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MOT minor defect explained

“Drive shaft joint constant velocity boot severely deteriorated”

Recorded on 728 of the 25,257 cars checked on this site. Every time it was recorded as a minor defect.

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Cars with it
728
of 25,257 checked
Share of cars
2.9%
at least once
Recorded as
Minor defect
100% of 1,034 visits
Back next time
22%
of 785 follow-up visits

What it means

Each driveshaft joint is packed with grease and sealed by a rubber boot. This entry means the tester found a boot that was badly cracked or perished but was not split.

It is a minor defect, which does not fail the car by itself. A boot that is split or insecure and no longer keeps dirt out is a failure.

How it shows up in the records

Minor defect 100%
22% came back
The same entry, on the same part of the car, was recorded again at the next test in 22% of cases.
69,031 miles
Median recorded mileage when it first appeared, on cars a median of 7 years old. From the 152 cars whose whole MOT history is recent enough to compare.

Share of cars with this entry, by year of manufacture

0.0%1971–730.0%1980–820.0%1983–851.8%1986–882.4%1989–913.3%1992–942.3%1995–971.2%1998–006.1%2001–036.7%2004–068.1%2007–095.9%2010–122.9%2013–151.7%2016–180.9%2019–210.2%2022–24

Models where it is recorded most

ModelCars with itShareSame-age cars
Volkswagen Transporter16 of 11514%2.8%
Peugeot 3089 of 6614%3.1%
Volkswagen Passat7 of 5613%4.1%
Ford Transit27 of 26910%2.2%
Peugeot 20810 of 1089.3%2.0%
Audi TT7 of 6012%4.7%
Skoda Octavia7 of 769.2%2.9%
Volkswagen Polo25 of 2609.6%3.6%

Models with 20 or more cars checked here. “Same-age cars” is the share among all checked cars built in the same years, so an older model is compared with older cars.

What to check before you buy

  • Read the later MOT tests to see whether it became a 'split or insecure' failure.
  • Turn the steering to full lock and look behind each front wheel at the rubber boots for cracks, and for grease thrown around the inside of the wheel.
  • Drive slowly in a tight circle in each direction and listen for clicking from the front.
  • Ask whether the boot or the joint has been replaced, and for the invoice.

Cars checked here with this entry

Checking a car with this on its MOT?

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Check a car’s MOT history

Counts are of cars checked on this site, from official public records. Updated 19 Sept 2026 · figures as of 4 Oct 2026. All MOT entries explained.