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MOT failure item explained

“Parking brake efficiency below requirements”

Recorded on 1,683 of the 25,257 cars checked on this site. It is a failure item.

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Cars with it
1,683
of 25,257 checked
Share of cars
6.7%
at least once
Recorded as
Fail
94% of 2,436 visits
Back next time
14%
of 1,996 follow-up visits

What it means

During the brake test the parking brake did not reach the braking effort the test requires for the car's weight. That is a failure, and the car cannot pass until it does.

A pass recorded shortly after the failed test shows the retest was done.

How it shows up in the records

Fail 94%Fail, marked dangerous 6.4%
14% came back
The same entry, on the same part of the car, was recorded again at the next test in 14% of cases.
65,974 miles
Median recorded mileage when it first appeared, on cars a median of 7 years old. From the 198 cars whose whole MOT history is recent enough to compare.

Share of cars with this entry, by year of manufacture

21%1971–7335%1980–8231%1983–8523%1986–8828%1989–9124%1992–9426%1995–9716%1998–0019%2001–0314%2004–0613%2007–098.2%2010–124.9%2013–152.2%2016–180.9%2019–210.4%2022–24

Models where it is recorded most

ModelCars with itShareSame-age cars
Maserati 3200GT16 of 3250%17%
Bentley Turbo24 of 4159%26%
Bentley Turbo R21 of 3954%25%
Bentley Brooklands12 of 2450%22%
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter23 of 7730%3.7%
Maserati Quattroporte21 of 6930%10%
Lotus Elan38 of 8843%26%
Bentley Arnage25 of 7732%16%

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

  • Confirm the pass that followed, and ask for the invoice showing what was done.
  • Apply the parking brake on a slope and check that the car holds without the lever or switch needing full travel.
  • Look at the later MOT tests for the same failure coming back.

Cars checked here with this entry

Other brakes entries explained

Brake pad(s) wearing thinBrake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakenedBrake pad(s) less than 1.5 mm thickBrake pipe corroded, covered in grease or other materialBrake disc worn, but not excessivelyService brake binding but not excessivelyService brake excessively bindingBrakes imbalanced across an axleService brake fluctuating but not excessively

Checking a car with this on its MOT?

Repair costs depend on the car, so this page does not quote one. Enter the plate and the free report estimates them for that car, alongside every test and advisory on its record.

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.