National record · what actually fails
What to check before your van’s MOT
Most checklists give everyone the same list. The national record shows that what fails a van at three years old is not what fails it at twelve, so this page gives you three lists and tells you which one applies.
Three lists by ageOpen data, free to citeNo sign-up
What fails a van changes as it ages. Suspension and axles account for 13.44% of failed items on vans aged three to six, rising to 21.15% past twelve years. Body and structure more than doubles over the same span, from 4.11% to 9.15%. A checklist that ignores the vehicle’s age is checking the wrong things.
30%
of everything an older van fails on is suspension or structure — against 18% on a three-year-old
×2.2
body and structure takes more than twice the share of failures at twelve years that it does at three
15%
of van failures are lighting — the cheapest category on the list to put right before the test rather than after
What’s on this page
It tells you what to look at and why, based on what actually fails vans of each age across the whole national record. Some of it you can check yourself in ten minutes with a torch and someone to press the brake pedal.
It is not a repair guide. Brakes, suspension and structure are workshop items, and a check that tells you something is wrong is a reason to book work rather than to attempt it. Where a fault is likely to need a garage, we say so and link to what it costs.
Inspection standards referenced on this page come from the DVSA MOT inspection manual for private passenger and light commercial vehicles, which applies in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland operates a separate system administered by the DVA and the figures here do not apply there. Failure data comes from our analysis of the DVSA MOT testing dataset. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Why one list does not work
Take everything that fails vans at the test, sort it into categories, and look at how the mix changes with the age of the vehicle. Some categories grow enormously. One barely moves at all.
Each bar is a slice of what a van of that age fails on, not how often it fails. An older van fails more often overall, so a category can take a smaller share of its failures while still occurring more frequently than on a younger vehicle.
What the chart tells you is where to spend your attention for a van of a given age. It does not tell you that a young van has better suspension.
Suspension takes over
Suspension and axles account for 13.44% of failed items on a van aged three to six. By twelve years that has risen to 21.15% — more than one item in five. Add body and structure, which climbs from 4.11% to 9.15%, and those two categories alone make up 30% of everything an old van fails on, against 18% on a young one.
This is the single reason a generic checklist is a poor use of ten minutes. On a three-year-old van, suspension is a minor part of the picture. On a twelve-year-old one it is the picture.
Structure more than doubles
Body and structure is the fastest-growing category in proportional terms, rising 2.2 times between the youngest and oldest bands. A second structural category climbs from 1.22% to 3.12% over the same span.
These are also the least practical items to check yourself, because most of what a tester examines sits underneath the vehicle where you cannot see it without a ramp. For an older van this is the strongest argument for a pre-test inspection rather than a walk-round.
And one category refuses to move
Brake condition accounts for 4.62% of failures at three to six years, 5.29% in the middle band and 4.91% past twelve. Across the whole life of a van it is essentially flat.
That makes brakes the one item where the same check applies whatever the age of the vehicle, and where a young van deserves exactly as much attention as an old one. Brake performance, measured on the rollers rather than by condition, does climb — from 3.10% to 4.98% — but that is a category you cannot assess without the equipment.
Vans three to six years old
Nearly one in four vans fails its first test at three years old. At this age the failures are concentrated in things you can genuinely check yourself, which makes ten minutes in a car park unusually well spent.
- Every lamp, including the ones you never useLighting is around 15% of van failures and the cheapest category on the list. Check sidelights, both dipped and main beam, indicators front and rear, hazards, brake lights, reversing lamps, fog lamps and the number plate lamp. On a van the rear cluster is often the most neglected because you never see it while driving.
- Number plate condition and spacingA plate that is cracked, faded or has non-standard spacing is a fail, and it takes seconds to check. Applies to both plates, and to any plate on a tow bar or bike rack that obscures the original.
- Wipers, washers and the windscreenBlades that smear rather than clear are a fail. Check the washer jets actually reach the screen and the reservoir is full. Any chip larger than a ten pence piece in the driver’s swept area, or larger than a forty millimetre circle elsewhere, will fail.
- Tyre tread across the whole widthThe legal minimum is 1.6mm across the central three quarters of the tread, all the way round. On a van the inner edge wears faster than the outer because of the loads carried, and it is the part you cannot see without turning the wheel to full lock.
- Seatbelts, including the middle seatEvery belt is checked for condition, operation and secure mounting. Crew vans and double cabs have belts that go months without being used, and a belt that does not retract properly is a fail.
- Load area and the sliding doorAnything loose in the back can be an issue, and the sliding door must open, close and latch securely. This is the one item on the list with no equivalent on a car, and it is easily forgotten.
- Brakes, by ear and by feelBrake condition accounts for a steady 4.62% of failures at this age, and unlike everything else on this list that figure barely changes over the van’s whole life. Grinding, a pedal that travels further than it used to, or pulling to one side all mean a garage rather than a check. See what pads and discs cost before the test rather than after.
- Warning lights on the dashboardAn illuminated airbag, ABS, brake system or engine management light is a fail on its own, regardless of whether the vehicle drives normally. If the emissions light is on, that is worth resolving before the test rather than paying for a retest.
Suspension is 13.44% of failures on a van this young against 21.15% on an old one, and structure is 4.11% against 9.15%. Both are categories you would need a ramp to assess properly, and both are less likely to be the problem on a vehicle this age.
That is not a reason to ignore a knocking noise over speed bumps. It is a reason not to spend your ten minutes crawling around underneath when the lamps are more likely to be what fails you.
The one thing worth paying for
If the van is coming up to its first or second test and you have not had it serviced recently, booking the service immediately before the test costs less than a failure and a retest. A garage on a ramp will catch the cheap items while the vehicle is already up there, and most of what fails a young van is cheap. Intervals and what a service covers are in the service cost guide.
For a fuller picture of what a tester is looking at in each section, what the MOT actually checks goes through the whole inspection with the published thresholds.
Vans seven to eleven
This is where the mix starts to shift. Suspension climbs from 13.44% of failures to 18.56%, and steering makes its largest jump of the whole vehicle life. It is also the age at which a van is out of warranty and still working full weeks.
- Everything from the previous list, stillLamps, plates, wipers, tyres, belts and warning lights do not stop mattering. They are simply no longer the whole story. Start there, then carry on.
- Steering play, with the engine runningSteering rises from 2.78% of failures to 4.56% between the two bands — the biggest proportional jump of any category, and it peaks here rather than later. With the engine on and wheels straight, rock the wheel gently: noticeable free movement before the wheels respond means worn track rod ends or a steering rack, both workshop items.
- The bounce test on each cornerPush down hard on each corner and let go. A healthy damper returns the vehicle to level in roughly one movement; two or more bounces suggests a worn shock absorber. Suspension is now nearly a fifth of everything a van of this age fails on, and shock absorbers and coil springs price very differently, so it is worth knowing which you are dealing with.
- Listen over speed bumps and rough surfacesKnocking from the front usually means suspension bushes, drop links or ball joints. On a loaded van the rear suspension works harder than on any car, so listen for the back as well. The suspension guide covers the components as a group.
- Brake pedal travel and the handbrakeA pedal that sinks slowly under steady pressure, or a handbrake that needs more clicks than it used to, both point at work needed. Van brake advisories at this age turn into failures far more often than on cars — 13.67% against 8.64% — which we set out in the advisory index.
- Last year’s advisories, in writingPull up the previous certificate and read the advisories rather than remembering them. Anything advised twice in consecutive tests is deferred work, and deferred work on a van comes back as a failure more often than it does on a car.
- Exhaust noise and visible smokeA blowing exhaust is audible from outside at idle. Diesel smoke under load is checked on the meter, and a van that has spent its life on short urban runs is the likeliest to struggle. If the vehicle rarely gets a long run, give it one before the test.
- Underneath, if you can get it upStructure rises from 4.11% to 6.02% at this age. Most of what a tester looks at sits where you cannot see it from the ground, which is the point at which a pre-test inspection starts to pay for itself rather than a walk-round.
On a three-year-old van, most of what fails is cheap to put right. At seven to eleven the failures are concentrated in suspension, steering and brakes, where the parts cost more and the labour is longer.
The useful question stops being “will it pass” and becomes “what will it cost if it does not”. Getting a quote before the test rather than after removes the pressure of deciding while the van is off the road and the certificate has expired.
Why this band matters more than the others
Failure rates climb steeply through these years, from 24.77% at seven to 31.67% at eleven. It is the steepest stretch of the whole curve, and it is also where the gap between vans and cars is at its widest on the advisory measure.
A van that sails through at six and fails badly at nine has not suddenly deteriorated. It has reached the age at which the items that were advisories start becoming failures, which is a predictable process rather than bad luck.
Vans twelve and over
Suspension and structure together account for 30% of everything a van of this age fails on, up from 18% on a three-year-old. Almost all of it sits underneath the vehicle, which changes what a sensible check looks like.
On a young van most of what fails is visible from standing height. On a twelve-year-old one the two largest categories are suspension and structure, and a tester assesses both from underneath with the wheels off the ground.
You can still do the checks below, and they are worth doing. But for a van this age the highest-value action is booking an inspection on a ramp before the test rather than spending longer with a torch.
- Book the ramp, not the torchSuspension is 21.15% of failures at this age and structure 9.15%. Both need the vehicle lifted. Most garages will do a pre-test check for a fraction of a retest, and it is the single most useful thing on this list.
- Read every advisory from the last three certificatesNot the last one — the last three. An item advised repeatedly is work that has been deferred for years, and on an older van those are exactly the items that turn into failures. The advisory glossary translates the standard wording.
- The bounce test, and then listenPush each corner down and release. More than one rebound suggests a tired damper. Then drive slowly over a rough surface with the window down: knocks from the front usually mean bushes or joints, and from the rear mean springs or mountings on a van that has spent its life loaded.
- Look along the sills and around the mounting pointsWhat you can see from the outside is a fraction of the structure a tester examines, but flaking, bubbling or damage near a suspension mounting or a jacking point is worth finding before the test. Anything soft to firm finger pressure is a workshop conversation.
- Brake pedal, handbrake, and the pullBrake performance is measured on rollers and rises from 3.10% of failures to 4.98% at this age. You cannot replicate the test, but you can notice a pedal that sinks, a handbrake that holds poorly on a slope, or the vehicle pulling to one side under braking. Any of the three means a garage. Costs are in the brake guide and the caliper guide.
- Steering play, still worth checkingSteering peaks in the seven-to-eleven band at 4.56% and stays high at 4.33%. With the engine running and wheels straight, free movement at the wheel before the road wheels respond means worn joints.
- Exhaust, mountings and noiseAncillary equipment climbs from 1.75% to 2.81% at this age, and exhaust mountings are a common part of that. A blowing exhaust is audible at idle from outside, and a rattle over bumps often means a broken mounting rather than the exhaust itself.
- Everything from the first list, unchangedLamps, plates, wipers, tyres, belts and warning lights are still checked and still fail vehicles. They are simply no longer where the money is. Ten minutes on these is worth it precisely because they are the part you can fix yourself.
Why the odds are what they are
A van at twelve years fails 34.38% of its tests, and the rate peaks at around fourteen years before drifting down slightly. That drift is not vehicles improving with age — it is that fewer old vans are still being tested, and the ones that remain are disproportionately those someone has chosen to look after.
Roughly one test in three ends in a failure at this age. Planning for that outcome, rather than hoping against it, is what separates a cheap retest from an expensive week off the road.
Whether the work is worth doing on a van of this age depends on what the vehicle is worth, what it earns you and what else is likely to follow. That is a different calculation from what will fail, and it is not one we make on this page.
What we can say is that the failure categories on an old van are the expensive ones. Knowing which of them applies to your vehicle before the test, rather than after, is what gives you the option to decide at all.
The cheap checks that always apply
Three categories barely change with the age of the van, which means the same check is worth the same ten minutes whether the vehicle is three years old or fifteen. Together they account for roughly a quarter of all van failures.
| Category | Share of van failures | Share on cars | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position and marker lamps | 5.66% | 3.81% | +1.85 |
| Headlamps | 6.08% | 8.35% | −2.27 |
| Direction indicators | 3.21% | 2.60% | +0.61 |
| Tyres and road wheels | 7.54% | 14.70% | −7.16 |
| Visibility | 3.18% | 3.46% | −0.28 |
Share of all failed items falling into each category, across all vehicle ages. Difference in percentage points. These are shares of each vehicle type’s own failures, not rates — a category can take a smaller share while occurring more often. Source: PriceMyRepair analysis of the DVSA MOT testing dataset.
Small lamps are a bigger part of van failures than car failures
Position and marker lamps take 5.66% of van failures against 3.81% for cars. Headlamps run the other way, at 6.08% against 8.35%. The pattern is consistent: on a van it is less about the main beams and more about everything else that has to be lit.
A long-wheelbase van has more marker lamps than a car, they sit where they collect road spray, and nobody sees them from the driver’s seat. A bulb and ten minutes is the cheapest failure to avoid on the entire test.
The five-minute lamp walk
Front
Sidelights, dipped beam, main beam, both indicators, front fog lamps if fitted, and daytime running lights. Check aim by looking at the pattern on a wall — a beam noticeably higher on one side is a fail.
Rear and sides
Tail lights, brake lights on all three including the high-level one, indicators, reversing lamps, rear fog lamp and every side marker down a long body. This is where the failures are.
Needs a second person, or a wall to reverse towardsThe number plate lamp
One small bulb, almost always forgotten, and a straightforward fail if it does not work. On a van it usually sits above the rear doors where it is exposed to everything the road throws up.
Tyres: less of the picture on a van, but not less important
Tyres and wheels make up 7.54% of van failures against 14.70% on cars, the largest divergence in either direction across all categories. That does not mean van tyres are in better condition. It means tyres are a smaller slice of a larger number of failures, because vans fail more often on everything else.
The check that matters most on a van is the inner edge. Loads and the resulting geometry wear the inside shoulder faster than the outside, and it is the one part of the tread you cannot see without turning the wheel to full lock and looking behind it.
A blown bulb and a damaged number plate are the only items on this page most people can put right in a car park without tools or training. Between them they account for a meaningful share of avoidable failures.
Everything else on this page — brakes, suspension, steering, structure, tyres — is a reason to book work, not to attempt it. A check that finds a problem has done its job; what happens next belongs in a workshop.
When to book work in advance
The checks above tell you what is likely to be wrong. What you do with that depends mostly on timing, and the timing rules give you more room than most people use.
You have a month of slack
A van can be tested up to a month minus one day before the current certificate expires while keeping the same anniversary date. Booking early costs nothing and gives you time to fix a failure without the vehicle being off the road illegally.
Service first, test second
A garage on a ramp catches the cheap items while the vehicle is already up there. On a young van most of what fails is cheap, so this is usually the difference between one bill and two.
What a service coversQuote before, not after
Getting a price for suspected work while the van is still legally on the road removes the pressure of deciding with an expired certificate and a vehicle you cannot use.
All repair costsWhat each age band should actually book
On a van of three to six, a service before the test and ten minutes on the lamps covers most of the risk. Brake condition is the one category that matters as much here as at any age, and pads and discs are worth pricing if the pedal or the noise has changed.
At seven to eleven, suspension and steering are where the money goes. The suspension guide covers the components as a group, with shock absorbers and coil springs priced separately because they are routinely confused. This is also the band where advisories turn into failures fastest on a van, which we set out in the advisory index.
Past twelve, book a pre-test inspection on a ramp. Suspension and structure are 30% of failures at this age and neither can be assessed from the ground. If the van has a history of repeated advisories, the full history check will show them in sequence.
If you are buying rather than testing
The same categories that fail a van decide what it will cost you to run. Which model you choose matters roughly twice as much as whether you choose a van at all, and the model ranking covers that with the caveat that the order changes as vehicles age. For how vans compare with cars on the same measure, see the comparison against cars, and for what the odometer should read at a given age, average van mileage.
Enter your registration and postcode to see what garages near you charge for a service or the work your van is likely to need. No pre-payment, and you deal with the garage directly.
Compare live quotesWe earn a commission if you book through this link, at no cost to you. It does not affect which garages you are shown or what they charge. Our funding page explains how the site pays for itself. You can also check any registration free, with no sign-up, or read what the MOT actually inspects.
Methodology and citation
The checklists on this page are ordered by what actually fails vans of each age, taken from the national record. Here is how that was calculated and six things it cannot tell you.
The dataset
The DVSA publishes the complete record of MOT tests as open data. This analysis uses the most recent full snapshot: 829,654,015 tests across 137,840,356 vehicles, containing 697,809,455 individual defect records.
We use tests carried out by DVSA only, excluding those recorded by the DVA in Northern Ireland and by the DVLA. Defect records are limited to the current inspection scheme, because the previous one used categories that cannot be mapped onto it. Vans are identified by model: thirty-two commercial models classified from the vehicle record.
The measure
For each age band we take every item recorded as a failure, group them by inspection category, and express each category as a share of all failed items in that band. Bands are three to six years, seven to eleven, and twelve and over. Within each band the shares across all categories sum to 100%.
The checklists themselves are ordered by what a reader can practically check rather than strictly by share, because a list that opens with suspension would be a list nobody can act on without a ramp.
What this cannot tell you
These are shares, not frequencies. Every percentage on this page is a slice of what a van of that age fails on, not how often it fails. An older van fails more often overall, so a category can take a smaller share of its failures while still occurring more frequently. This is the easiest figure on the page to misread and we have flagged it three times for that reason.
Category, not component. Figures are aggregated at the level of the inspection category. Within body and structure we cannot separate a rusted section from a split joint boot, so nothing on this page names a specific component as the likely cause.
No advice by model. We wanted to say what to check first on a Transit versus a Sprinter and could not. Our current processing aggregates defects at a level that produced contradictory results when cut by model, with the same category appearing twice in opposite directions. That is a limitation of how we processed the data rather than of the data itself, and model-level guidance will follow once it is reprocessed.
Populations, not predictions. The lists describe what fails vans of a given age nationally. Your van has its own history of passes, failures and advisories, and that history is a better guide to your vehicle than any national average.
Survivorship past twelve years. Vans still being tested at fifteen or eighteen years are not a random sample of those registered that long ago. The oldest band describes the survivors.
Our classification. The set of thirty-two commercial models is ours, taken from the vehicle record rather than an official designation. Pickups are counted as vans throughout.
This is not a repair guide
Everything on this page is a check: something to look at, listen for or read. Brakes, suspension, steering and structure are workshop items, and a check that finds a problem is a reason to book work rather than to attempt it. Only two items here — a blown bulb and a damaged number plate — are things most people can put right themselves.
Free to cite
Every figure here may be reproduced in any publication with attribution. No permission is needed and nothing sits behind a form. If a different cut would be more useful — by region, by fuel, by single year of age rather than band — we will produce it on request.
Suggested citation: PriceMyRepair, What to check before your van’s MOT, analysis of the DVSA MOT testing dataset. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
We are not affiliated with the DVSA, the DVLA or any garage group. The analysis, the classifications and any errors in them are ours alone. Corrections are welcome and will be published on this page rather than made silently.
Questions
What people ask before a van MOT, and the questions these figures raise.
What should I check before my van’s MOT?
It depends on the age of the van. On a three-to-six-year-old, start with lamps, number plates, wipers, tyres, seatbelts and warning lights — most of what fails at that age is visible from standing height. Past twelve years, suspension and structure make up 30% of failures and neither can be assessed without a ramp, so a pre-test inspection is worth more than a walk-round.
What do vans fail their MOT on most?
Suspension and axles are the largest single category at 18.89% of all failed items, followed by brake condition at 10.64%, tyres and wheels at 7.54% and body and structure at 7.23%. Lighting across its three categories accounts for roughly 15%.
Does it really change with the age of the van?
Substantially. Suspension accounts for 13.44% of failed items on a van aged three to six and 21.15% past twelve. Body and structure more than doubles, from 4.11% to 9.15%. Together those two categories go from 18% of failures to 30%.
Is there anything that stays the same at every age?
Brake condition. It accounts for 4.62% of failed items at three to six years, 5.29% in the middle band and 4.91% past twelve — essentially flat across the whole life of the vehicle. It is the one item where a young van deserves exactly the same attention as an old one.
Do vans have fewer tyre problems than cars?
That is not what the figures show, and it is the easiest mistake to make with them. Tyres account for 7.54% of van failures against 14.70% for cars, but those are shares of each vehicle type’s own failures rather than rates. A category can take a smaller share while occurring more often, because vans fail more often overall.
Which lights should I check on a van?
All of them, including the ones you never use. Position and marker lamps take 5.66% of van failures against 3.81% on cars, and a long-wheelbase van carries more of them, mounted where they collect road spray. Check sidelights, dipped and main beam, indicators, hazards, brake lights including the high-level one, reversing lamps, fog lamps and the number plate lamp.
Can I check the suspension myself?
Only roughly. Push each corner down hard and release: a healthy damper settles in about one movement, and two or more rebounds suggests wear. Listening for knocks over rough surfaces is also worth doing. But a tester examines suspension with the vehicle lifted and the wheels off the ground, and most of what fails cannot be seen from the ground.
Does this checklist differ by van model?
Not on this page, and we would like it to. Our current processing aggregates defect records at a level that produced contradictory results when we cut them by model, with the same category appearing twice in opposite directions. That is a limitation of how we processed the data rather than of the data itself, and model-level guidance will follow once it is reprocessed.
How likely is my van to fail?
Across all vans, 22.40% fail at three years old, rising to around 34% past twelve. Roughly one test in three ends in a failure on an older van. Your own vehicle’s history of passes, failures and advisories is a better guide than any national average.
Should I get the van serviced before the MOT?
On a younger van it usually pays for itself, because a garage on a ramp catches the cheap items while the vehicle is already up there and most of what fails a young van is cheap. On an older one a pre-test inspection is the more targeted option, since the expensive categories at that age are the ones needing the vehicle lifted.
How early can I book the test?
Up to a month minus one day before the current certificate expires, while keeping the same anniversary date. Using that window costs nothing and gives you time to deal with a failure while the vehicle is still legally on the road.
Does any of this apply in Northern Ireland?
No. Northern Ireland operates a separate testing system administered by the DVA, with its own fees, booking arrangements and record. The figures on this page cover England, Scotland and Wales only.