The number of cars failing emissions tests has more than doubled since the new MOT introduced stricter emission rules on 20 May 2018.



Following changes to the MOT test on 20 May 2018, more than 744,592 cars have failed the emissions test. The cars have either been taken off the road or fixed, helping to improve air quality.

This compares to 350,472 cars failing the emissions test during the same period in 2017.

Stricter emissions tests
Since 20 May 2018, a vehicle gets a ‘major fault’ if the MOT tester:

can see smoke of any colour coming from the exhaust
finds evidence that the diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been tampered with - this captures and stores exhaust soot to reduce emissions from diesel cars
A ‘major fault’ means you need to repair the car immediately, and it then needs to pass an MOT retest.

You can be fined up to £1,000 for driving a vehicle without a valid MOT.

Number of cars failing the emissions test
Since 20 May 2018, a total of 238,971 diesel cars and 505,721 petrol cars have failed the new emissions test.

This compares to 58,004 diesel cars and 292,468 petrol cars during the same period in 2017.