DVSA publishes the top ten reasons cars fail Individual Vehicle Approval. That is unusually generous of a regulator, and it means nobody has to guess. Four of the ten are things an imported car will fail on for reasons of geography rather than condition — and all four can be dealt with before the car is ever booked in.
The short version
- Headlamp aim is the number one failure. Beams must dip to the left, and masking the lamp is not accepted.
- A car imported from outside the EU will usually have no rear fog lamp at all. One must be fitted, centre or offside.
- The speedometer must read in mph, checked on rollers between 35 and 70 mph. GPS units are not accepted.
- Brake minimums are 60% service, 25% secondary, 18% parking, on design gross or calculated laden weight.
- An MOT pass proves nothing about IVA. Different test, different standards.
DVSA’s own top ten
The list below is DVSA’s, published in its guide Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) for cars: help to get a pass, which covers vehicles in the M1 inspection category. The guide’s current version dates from 29 June 2017; the underlying standards live in the M1 inspection manual, last updated 14 July 2025.
| # | Failure point | Is it an import-specific problem? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Headlamp aim | Yes — the biggest single one for right-hand-drive conversions and any car from a drive-on-the-right market |
| 2 | General construction | Rarely, on a factory-built car |
| 3 | Brakes | Condition-dependent |
| 4 | Rear fog lamps | Yes — DVSA expects non-EU imports not to have one fitted |
| 5 | Exterior projections | Occasionally, on accessories and bull bars |
| 6 | Speedometers | Yes — km/h-only dials fail |
| 7 | Statutory plates and VIN | Sometimes — plate format and content are prescribed |
| 8 | Seat belt anchorages | Rarely, on a factory-built car |
| 9 | Emissions | Sometimes — the standard is set by engine age, and engine age needs evidence |
| 10 | Interior fittings | Occasionally, after aftermarket work |
Source: DVSA, 'Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) for cars: help to get a pass', GOV.UK, updated 29 June 2017. Checked 1 September 2026.
Full compliance is not a guarantee
DVSA says so itself: full compliance with the guide does not guarantee a pass, and the inspection manual holds the complete requirements and testing procedures. Treat the top ten as where to spend your preparation budget, not as the whole standard.
Headlamp aim, the number one failure
DVSA checks the headlamps on an approved aim tester and looks for three things: a good clear beam image, the cut-off to the left, and correct height and horizontal alignment.
A car built for a drive-on-the-right market throws its beam the wrong way. DVSA’s guidance is explicit that you might need to have headlamps on vehicles imported from countries that drive on the right converted or replaced before the inspection. It is equally explicit about the shortcut people try: the IVA inspection does not allow any kind of internal or external masking of the headlamp. Beam-bender stickers are a holiday measure, not an approval measure.
Right-hand-drive Japanese and Australian cars already dip to the left, so this is a Gulf, European-LHD and American problem rather than a JDM one. Even so, have the aim set on a calibrated tester before the test — DVSA’s own suggestion is that a class 4 MOT station can check and adjust it if you do not have the equipment.
The rear fog lamp an import will not have
This one catches almost every first-time importer, because the part is missing rather than faulty. DVSA sets the expectation directly: a vehicle imported from outside the EU is likely not to have a rear fog lamp fitted at all, and one from inside the EU will probably have it only on the nearside and need a second on the offside.
What the lamp has to satisfy
- Fitted to the centre or offside rear, squarely to the rear so the beam is focused correctly
- If two are fitted, a matched pair mounted symmetrically
- Insulated, secure wiring, fitted through a grommet where applicable, with a securely fitted switch
- A warning system to tell the driver it is lit
- Illuminates only when dipped, main or front fog lamps are lit
- Displays an ‘e’ or ‘E’ mark with a ‘B’ or ‘F’ — the first says it is approved, the second says it is a fog lamp
Height above ground and distance in from the extreme outer edge are both measured. And a correctly fitted lamp can still fail a different section: if it can be contacted by the 100 mm sphere used for exterior projections, it may fail that standard instead.
Speedometers, and why km/h fails
DVSA tests speedometer accuracy on calibrated speed rollers between 35 and 70 mph. The instrument must indicate mph, read accurately, be readable by the driver at all times, light up, carry maximum marked increments of 20 mph, and read to the vehicle’s maximum declared speed.
Two disqualifications worth knowing. A speedometer hidden behind the steering wheel rim fails, because the driver cannot see it. And speedometers that operate on GPS, or bicycle or racing instruments, are not allowed — which rules out the cheapest fix for a km/h-only dial.
Most JDM cars are already fine here
Japanese-market dials are usually marked in km/h, but many are dual-marked, and conversion dials or replacement clusters are a mature aftermarket. Where DVSA cannot check accuracy on the rollers, the guidance allows you to prove suitability another way — evidence from the speedometer manufacturer, or by satisfying the examiner it meets the standard.
The brake efficiency figures
A full brake test on rollers checks service, secondary and parking brake efficiency, servo-depleted brake effort, balance, grab or judder, the rate at which effort rises and falls at each wheel, and the front-to-rear ratio. The published minimums for IVA are:
| Brake | Minimum efficiency |
|---|---|
| Service brake | 60% |
| Secondary brake, where testable | 25% |
| Parking brake | 18% |
Calculated on design gross weight or calculated laden weight. Source: DVSA 'help to get a pass', checked 1 September 2026.
DVSA notes these are a different performance requirement from the MOT, so an MOT brake test gives you an indication that the brakes work as intended rather than a prediction of the result. Braking ratios between axles must not be manually adjustable, there must be a driver-reachable way of testing for hydraulic failure, and an indelible label identifying the brake fluid must sit within 100 mm of the master cylinder.
Exterior projections and the 100mm sphere
The examiner runs a 100 mm sphere — standing in for a pedestrian’s knee — over the outside of the car, using a 30-degree cone to establish the floor line and checking everything above it up to two metres from the ground. Anything hard the sphere touches must be blunted or radiused, and a radius gauge measures it.
- Parts projecting more than 5 mm must be radiused to at least 2.5 mm
- Parts projecting less than 5 mm must be blunted
- Tape wrapped around a sharp edge is not accepted — it comes off and it degrades
For a factory car this is usually about what has been added: bull bars, light bars, roof racks, aftermarket mirrors and towing eyes. If you are buying a modified 4x4 at auction, the accessories are the risk, not the vehicle.
Plates, belts, emissions and interior
Statutory plates and VIN
A statutory plate must be fitted for each build stage, and the plate is prescriptive: the required information, in a clearly defined rectangle, in a fixed order — manufacturer’s name, approval number or build stage, VIN, maximum permitted laden mass, maximum train weight if applicable, then maximum laden mass per axle front to rear. Anything else may appear on the plate but must sit outside that rectangle. A stamped-in VIN must be on the chassis or frame and permanent.
Emissions
For spark-ignition engines the emissions standard is set by the age of the engine, not the age of the car. If the engine has come from another vehicle, DVSA may want proof of its age — a letter from the engine manufacturer or a recognised authority, or the original V5C from the donor vehicle. On older pre-catalyst engines the examiner can raise engine speed to around 2,000 rpm and re-check hydrocarbons before failing the car.
Seat belt anchorages
The examiner assesses strength and suitability, and can ask for bolts to be removed to see how the anchorage is actually attached. This is a kit car and rebuild problem far more than a factory-car problem — but if a vehicle has had seats moved, a wheelchair conversion or a rebuilt floor, it becomes yours. Photographs of the anchorages before they were boxed in, or engineering drawings, may be accepted as evidence.
The order to do the work in
Sequenced so that nothing is done twice:
- Before you bid. Establish whether the car needs approval at all — the exemption test takes two minutes and can remove this entire page from your life.
- Before it ships. Photograph the headlamp units, the rear light cluster and the instrument binnacle. Those three pictures tell you your parts list.
- On arrival. Headlamp conversion or replacement, rear fog lamp installation, speedometer if the dial is km/h-only. These have lead times; start them before you book the test.
- Then book. DVSA aims to respond to an application within 10 working days and offer an inspection within 20, so the booking is not the bottleneck the parts are.
- Day before. Headlamp aim set on a calibrated tester, brake efficiency checked, and every hard exterior edge you added checked by hand.
Our inspection report on a car names the specification differences that matter for a UK registration before you commit, and the full document set is sent to you when the vessel departs — so the parts list is written while the car is still at sea rather than after it lands.
This page summarises DVSA’s published guidance and does not replace it. The complete requirements and testing procedures are in the IVA inspection manual for cars (M1), last updated 14 July 2025. Every standard quoted here was checked against GOV.UK on 1 September 2026. DVSA states that full compliance with its guide does not guarantee a pass.