Is a door that will not open from the outside an MOT failure?

Yes. Driver and passenger doors must open from the outside using the relevant control, and the driver and front passenger doors must also open from the inside. A door that will not open, or will not close properly, is a major defect. A car with no external handles by design is not failed for that, provided the door still latches securely.

Why is a faulty door graded dangerous?

Because a turning door — the ordinary hinged door on a car — that is likely to open inadvertently is a dangerous defect. It takes away an occupant's protection in a side impact and can swing into a cyclist or an overtaking car. A sliding door likely to open inadvertently is graded major instead. Hinges and catches have their own two levels: excessively deteriorated is minor, missing or insecure is major.

Will a boot that will not close fail the MOT?

Yes. A boot lid, tailgate, dropside, loading door or access panel that cannot be secured in the closed position is a major defect. Beyond the test it lets exhaust fumes into the load space and eventually the cabin. If the tester cannot open a door or the boot to complete the inspection, that is a ground for refusing the test.

Can I fix a door that needs slamming myself?

Often, and it is the cheapest thing to try. Latches and strikers respond well to cleaning and the right lubricant, and a striker plate can usually be moved a millimetre or two on its slotted mounting — mark the original position before you loosen it. Check the pillar for rust before assuming a dropped door is worn hinge pins.

How much does it cost to repair a door latch or hinge?

Adjustment and lubrication is often half an hour of labour with no parts, so £30 to £60, and it fixes more of these than people expect. A latch or lock actuator is £30 to £120 in parts with one to two hours to get the door card off and back on, so £120 to £250 fitted. Hinge pin kits are £15 to £40 but the labour is the cost.

MOT defect file

Door or boot will not close securely

Last updated 27 July 2026

Quick answer

A door, boot lid or tailgate will not latch shut, will not open from the handle, or its hinge or catch has worn. A front door that could fly open while you drive is the version of this that gets graded dangerous.

Typical cost: £70–£400
DIY viability: Possible with care

What you might notice

A door that needs slamming, or that sits proud of the wing until you shut it twice
A boot or tailgate that pops open over bumps, or has to be held down while it latches
A dropped door that catches the sill or has to be lifted slightly to close
A handle that pulls with no effect from outside, or an interior release that has gone slack

What causes it

Worn hinge pins and bushes, which is common on cars with heavy doors and on anything used as a taxi or a courier vehicle
A dry or corroded latch mechanism, particularly on a car left standing, so the catch no longer releases and reseats cleanly
A failed cable, rod or actuator between the handle and the latch — the usual cause of a door that will not open from outside
Corrosion at the hinge mounting on the A-pillar, or an earlier accident repair that left the door out of alignment

Advisory or failure?

A door that will not open using the relevant control, or will not close properly, is a major defect. A door likely to open inadvertently is a major defect in the case of a sliding door and dangerous in the case of a turning door, which is the ordinary hinged door on a car. Hinges, catches and pillars have a two-level grading of their own: excessively deteriorated is a minor defect, while missing or insecure is a major, and the manual is clear that deterioration should only be rejected where it stops the door working as intended. A boot lid, tailgate, dropside, loading door or access panel that cannot be secured in the closed position is a major defect. Driver and passenger doors must open from the outside using the relevant control, and driver and front passenger doors must also open from the inside. A car with no external handles by design, or with a door aperture permanently filled as part of a specialist conversion, is not failed for that, provided the door still latches securely and can be opened with whatever control the design provides. If the tester cannot open a door, boot lid or tailgate to complete the inspection, that is a ground for refusing to carry out the test.

Can you fix it yourself?

Possible with care

Start with the free option: latches and strikers respond well to cleaning and the right lubricant, and a striker plate can often be moved a millimetre or two on its slotted mounting to cure a door that needs slamming. Mark the original position before you loosen anything. Replacing a latch or an actuator means getting the door card off without breaking the clips and working through a small aperture with the window glass and the wiring in the way — awkward rather than difficult, and a used part from a breaker is usually fine. Hinge pins are the harder job: on many cars the door has to be supported and unbolted, and on some the hinge is welded to the pillar, so the pin has to be drilled and pressed out in situ. Do not treat a dropped door as a hinge problem without checking the pillar for rust first, because the mounting itself is sometimes what has given way.

What it costs

Adjustment and lubrication is often half an hour of labour with no parts, so £30 to £60, and it fixes more of these than people expect. A door latch or lock actuator is £30 to £120 in parts with one to two hours of labour to get the card off and back on properly, putting most latch jobs at £120 to £250. Hinge pin and bush kits are cheap, £15 to £40, but the labour is the cost — one to three hours, plus realignment, and more where the door must come off entirely. The top of the band is a hinge welded to a corroded pillar, which becomes bodywork, or a powered tailgate where the strut, motor or control module has failed and needs coding after fitting.

What happens if you ignore it

A hinged door that can open while you are moving is graded dangerous for an obvious reason: it takes an occupant's protection away in a side impact, it can swing into a cyclist or an overtaking car, and a child leaning on a faulty rear door has almost no margin. A boot that will not stay shut lets exhaust fumes into the load space and eventually into the cabin, quite apart from what falls out onto the road. Mechanically the fault snowballs — a dropped door wears its own striker and eventually the aperture around it, and a latch that has been forced for months will start damaging the trim and the wiring it drags on.

Common questions

Is a door that will not open from the outside an MOT failure?: Yes. Driver and passenger doors must open from the outside using the relevant control, and the driver and front passenger doors must also open from the inside. A door that will not open, or will not close properly, is a major defect. A car with no external handles by design is not failed for that, provided the door still latches securely.
Why is a faulty door graded dangerous?: Because a turning door — the ordinary hinged door on a car — that is likely to open inadvertently is a dangerous defect. It takes away an occupant's protection in a side impact and can swing into a cyclist or an overtaking car. A sliding door likely to open inadvertently is graded major instead. Hinges and catches have their own two levels: excessively deteriorated is minor, missing or insecure is major.
Will a boot that will not close fail the MOT?: Yes. A boot lid, tailgate, dropside, loading door or access panel that cannot be secured in the closed position is a major defect. Beyond the test it lets exhaust fumes into the load space and eventually the cabin. If the tester cannot open a door or the boot to complete the inspection, that is a ground for refusing the test.
Can I fix a door that needs slamming myself?: Often, and it is the cheapest thing to try. Latches and strikers respond well to cleaning and the right lubricant, and a striker plate can usually be moved a millimetre or two on its slotted mounting — mark the original position before you loosen it. Check the pillar for rust before assuming a dropped door is worn hinge pins.
How much does it cost to repair a door latch or hinge?: Adjustment and lubrication is often half an hour of labour with no parts, so £30 to £60, and it fixes more of these than people expect. A latch or lock actuator is £30 to £120 in parts with one to two hours to get the door card off and back on, so £120 to £250 fitted. Hinge pin kits are £15 to £40 but the labour is the cost.

Cars this happens to most

Of every model with at least 2,000 tests in the DVSA data, these record door or boot will not close securely on the largest share of their MOTs. Across all of them the typical rate is 0.3% of tests.

Nissan Pathfinder2.7%
128 times in 4,726 tests
Kia Sedona1.9%
77 times in 4,106 tests
Honda Cr-Z1.4%
53 times in 3,773 tests
Toyota Previa1.1%
44 times in 3,852 tests
Mercedes-Benz 1901.0%
25 times in 2,521 tests
Nissan Cube1.0%
27 times in 2,769 tests
Mercedes-Benz X-Class1.0%
35 times in 3,681 tests
Volkswagen Bora0.8%
33 times in 4,358 tests

A high rate here is a property of the fleet as much as the car: these models skew old, and almost everything fails more with age. It is a reason to check the item on a used example, not proof the model is badly built. Models with fewer than 2,000 tests are left out because a rate drawn from a few hundred cars moves too much to rank.

Pass rates for every make and model

Warning lights behind this

This defect is what a tester writes down. What you see from the driver’s seat is a symbol, and it is worth checking which one, because manufacturers reuse the same shape for more than one system.

This is general guidance, not a diagnosis. The severity DVSA records depends on the specific fault found, so the same item can appear as an advisory on one test and a failure on another. Ask a qualified tester or mechanic to inspect the vehicle.

Has this been recorded on your car?

Check the full MOT history for any UK registration.