MOTindex

Common Tesla Model S MOT failures

Based on 8 Tesla Model S tests on MOTindex carrying an official DVSA defect code, so every category below is counted from real failures rather than estimated.

Full Tesla Model S MOT data, pass rate and models →

Real DVSA defect codes

Every category comes from the official MOT Inspection Manual section code DVSA attaches to each defect, not guessed from keywords.

Choose a make or model

Filter the chart below to one make or one specific model, and it updates without leaving the page.

Grows more accurate over time

Built from tests recorded on MOTindex, so the picture firms up as more vehicles are checked here.

See the breakdown for one make or model

Defaults to every make checked on MOTindex.

Where MOT tests find problems: Tesla Model S

Steering 2 tests (25.0%)
Brakes 1 test (12.5%)
Visibility 1 test (12.5%)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1 test (12.5%)
Axles, wheels, tyres and suspension 1 test (12.5%)

A test can find problems in more than one category, so the figures above do not sum to 100%. Each percentage is the share of classifiable tests that found at least one defect in that category. Based on 8 classifiable tests for Tesla Model S.

View the full Tesla Model S page →

What Tesla Model S failures look like

8 Tesla Model S tests recorded on MOTindex carry the manual reference DVSA attaches to each defect. The most frequent problems were with steering on 2 tests (25.0%), with brakes on 1 test (12.5%) and with visibility on 1 test (12.5%). A test can fail on more than one thing, and an MOT can be failed on one defect while another is only advised, so these counts do not add up to the number of tests.

Narrowed down from the categories to the individual defects themselves, one of them comes up on more than one test:

  • Track rod end ball joint has slight play

    MOT inspection manual reference 2.1.3, in steering

    Recorded on 2 of the 8 tests: all of them advisories or minors, so none of them failed a test on its own.

Where there is enough data to compare: every Tesla model (8 tests).

Clauses are read from the manual reference at the end of every defect on the cached test records, and a defect shown here has to appear on at least two of them before it is named. The site-wide breakdown explains how that works and compares every make.