MOT pass rate in York (YO)

MOT pass rate in York (YO): 78.5% of MOT tests on cars tested here passed. Adjust for the local mix of model years and mileage — the mix a garage across town would see on the national average car — and the rate is 78.3%, 2.8 points below the national 81.0%. That ranks 100 of 118 postcode areas (1st is highest). The raw rate is the one you notice; the adjusted rate is the one that means something.

Pass rate

78.5%

from 1,099,417 tests on 435,379 cars, 2023–2025

Adjusted

78.3%

same age and mileage mix as the nation

vs national

-2.8 pts

below the national rate on the same cars

435,379 different cars were tested in York (YO) — see the makes and models →
Compare one model here with another postcode area →

The MOT pass rate in York, and what its cars fail on

Share of all local tests recording the item, against the same item nationally
Failure item Local National Typical repair
Tread depth below 1.6 mm 21.0% 17.4% £45–£95
Tyre has a tear 10.9% 9.2% £45–£95
Ball joint excessively worn 6.2% 3.1% £18–£45
Tyre cut too deep 2.1% 2.5% £45–£95
Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated 1.3% 1.3% £18–£45
Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 1.1% 0.7% £18–£45
Tyre cords exposed 0.8% 0.8% £45–£95
Wheel badly distorted 0.8% 1.0% £20–£55

Cost bands are our parts-based estimates, published as a range — method. Every failure item, ranked nationally: the full list →

What an MOT failure costs here

Across the 1,099,417 tests in this area, the typical bill works out at £695 to £1,894 per 100 tests, against £615 to £1,675 nationally — 95 of 118 areas, cheapest first. That is the pass rate and the price of the parts that fail here, multiplied together, so it moves with both.

Bands are our parts-based estimates, not quotes: how repairs are priced. The models that cost most to fix are on the cheap-and-dear list, and how far apart two postcodes can be for one model is worth a look before blaming the car.

One model year, this area against the rest

The tables below compare the same model year in this area with the same model year everywhere, so vehicle age is taken out of the comparison entirely. Each row links to that model's full postcode-by-postcode breakdown.

Model Year Here GB Gap
Nissan Juke 2014 68.1% 79.7% -11.6
Honda Civic 2009 67.9% 79.2% -11.3
Dacia Sandero 2015 68.9% 79.9% -11.0
Kia Picanto 2018 90.5% 80.5% +10.0
Toyota Corolla 2020 93.9% 84.4% +9.5
Toyota RAV4 2020 94.7% 86.6% +8.1

Furthest behind: Nissan Juke, Honda Civic, Dacia Sandero. Furthest ahead: Kia Picanto, Toyota Corolla, Toyota RAV4. “Gap” is against each model's own national rate, not the 81.0% all-car rate — method. Three models either side of the gap, and each needs at least 300 tests of that model-year in this area.

Models that do worst here

At least 1,000 local tests each. “Nationally” is the same model's rate across Great Britain, so the bracket shows how far this area sits from that model's own norm.
Model Local Nationally Tests here
Citroen Xsara 63.2% 69.3% (-6.1) 1,040
Vauxhall Vectra 65.1% 71.0% (-5.9) 1,373
Peugeot 206 65.3% 70.9% (-5.6) 1,164
Peugeot 207 65.7% 70.8% (-5.1) 5,282
Mitsubishi Colt 65.8% 73.1% (-7.3) 1,094
Renault Megane 67.2% 71.4% (-4.2) 3,895

Models that do best here

Model Local Nationally Tests here
Ford Puma 96.7% 93.6% (+3.1) 1,948
Volkswagen T-Roc 94.0% 93.3% (+0.7) 2,026
Audi Q2 93.4% 92.7% (+0.7) 1,745
Toyota C-Hr 92.5% 91.6% (+0.9) 2,000
Porsche 911 92.5% 91.0% (+1.5) 1,145
SEAT Ateca 92.0% 91.0% (+1.0) 1,596

MOT stations in YO

There are 263 MOT test stations licensed for class 4 vehicles (cars, vans, motorhomes and people carriers) in the YO postcode area, according to the DVSA's published list of active stations.

We deliberately do not rank garages. The anonymised MOT data has no test-station field, so any “best garage in York” list would be invented rather than measured — and a garage's pass rate mostly reflects the cars its customers bring, not the quality of its work.

See the 263 stations with addresses and phone numbers →

Test centres by town in YO

Each town below has eight or more licensed class-4 stations and its own page: names, addresses, phone numbers and the postcodes they cover.

All 118 postcode areas →

How to read this

The rate is per test, not per car: a vehicle tested twice counts twice, and a car that fails and is retested for free contributes a fail and a pass. The adjusted rate gives every area the national mix of model years and mileage bands by direct standardisation, so the “old cars” explanation is removed from the comparison — the full method.

Postcode area is the keeper's registered area, not the test station's. These are regional signals, not neighbourhood ones.

How far apart two postcodes can be for one model → · which cars fail most, and on what →

All 118 postcode areas · Cheapest cars to fix · Articles