The picture
Cb250: a strong MOT record by UK norms
Across 551 MOT tests, the Cb250 returns 85.1% first-time pass — comfortably ahead of the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is a stop-lamp out. Lamp not securely attached and a non-functioning shock absorber round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 29,665, 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
Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
7 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
- 02
A lamp not securely attached
6 occurrences · 1.1% of tests
- 03
A shock absorber not functioning or leaking severely
6 occurrences · 1.1% of tests
- 04
A headlamp missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED
4 occurrences · 0.7% of tests
- 05
A shock absorber not functioning or leaking severely
4 occurrences · 0.7% of tests
- 06
A lamp missing or inoperative
3 occurrences · 0.5% of tests
- 07
Exhaust system leaking or insecure
3 occurrences · 0.5% of tests
- 08
Steering head bearings excessively stiff, notchy, or with excessive wear or play
3 occurrences · 0.5% of tests
- 09
Projected beam image is obviously incorrect
3 occurrences · 0.5% of tests
- 10
Brake efficiency below minimum requirement
2 occurrences · 0.4% 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 2 failures
£18–£115
If every one of this Cb250'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
H7 / W21W bulb pack
A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.
Search Amazon UK
Item 02 · Amazon UK
Headlight restoration kit
Yellowed lenses fail the light-output test. A restoration kit lifts the haze in an afternoon for £20.
Search Amazon UK
Buying or keeping a Cb250?
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 Cb250 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.