Everyone knows the feeling when their car is due its MOT. The worry of it failing and the cost to get it through.
And we all know the key items to check that will increase the chances of a pass; the tread on the tires, lights, mirrors etc. All simple maintenance that can be done beforehand to help prevent your car from failing.
Timing your MOT test
But it turns out there’s another critical factor affecting how likely your car is to pass.
Some recent research by AutoPredict analysing the results of hundreds of millions of MOT tests has revealed that the time, day and date of a test has a significant impact on the pass rate. The data is clear whilst having nothing to do with your car’s condition.
Your car is nearly 9% more likely to pass an MOT test at 4 pm than at 9 am and over 5% more likely to pass on a Sunday than a Monday.
Equally, the time of year seems to have a significant impact.
On average, 75% of tests result in a pass, but if you get your test done on Christmas Eve, your chances jump to nearly 80%.
But just one week later, on January second, your chances of a pass drop down to 72%.
This raises questions about why these patterns exist. One suggestion is that cars tested later in the day or week may have had work done on them before the test to ensure they pass.
Or maybe later in the day and week, mechanics don’t bother testing cars they know will fail, and they can’t get out of the door to leave on time. This could certainly be imagined on Christmas eve.
Instead, they test it the next working day on January second, explaining the considerable slump in the chances of passing.
We can’t know why these patterns exist, but if you want the best chance of your car passing its MOT, get it tested at 4 pm on Christmas Eve, and at all costs, avoid 9 am on January second!
