Commercial vehicle repairers are being urged to snap up business after a report revealed that large vans have the worst MoT pass rate of any vehicle type seen on UK roads.

According to statistics recently published by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), commercial vehicles weighing between 3,000kg and 3,500kg had the worst pass rate of any vehicle in the year 2007-2008, with a failure rate of 44%, compared to 35.2% for cars and small vans.

Large vans are classified as Class 7 in the MoT test and are favoured by small business, rental companies and the self-employed because they can be driven using an ordinary driving licence, without the need of an “O” licence.

The top three failure items for these vehicles were:

• Brakes: 32%
• Lights: 29.8%
• Suspension: 14.9%
• These would all be covered in a regular service.

Stephen Coles, head of the RMIF’s MoT Technical Operations, said: “With such a high MoT failure rate, it is clear very little maintenance work is being performed on these vehicles.

“Their owners may not realise prevention could be cheaper than cure in the long run.

“This means that with correctly targeted marketing, commercial vehicle repairers could generate new business.”

RMIF member commercial vehicle repairers that want advice on marketing their workshop or MoT activities should contact the RMIF.