What Wears Out

Lexus · fully electric · 1,019 inspections in 2024

Lexus UX what wears out, measured

4.4%

fail their MOT first time. Ranks 8 of 83 electric cars tested; fleet average for electric cars is 12.0%.

At three years old the Lexus UX fails 4.4% of the time, under the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. Tyres cause 60.3% of its failures.

954passed
45failed
20passed after repair
3.0 yrsaverage age tested

Data sheet

Inspections analysed
1,019 first-time tests, retests excluded
First-time failure rate
4.4% (electric average 12.0%, petrol 8.2%, diesel 14.5%)
Best year
3 years old, 4.4% fail
Worst year
3 years old, 4.4% fail
Biggest cause of failure
Tyres, 60.3% of all defects
Most unusual for its class
Tyres: 2.5× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars

Versions seen in the tests

Exactly as recorded on the certificate. Counts are inspections, not cars.

  • UX 300E1,017
  • UX 300E PREMIUM +2

Failure rate by age

The line to watch is the red one. Dashed lines are petrol and diesel cars of the same age, tested the same year.

    Points are hidden where fewer than 50 cars of that age were tested.

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    Where it holds up

    • Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 13.6%)
    • Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (4.4% of defects vs 18.7%)
    • Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.9% of defects vs 16.5%)
    • Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 3.1%)

    Where it fails

    • Tyres take a bigger share of failures than on the wider fleet (60.3% vs 23.7%)
    • Visibility take a bigger share of failures than on the wider fleet (19.1% vs 11.9%)

    What fails, by system

    Share of all defects that caused a failure. The dark mark is the same system on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.

    SystemShare of failing defectsThis carvs fleet
    Tyres
    60.3% 2.5× more
    Suspension
    0.0% in line
    Brakes
    4.4% 4.2× less
    Visibility
    19.1% 1.6× more
    Lighting
    5.9% 2.8× less
    Steering
    0.0% in line
    Body
    2.9% 1.4× less

    Top defects on the certificate

    Wording from the DVSA inspection manual, so it matches what a tester writes.

    1. Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements17
    2. A tyre seriously damaged13
    3. Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen8
    4. A tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative4
    5. A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning3
    6. Tyres on the same axle or on twin wheels are different sizes3

    Check before you buy

    • Check tyre age and tread across the full width, inner edge included. Electric cars wear tyres faster; a cheap mismatched set on a used car tells you how it was run.
    • Trivial to fix, but a car advertised with worn wipers and a fresh failure certificate tells you how it was maintained.
    • Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.

    What owners say about the same faults

    No owner discussion has been matched to this car's recorded defects yet. Reports are re-collected every quarter; the figures on this page do not depend on them.

    Summaries written by us, never quotes; every entry links to its source. Owner reports have no denominator and never feed the failure rate.

    Similar cars in the data

    Closest failure rate and age profile, different brand.

    Three things the data shows

    • 1,019 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
    • Tyres take 2.5× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
    • It ranks 8 of 83 electric cars by first-time failure rate.

    What the inspection does not tell you

    No battery health, no motor, no charging performance. The test covers brakes, suspension, steering, tyres, lights, visibility and structure. A car with a badly degraded battery passes as long as it stops and steers. Read this page as evidence about the chassis, not the powertrain.

    Cars are tested from their third year, so the newest model years are missing. Every figure carries its sample size for that reason. Full methodology.

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    Data: DVSA anonymised MOT tests, 2024 test year, OGL v3.0. Computed by What Wears Out editorial team. Last updated .