a similar maintenance score to that of some of the pricier brands. Ranking at eighth, the Audi R8 model has an overall score of 1.3, with an average score of 0.3 across the metrics. However, the model is now discontinued globally.

The Nissan GT-R is the UK’s least high maintenance car

At the very bottom of the ranking is the Nissan GT-R model, which is the UK’s least high maintenance car. The GT-R model had an overall score of 0.6, with a low score ranking across each ratio, including minor fault ratio and dangerous defect ratio. It also has the lowest fail defect ratio with a score of 0.17. Though it is known for having poor fuel economy, it is cheaper to buy than its competitor cars such as Porsche and Ferrari, and is considerably cheaper to maintain too.

Aston Martin comes in the second and third place

Two Aston Martin models take silver and bronze in the ranking for the UK’s least high maintenance car, with overall scores of 0.7 for the V8 Vantage model and 1.08 for the Vantage. Both have low scores of 0.2 for the fail defect ratio and 0.22 for the dangerous defect ratio. The Vantage model is more likely to have a minor fault than the V8 model but still has a low score of 0.32. They require regular use but a well-maintained V8 handles substantial mileage well.

Bentley ranks fourth and fifth

Ranking in fourth and fifth place are two Bentley models, the Bentayga and the Continental, with overall scores of 1.0 and 1.1. Both models have very similar scores across the different metrics, though the Continental has a higher dangerous defect ranking with 0.36. Overall though, the Bentley as a brand has some of the least high maintenance cars in the UK, with three models in the top 20 ranking for lowest scores.