FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSToyota Auris
Top three failure systems, annotated from 45 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
The Toyota Auris fails its MOT more often than almost any other electric car: 27.4% first time
164 inspections in a single year make the AURIS a modestly documented electric car in the data. Lighting cause 39.2% of its failures; lighting take 2.4× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
First-time failure rate
OVERALL27.4%
Overall first-time failure rate.
ALL ELECTRIC CARS12.0%
All electric cars in the data.
The Toyota Auris fails 27.4% of first-time inspections. Lighting cause 39.2% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // HEADLAMP UNIT13 certificates in 2024
The lamp that fails the test
Lighting take 39.2% of the defects that fail this car, 2.4× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED", recorded 13 times in 2024.
SECTION // LIGHTING CONCENTRATION
Where it concentrates
The AURIS stays under the petrol fleet at every age we can measure. What it does fail on is unusually concentrated.
Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.
What to check
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. 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.
3 inspection points:
✓ Suspension joints and bushes on a lift
✓ Headlamp aim and every lamp
✓ Wipers and washers
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
- 164
- Passed
- 102
- Failed
- 45
- Passed after repair
- 17
- Failure rate
- 27.4% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 9.3 years
- Top cause
- Lighting 39.2%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 10.5% | 2.3× less | |
| Suspension | 19.6% | 1.4× more | |
| Brakes | 11.8% | 1.6× less | |
| Visibility | 8.5% | 1.4× less | |
| Lighting | 39.2% | 2.4× more | |
| Steering | 5.9% | 1.9× more | |
| Body | 1.3% | 3.2× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc14
- A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED13
- A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning12
- A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn9
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen7
- A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources7
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Tyres fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (10.5% of defects vs 23.7%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (11.8% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Visibility fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (8.5% of defects vs 11.9%)
- Body fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (1.3% of defects vs 4.1%)
Where it fails
- Suspension take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (19.6% vs 13.6%)
- Lighting take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (39.2% vs 16.5%)
- Steering take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (5.9% vs 3.1%)
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- AURIS163
- AURIS T-SPIRIT HEV CVT1
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
Honda Insight23.6% fail · 140 testsCitroen C-Zero20.0% fail · 130 testsPeugeot iOn18.7% fail · 343 testsRenault Twizy20.4% fail · 500 tests
OTHER TOYOTA ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 164 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Lighting take 2.4× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- It ranks 81 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.
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