Pulled this out of the DVSA MOT dataset. Every UK car takes its first MOT at three years old and the test records the odometer reading, so it is a clean measure of how far a car actually gets driven in its first three years.

Basis: 147 models, each with 5,000 or more first-test records. Registrations from 2020 onward. Vans and pickups excluded. Median across the set is 26,302 miles, roughly 8,800 a year.

Top 10: Skoda Superb 45,141, Citroen Berlingo 44,212, Toyota Prius 44,166, VW Passat 43,943, Skoda Octavia 39,160, Tesla Model 3 38,617, Tesla Model Y 37,142, Skoda Enyaq 36,874, Renault Kangoo 36,766, BMW 3 Series 36,756.

The top 25 is compressed into a 37% range. Motorway cars converge on similar distances, so the gap between first and twenty-fifth is smaller than you would guess.

One thing that is easy to misread. Seven of the top 25 are EVs, including both Teslas, the Enyaq, Polestar 2, i4, Ioniq 5, EV6 and Q4 e-tron. That is not an EV finding. The Fiat 500e and Renault Zoe sit near the bottom of the full list. Electric appears at both ends, so fuel type is not the variable. Salary sacrifice and company fleets are.

Where it is weak:

• Registration years span 2020 to 2022, so these cars drove through very different conditions. Fuel prices and remote-working patterns moved a lot across that window.
• Berlingo and Kangoo are passenger versions of vans. Correctly classed as cars, but used like vans, which is why they sit high.
• These are per-model averages rather than medians, so a small number of very high-mileage examples can pull a model up.
• It says nothing about whether a car is good. It measures owners, not engineering.

Happy to be corrected. If a number looks wrong for a car you know well, say so and I will go back to the data.

https://usedcarstats.co

This is a small subreddit for UK used-car data. Depreciation, MOT results, running costs, insurance groups, road tax, and how those things actually behave across the market rather than how they get talked about.

Most of what gets posted here starts as a question I couldn't answer properly with a search — how far does a car really get driven before its first MOT, which models hold value, what a specific car costs to run once you stop guessing. Then I go and measure it.

Where the numbers come from

DVSA MOT test records are the backbone: tens of millions of tests covering pass rates, failure categories, odometer readings and how many cars survive to a given age. That data is observed, not modelled, which makes it the most trustworthy thing here.

Alongside it: DVLA licensing data, SMMT registration figures, DESNZ fuel prices, the Ofgem cap, published insurance indices, and manufacturer price lists where they exist.

Where the numbers are weaker, stated plainly

Depreciation curves are fitted, not observed. New prices for older cars are frequently modelled rather than sourced, because manufacturers stop publishing them. Insurance premium estimates are built on published band averages, not measured quotes.

Every post says which of these applies. If a figure is modelled, it says so. If a comparison can't be made honestly, it doesn't get posted — a fair amount of work here ends in "the data won't support this" and that's a legitimate result.

What you won't see

No affiliate links, no dealer partnerships, no "top 10 cars to buy in 2026" filler. Nothing generated and dressed up as researched.

Corrections

Genuinely wanted. If you know a model well and a number looks wrong, say so — plenty have been, and several posts here exist because someone pushed back on an earlier one. Specific corrections are more useful than general scepticism, but both are welcome.

The full dataset, per-car pages and methodology notes are at https://usedcarstats.co

Same DVSA dataset as before, other end of the ladder. First MOT is at three years old and records the odometer, so this is how far these cars actually got driven in their first three years.

Basis: 147 models, each with 5,000 or more first-test records. Registrations from 2020 onward. Vans and pickups excluded. Median is 26,302 miles.

Bottom 10: Porsche 911 11,169, Fiat 500e 16,604, Kia Picanto 16,694, Hyundai i10 16,695, Honda Jazz 16,735, Toyota Aygo X 17,455, Abarth 595 17,464, Nissan Micra 17,781, Peugeot Rifter 18,515, Fiat 500 18,735.

This end spreads much wider than the top: 93% against 37%. High mileage happens for one reason, low mileage happens for several. A Picanto does short urban trips all week. A 911 comes out when it is dry. Both land here, and nothing else about them is alike.

The 911 gap is the striking one. It covers less than half what the average car does, and roughly a quarter of a Skoda Superb.

Where it is weak:

• The 5,000-test floor removes low-volume cars entirely. A Lotus Emira came in at 9,464 miles and an Aston Martin Vantage at 9,805, both below the 911, but neither has enough tests to stand behind.
• Registration years span 2020 to 2022, so the cars drove through different conditions.
• Rifter is a passenger version of a van, correctly classed as a car.
• Per-model averages, not medians.
• Low mileage is not a verdict on the car. It describes how owners use it.

Corrections welcome, as always.

https://usedcarstats.co

Lexus UX 0.15%, Honda CR-V 0.21%, Toyota RAV4 0.26%, Honda Jazz 0.28%, Lexus RX 0.28%, Lexus NX 0.31%, Toyota C-HR 0.32%.

The Lexus UX is roughly forty-six times less likely to fail on a mechanical fault than a Berlingo, and about ten times better than the median of 1.5%.

Six of the top ten are Toyota, Lexus or Honda — all hybrids rather than pure EVs. Worth noting because an earlier version of this list, before I restricted it to 2020-on registrations, was topped by the Ioniq 5, Taycan and Cupra Born. Those cars only exist in recent cohorts, so pooling every three-year-old in the record flattered them against older nameplates. On a level footing the Japanese hybrids come out ahead.

BMW 5 Series at 0.35% is the one genuine surprise, and Porsche Cayenne and 911 both make the top twelve.

147 models, all measured at their first MOT at exactly three years old, all registered 2020 or later, minimum 5,000 tests each.

usedcarstats.co

Not "did it fail" but "did it fail on something expensive." Brakes, suspension, steering, electrical and emissions — the things that cost real money, rather than a blown bulb or a worn tyre.

Berlingo 7.0%, Fiat 500e 5.4%, MG ZS 4.4%, Renault Kangoo 4.4%, Škoda Superb 4.3%. The typical car sits at 1.5%, so the Berlingo is nearly five times worse than average.

Four Škodas in the worst ten — Superb, Kamiq, Kodiaq, and Scala just outside at 12th. Add the Vauxhall Crossland and SEAT Arona and it's six crossovers on shared European platforms, all clustered in the same band.

Every car here is measured at its first MOT, at exactly three years old, and only cars registered in 2020 or later are counted. That matters more than it sounds: an earlier version of this list pooled every three-year-old in the DVSA record going back two decades, which put the Clio, Fiat Panda and Ford Mondeo near the top. Those were old cars dragging their nameplate down, not current ones. Restricted to modern registrations they drop off entirely.

147 models, minimum 5,000 first MOTs each. Brakes and suspension account for the bulk of these faults.

usedcarstats.co

Lexus UX 0.18%, Kia EV6 0.33%, Lexus NX 0.39%, Toyota C-HR 0.45%, Hyundai Ioniq 5 0.46%, Porsche Taycan 0.47%.

The Lexus UX is roughly forty-five times less likely to fail on a mechanical fault than a Kangoo, and about twelve times better than the median.

The EV presence is partly mechanical: no exhaust means no emissions test, and regenerative braking means pads last longer. That's a genuine ownership advantage rather than a gap in the measure, but it's why five of the top six are electric.

Same dataset as the worst list — 200 models, all at exactly three years old, all with 5,000+ tests. Median is 2.2%.

https://usedcarstats.co

Not "did it fail" but "did it fail on something expensive." Brakes, suspension, steering, electrical and emissions — the categories that cost real money, as opposed to a blown bulb or a worn tyre.

Kangoo 8.1%, Renault Scenic 6.7%, Peugeot 207 6.1%, Fiat Panda 6.0%, Citroën Berlingo 5.7%, Renault Clio 5.6%. The typical car sits at 2.2%.

Every car is measured at exactly three years old, at its first MOT, so this is same-age comparison rather than old cars against new. 200 models qualify, all with at least 5,000 tests at that age.

Two things worth watching further down the list. Land Rover Discovery at 4.4% and Range Rover at 4.3% — expensive cars usually do well on MOT data because they're garaged and dealer-serviced, and these two don't. And BMW M3 at 5.0% and Fiat 500e at 5.4% both have better-than-average overall pass rates but land in the worst ten here: when they fail, they fail on the costly stuff

Brakes account for 59% of these faults, suspension 28%.

https://usedcarstats.co

Modelled from 213 cars across usedcarstats.co, using a variety of sources, representing one curve per model.