How often does the Tesla Model Y fail its MOT?

8.0% of 1,766 first-time tests in 2024 were failures, against 12.0% for all electric cars.

What does the Tesla Model Y most often fail on?

Tyres, 74.9% of failing defects. The single most common defect was: A tyre cords visible or damaged.

Tesla · Fully electric · 1,766 inspections in 2024 · Rank 24 of 81DVSA MOT analysis

Tyres are 75% of everything that fails a Tesla Model Y

1,766 inspections in a single year make the MODEL Y a modestly documented electric car in the data. Tyres cause 74.9% of its failures; tyres take 3.2× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.

FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSTesla Model Y

Top three failure systems, annotated from 142 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.

First-time test findings

First-time failure rate

OVERALL8.0%

Overall first-time failure rate.

ALL ELECTRIC CARS12.0%

All electric cars in the data.

The Tesla Model Y fails 8.0% of first-time inspections. Tyres cause 74.9% of its failures.

FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION76 certificates in 2024

The tyre that wears from the inside

Tyres take 74.9% of the defects that fail this car, 3.2× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A tyre cords visible or damaged", recorded 76 times in 2024.

SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATION

Where it concentrates

The MODEL Y stays under the petrol fleet at every age we can measure. What it does fail on is unusually concentrated.

DEFECT CONCENTRATION IN FAILED TESTS:

MODEL Y tyres share74.9%

Petrol and diesel average23.7%

The single most common item on a MODEL Y certificate is "A tyre cords visible or damaged", recorded 76 times.

Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.

Buyer's protocolPre-purchase checklist

What to check

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. Have the suspension joints, bushes and springs checked on a lift. On this car it is a leading cause of failure and it is not visible from the outside. Check headlamp aim and every lamp before the test. It is the cheapest failure on the list and the easiest to avoid. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.

3 inspection points:

✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age

✓ Suspension joints and bushes on a lift

✓ Headlamp aim and every lamp

FIGURE 3 // FAILURE RATE BY AGEvs petrol, diesel and all electric cars

Points hidden where fewer than 50 cars of that age were tested. Dashed lines are the same-age petrol and diesel fleets.

Data sheet

Inspections: 1,766
Passed: 1,603
Failed: 142
Passed after repair: 21
Failure rate: 8.0% (all EV 12.0%)
Average age: 3.5 years
Top cause: Tyres 74.9%

TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects

System	Share	vs petrol/diesel
Tyres	74.9%	3.2× more
Suspension	11.9%	in line
Brakes	1.6%	11.7× less
Visibility	2.1%	5.7× less
Lighting	7.4%	2.2× less
Steering	0.0%	in line
Body	0.0%	in line

TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE

A tyre cords visible or damaged76
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements60
A tyre seriously damaged41
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn28
The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements11
Headlamp levelling device inoperative4

Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.

Where it holds up

Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (1.6% of defects vs 18.7%)
Visibility fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (2.1% of defects vs 11.9%)
Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (7.4% 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 petrol and diesel cars of the same age (74.9% vs 23.7%)

VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded

MODEL Y LONG RANGE AWD951
MODEL Y RWD772
MODEL Y PERFORMANCE AWD21
MODEL Y18
MODEL Y LONG RANGE RWD3
TESLA MODEL Y LONG RANGE AWD GREY1

OWNER REPORTS // MATCHED TO RECORDED DEFECTS0 read · 0 matched

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 DATAclosest rate and age, other brands

Hyundai Kona8.1% fail · 15,479 tests Kia Niro8.0% fail · 29,589 tests Smart EQ8.3% fail · 2,590 tests Honda E7.6% fail · 1,477 tests

OTHER TESLA ELECTRIC CARS

Tesla Model 314.6% fail first time Tesla Model S18.0% fail first time Tesla Model X18.3% fail first time

Three things the data shows

1,766 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
Tyres take 3.2× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
It ranks 24 of 81 electric cars by first-time failure rate.

LIMITS // 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.