The picture
Mt 125 Abs: middle-of-the-pack on first-time pass
Across 1,729 MOT tests, the Mt 125 Abs returns 77.4% first-time pass — roughly in line with the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is brake pads worn below 1.0 mm. Steering head bearings have excessive wear and transmission belt, chain round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 11,941, which is the lens to read those failure rankings through. If you own one and the next test is close, the ranked list below is a sensible pre-test checklist.
Top ten reasons for rejection.
- 01
Brake lining or pad worn below 1.0mm
67 occurrences · 3.9% of tests
- 02
Steering head bearings have excessive wear or play
38 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
- 03
A transmission belt, chain, sprocket or pulley excessively loose or worn
36 occurrences · 2.1% of tests
- 04
A lens defective which has no effect on emitted light
32 occurrences · 1.9% of tests
- 05
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
29 occurrences · 1.7% of tests
- 06
A stop lamp(s) remains on when the brakes are released
27 occurrences · 1.6% of tests
- 07
Reflector missing or reflecting white to the rear
26 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
- 08
A transmission belt, chain, sprocket or pulley excessively loose or worn
22 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
- 09
Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
21 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
- 10
A shock absorber not functioning or leaking severely
21 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.
Worst-case fix budget · top 3 failures
£230–£445
If every one of this MT 125 Abs's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →
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Build your own retest budget.
Tools that pre-empt a retest.
Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.
Item 01 · Amazon UK
Brake pad measurement gauge
Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.
Search Amazon UK
Item 02 · Amazon UK
Digital tyre-tread depth gauge
Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.
Search Amazon UK
Buying or keeping a MT 125 Abs?
Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.
If you own a MT 125 Abs and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.