What Wears Out

Problem area

Electric cars with lighting and electrical faults

Headlamp aim, dead bulbs and inoperative lamps. Cheap to fix, but a strong signal of how a used car has been looked after.

10.7%of all electric-car failing defects
16.5%on petrol and diesel cars of the same age

Models where lighting take the biggest share of failures

Share of each car's own failing defects. A high share means this is what the car fails on, not that the car fails more overall: the fail rate column tells you that.

ModelLighting sharevs fleetOverall fail rateTests
MG MG52.0%3.2×11.0%700
Citroen Berlingo49.3%3.0×18.5%216
Honda Insight40.2%2.4×23.6%140
Peugeot Partner39.2%2.4×8.1%778
Toyota Auris39.2%2.4×27.4%164
MG 536.9%2.2×8.6%8,748
Ford Mondeo30.5%1.8×12.2%370
Renault Kangoo30.1%1.8×17.8%4,063
Peugeot Expert28.6%1.7×3.3%1,137
MG ZS27.9%1.7×9.4%13,341
Renault Twizy27.7%1.7×20.4%500
Volkswagen Abt25.0%1.5×4.2%263
Citroen E-Berlingo25.0%1.5×6.9%102
Maxus E23.0%1.4×21.2%936
Vauxhall Vivaro-E22.7%1.4×13.6%921
Citroen C-Zero22.5%1.4×20.0%130
Nissan E-NV20021.8%1.3×19.3%6,054
Toyota Proace21.4%1.3×4.8%208
Citroen E-Dispatch20.0%1.2×6.6%151
Renault Zoe18.0%1.1×19.0%22,057
Nissan NV20017.3%1.0×20.1%2,903
Skoda Citigo17.2%1.0×6.4%329
Smart Fortwo17.1%1.0×9.7%921
Nissan Dynamo16.1%1.0×12.0%249
Vauxhall Combo-E15.4%0.9×6.7%163
Volkswagen E-Up14.9%0.9×6.4%1,540
Peugeot Ion14.6%0.9×18.7%343
Smart Forfour13.5%0.8×15.0%386
Mercedes-Benz B-Class13.0%0.8×15.6%397
Kia Niro11.7%0.7×8.0%29,589
Street Scooter Unclassified11.1%0.7×6.4%109
BMW I310.9%0.7×8.8%15,271
Hyundai Kona10.8%0.7×8.1%15,479
Tesla Model S10.6%0.6×18.0%10,892
Volkswagen UP9.7%0.6×9.5%201
MG 49.4%0.6×5.7%966
Hyundai Ioniq9.3%0.6×6.8%12,581
Nissan Leaf9.2%0.6×15.4%49,764
Kia Soul9.2%0.6×9.9%2,957
BMW IX39.2%0.6×11.4%3,079
Polestar Polestar8.5%0.5×10.1%5,892
Seat Mii8.0%0.5×10.5%1,415
DS DS7.9%0.5×12.5%1,212
Ford Mustang7.6%0.5×7.0%2,846
Volkswagen ID37.6%0.5×8.3%16,546
Tesla MODEL 37.4%0.4×14.6%67,849
Tesla Model Y7.4%0.4×8.0%1,765
Volkswagen Golf7.3%0.4×12.1%808
Smart EQ6.4%0.4×8.3%2,590
Jaguar I-Pace6.2%0.4×6.7%18,063
Lexus UX5.9%0.4×4.4%1,019
Citroen E-C45.9%0.4×14.2%1,413
Mercedes-Benz Evito5.8%0.4×9.1%593
Fiat 500E5.7%0.3×12.6%2,577
Kia EV65.3%0.3×5.2%1,399
Skoda Enyaq5.3%0.3×11.3%4,360
Mercedes-Benz Eqv5.1%0.3×12.6%898
Volkswagen E-Golf5.0%0.3×11.9%6,536
Audi E-Tron4.9%0.3×9.1%14,319
Porsche Taycan4.3%0.3×8.5%6,264
BMW I44.3%0.3×6.4%266
Tesla Model X4.2%0.3×18.3%6,208
Mercedes-Benz Vito3.8%0.2×14.3%126
Audi Q43.8%0.2×11.4%3,945
Vauxhall Corsa3.6%0.2×14.7%8,595
Mazda MX-303.4%0.2×6.4%2,026
Mini Cooper Se3.3%0.2×9.6%9,945
Vauxhall Mokka3.2%0.2×8.0%2,837
Audi RS3.2%0.2×17.4%172
Peugeot 20083.0%0.2×11.2%6,497
Volvo XC402.9%0.2×10.7%1,746
Honda E2.9%0.2×7.6%1,476
Volkswagen ID42.7%0.2×8.8%6,402
Mercedes-Benz Eqa2.5%0.2×10.1%5,119
Peugeot 2082.4%0.1×13.4%7,252
BMW IX2.0%0.1×11.6%484
Mercedes-Benz Eqc1.8%0.1×14.7%7,232
Mercedes-Benz Eqe0.0%0.0×2.8%939
Toyota BZ4X0.0%0.0×0.7%138
Volkswagen ID50.0%0.0×2.9%204
BYD Atto0.0%0.0×1.6%124
Mercedes-Benz Eqb0.0%0.0×4.7%129
Mercedes-Benz Eqs0.0%0.0×3.2%280

What to ask the seller

  • Switch every lamp on before the test, including number plate and reversing lights.
  • Check headlamp aim; it is the most common lighting failure and a five-minute adjustment.

Other problem areas

Tyres49.8% of electric failuresSuspension12.8% of electric failuresBrakes8.9% of electric failuresVisibility11.4% of electric failuresSteering1.5% of electric failuresBody1.4% of electric failures
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