AutoSpect

Suspension: has an excessively worn bush

This one item accounted for 0.1% of every MOT test carried out in Great Britain, and it is among the commonest faults on 26 different model-and-year combinations. Here is where it clusters, and what it looks like on a car you are standing in front of.

Push down firmly on each corner — press on the body directly above the wheel, not the middle of a panel — and watch it settle

How to spot it before you buy

Push down firmly on each corner — press on the body directly above the wheel, not the middle of a panel — and watch it settle

It should rebound once and stop; continued bouncing means worn shock absorbers (£150–400 a pair). Press only on the strong point over the wheel — bonnets and some wings are plastic or aluminium and can dent or crack if leaned on.

The models it hits hardest

Ranked by how often the fault came up as a share of that model's own tests, not by raw count — a fault in 8% of a small model's tests says more about that model than one in 3% of the Fiesta's. A linked row has a page of its own.

ModelYearsShare of its tests
Peugeot Bipper 2014–2017 6.1%
Citroen Nemo 2014–2017 5.9%
Fiat Fiorino 2010–2013 5.7%
Fiat Fiorino 2014–2017 5.6%
Chrysler Ypsilon 2010–2013 5.4%
Peugeot Bipper 2010–2013 5.2%
Citroen Nemo 2010–2013 4.9%
Fiat Qubo 2010–2013 4.5%
Fiat 500 2010–2013 4.3%
Isuzu D-MAX 2018–2021 4.3%
Isuzu D-MAX 2014–2017 4%
Fiat 500 C 2010–2013 3.9%
Ford Ka 2010–2013 3.8%
Fiat Panda 2010–2013 3.8%
Land Rover Defender 2010–2013 3.8%
Fiat 500C 2010–2013 3.8%
Fiat 500 2014–2017 3.4%
Fiat Panda 2014–2017 2.9%
Fiat 500C 2014–2017 2.7%
Abarth 500 2010–2013 2.4%

Showing the worst 20 of 26 affected model-and-year combinations. The full dataset is downloadable below.

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See whether the car you're looking at has this on record

Type the registration and you get that car's own MOT history — every advisory and every failure, including whether this one has already come up.

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023. Class 4 standard tests only. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.