Tyres: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords
This one item accounted for 0.8% of every MOT test carried out in Great Britain, and it is among the commonest faults on 630 different model-and-year combinations. Here is where it clusters, and what it looks like on a car you are standing in front of.
How to spot it before you buy
Check all four tyre tread depths (legal minimum 1.6mm) — a 20p coin makes a quick gauge
Insert a 20p into the groove: if the coin's outer band is visible, the tread is near the limit. Worn tyres are an MOT failure and a safety risk; a set can be £300–600.
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.
| Model | Years | Share of its tests |
|---|---|---|
| Land Rover Discovery Sport R-Dyn Hse D A | 2018–2021 | 4.2% |
| Land Rover Discovery Luxury Hse SD6 Auto | 2018–2021 | 4.2% |
| BMW X5 | 2018–2021 | 4% |
| Land Rover Discovery Sport Se D Auto | 2018–2021 | 3.8% |
| BMW 218I M Sport Auto | 2018–2021 | 3.4% |
| BMW 520D M Sport Mhev Auto | 2018–2021 | 3.3% |
| Land Rover Discovery Sport R-Dyn Se D A | 2018–2021 | 3.3% |
| Renault Zoe | 2014–2017 | 3.2% |
| BMW 330 | 2018–2021 | 3.1% |
| Land Rover Range Rover Evoque R-Dy Se D A | 2018–2021 | 3.1% |
| Nissan E-NV200 | 2018–2021 | 3.1% |
| Volkswagen E-Golf | 2018–2021 | 3% |
| Renault Zoe | 2018–2021 | 3% |
| Land Rover Range Rover | 2018–2021 | 2.9% |
| Land Rover R Rover Evoque R-Dyn Hse D A | 2018–2021 | 2.9% |
| Land Rover Discovery Hse SD6 Auto | 2018–2021 | 2.9% |
| Land Rover Discovery Sport | 2018–2021 | 2.8% |
| BMW 430 | 2018–2021 | 2.8% |
| BMW 440 | 2018–2021 | 2.8% |
| Mercedes-Benz A 250 Amg Line E Auto | 2018–2021 | 2.8% |
Showing the worst 20 of 630 affected model-and-year combinations. The full dataset is downloadable below.
Which manufacturers it clusters on
Pooled across each make's whole range, so this is a fact about the brand rather than about one of its models. Makes with at least 50,000 tests.
- 1.9% Land Rover
- 1.7% BMW
- 1.7% Volvo
- 1.7% MINI
- 1.6% Mercedes-Benz
- 1.5% Renault
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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.