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Common Car Problems & Recalls Checker
Enter a registration, or pick a make and model, to see what goes wrong on it — recalls, problems the maker has admitted, how it fails its MOT, and what the motoring press reports — each one sourced, and kept apart by who stands behind it.
Free · no signup · recalls, MOT data and researched problems
How the common problems checker works
We identify the car
From the registration, DVLA's record gives the make, model, fuel, engine size and year — or you pick them. That decides which generation and engine the problems are matched to.
We gather what's known
Recalls, problems the maker has acknowledged, and problems at least two independent publishers report — each researched from the source and linked, for cars built from 2012.
We add what's measured
How the model fails its MOT against every car of the same age and fuel — and, from a registration, where this car's own MOT record lines up with it.
Common problems by model
Recalls, acknowledged faults and reported problems for the UK's most-searched models, generation by generation. Any other model is in the checker above.
Citroën
Dacia
Fiat
Hyundai
Jaguar
Land Rover
Mercedes-Benz
Mini
Suzuki
Tesla
Volvo
Engines and gearboxes
What this is, and what it isn't
Every problem says who stands behind it. What the manufacturer has admitted, what DVSA recalled and measured, and what the motoring press reports are shown under separate headings, because they carry very different weight. A reported problem needs two independent publishers before we list it, and links to both.
It describes the model, not your car. Plenty of cars never have the problems their model is known for. It is not a prediction, and it is not a diagnosis.
It reflects use as well as design. High mileage, short journeys and deferred servicing all show up as failures. A well-kept example of a “bad” model can be in better condition than a neglected good one — which is exactly what a service history check tells you.
Common questions
Where do the problems come from?
Four places, shown separately. Problems the manufacturer has acknowledged — through a recall, an extended warranty, a compensation scheme, a service action or a statement. DVSA's list of recalls for the model. How the model fails its MOT, measured from DVSA's published test results. And problems at least two independent motoring publishers report, which the maker has not acknowledged. Every curated problem links to its sources.
Does a listed problem mean my car has it?
No. Everything here describes the model, not one car — plenty of cars never have the problems their model is known for, and a recall may already have been done. From a registration we also show this car's own MOT failures and advisories, and DVSA's record of whether it has an outstanding recall. Whether a known problem was fixed is what a service history check shows.
Why do you need two publishers for a reported problem?
Because one article can be wrong, and most problems owners talk about are never admitted by the maker. Two independent publishers — not two pages on one site, and never forum posts alone — is our minimum before we describe a problem as reported on a model. Anything that does not meet it is left out.
Why does it say you haven't researched my model?
We research models one make at a time, for cars built from 2012, and say so rather than show an empty list that would read as a clean bill of health. Recalls and the MOT pattern are shown for every model we hold, researched or not.
Where do the MOT failure rates come from?
DVSA publish every anonymised MOT test result and failure item as open data. We aggregate two years of it into failure rates by defect category for each model, age and fuel, and compare each model against every car of the same age and fuel. The data is public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; the categories, cohorts and comparisons are ours.
Why does it say nothing for my car?
A cohort needs at least a thousand first MOT tests before we publish a rate for it. Below that the figure could be wrong by half, so we publish nothing rather than a number that looks precise and is not. Cars under three years old have not had a first MOT at all.
Why are some comparisons shown without a multiple?
Every ratio is taken from the conservative end of its confidence interval. Where a model is only slightly above average, the data cannot tell the difference from noise, so both rates are shown and no multiple is given.
Does this include advisories as well as failures?
The model-level rates count failures only — the categories that actually failed a test. For the specific car, both its failures and its advisories are shown, because an advisory is an early warning of the same thing.
Is this the same as a service history check?
No. This is free MOT data. A service history check returns the manufacturer's own dealership service records for a specific vehicle — what work was done, when, at what mileage and by which dealer. That is the paid report.
Other free checks
Car recall check
Recalls for the model, and DVSA's flag for this car.
MOT history check
Every test, result, mileage and advisory.
Service schedule
Oil, cambelt, brake fluid and gearbox intervals.
Tax check
Tax status and due date from the DVLA record.
Symptom checker
Likely causes of a fault, checked against the car's record.