Is a tyre rubbing on the bodywork an MOT failure?

Yes. A tyre fouling any part of the vehicle is a major defect, and the tester checks clearance with the steering on full lock in both directions rather than only straight ahead. Where the contact is severe enough to damage the tyre, or to affect steering or stability, it is graded dangerous instead.

Why is my tyre rubbing on the wheel arch?

Most often because the wheels or tyres are the wrong size or offset for the car, which is the usual outcome of buying alloys to suit the look rather than the vehicle. The other frequent causes are a broken or sagging road spring letting the wheel sit closer to the arch, lowering springs fitted without checking clearance, and a displaced arch liner.

Will wheel spacers stop my tyres rubbing?

No, and they are not a fix. A spacer changes the wheel offset again and loads the bearing and the studs differently, so you trade one problem for another. Where the wheel or tyre size is wrong for the vehicle, the correct size is the only answer, because an unsuitable wheel or tyre is itself a major defect.

Do I need to tell my insurer about larger wheels?

Yes. Non-standard wheels and altered suspension are both declarable modifications, so if the fouling has been traced to wheels or springs fitted by you or a previous owner, it is worth checking what the policy actually records. An undeclared modification can complicate a claim quite separately from the MOT result.

MOT defect file

Tyre fouling part of the vehicle

Last updated 8 September 2026

Quick answer

A tyre is touching the bodywork, an arch liner, a spring or a brake hose as the wheel moves. Usually the wrong wheel or tyre size, or a suspension part that has shifted out of position.

Typical cost: £40–£300
DIY viability: Garage job

What you might notice

A rubbing or scuffing noise on full lock, when the boot is loaded, or over speed bumps
A polished or melted stripe on an arch liner, or a bright rubbed patch on a spring or brake hose
Fine black rubber dust collected inside the wheel arch
Shredded tyre shoulder on one side only, with the rest of the tread barely worn

What causes it

Wheels or tyres of the wrong size or offset — the classic outcome of buying alloys to suit the look rather than the car
A broken or sagging road spring, or a collapsed top mount, letting the wheel sit closer to the arch
Lowering springs or a coilover kit fitted without checking clearance on full lock and full compression
A displaced or partly detached arch liner, or a brake hose that has slipped out of its retaining clip

Advisory or failure?

A tyre fouling another part of the vehicle is a major defect and a failure — the tester checks clearance with the steering on full lock in both directions, not just straight ahead. Where the contact is severe enough to damage the tyre, or to affect steering or stability, it is graded dangerous. Two related items are often recorded alongside it: a tyre or wheel that is not of a suitable size or type for the vehicle is itself a major defect, and a brake hose chafing on a tyre is a major defect in the braking section quite separately. A liner rubbing lightly with no damage to the tyre is sometimes recorded as an advisory instead, but that is the tester's judgement rather than a rule you can rely on.

Can you fix it yourself?

Garage job

Finding the contact point is straightforward — look for the shiny patch, then have somebody turn the wheel lock to lock while you watch from underneath with the car safely supported. Curing it usually is not. If the wheel or tyre size is wrong, the answer is the correct size, and spacers are not a fix: they change the offset again and load the bearing and studs differently. Trimming an arch liner buys quiet but hides the real cause, and anything rubbing a brake hose must be treated as urgent rather than tidied up. Where a spring has broken, that is a separate failure item and the pair should be replaced together.

What it costs

At the cheap end this is a clip, a liner fastener or an arch liner at £15 to £60 with half an hour of labour. A pair of road springs fitted is £150 to £300, and a set of correctly sized tyres to replace an over-wide fitment is £200 upwards depending on size. Diagnosis is usually £40 to £70 of ramp time, which is money well spent when the wheel and tyre combination has been changed by a previous owner and nobody knows what the car should be wearing. Where non-standard wheels are the cause, check the insurance record too — modified wheels and suspension are declarable.

What happens if you ignore it

Rubber against a moving suspension component wears through in one direction only, and the thing that gives way first is often the tyre sidewall or a brake hose — either of which fails suddenly and at the worst moment. Contact under load also destroys tread on one shoulder within a few thousand miles, so you buy tyres far more often than you should. If the underlying cause is a broken spring or a collapsed mount, the fouling is a symptom of something already unsafe rather than the problem itself.

Common questions

Is a tyre rubbing on the bodywork an MOT failure?: Yes. A tyre fouling any part of the vehicle is a major defect, and the tester checks clearance with the steering on full lock in both directions rather than only straight ahead. Where the contact is severe enough to damage the tyre, or to affect steering or stability, it is graded dangerous instead.
Why is my tyre rubbing on the wheel arch?: Most often because the wheels or tyres are the wrong size or offset for the car, which is the usual outcome of buying alloys to suit the look rather than the vehicle. The other frequent causes are a broken or sagging road spring letting the wheel sit closer to the arch, lowering springs fitted without checking clearance, and a displaced arch liner.
Will wheel spacers stop my tyres rubbing?: No, and they are not a fix. A spacer changes the wheel offset again and loads the bearing and the studs differently, so you trade one problem for another. Where the wheel or tyre size is wrong for the vehicle, the correct size is the only answer, because an unsuitable wheel or tyre is itself a major defect.
Do I need to tell my insurer about larger wheels?: Yes. Non-standard wheels and altered suspension are both declarable modifications, so if the fouling has been traced to wheels or springs fitted by you or a previous owner, it is worth checking what the policy actually records. An undeclared modification can complicate a claim quite separately from the MOT result.
How much does it cost to fix a tyre fouling the vehicle?: At the cheap end it is a clip, a liner fastener or an arch liner at £15 to £60 plus half an hour of labour. A pair of road springs fitted is £150 to £300, and a set of correctly sized tyres to replace an over-wide fitment starts around £200. Diagnosis is usually £40 to £70 of ramp time.

Cars this happens to most

Of every model with at least 2,000 tests in the DVSA data, these record tyre fouling part of the vehicle on the largest share of their MOTs. Across all of them the typical rate is 0.1% of tests.

Nissan Skyline0.3%
7 times in 2,025 tests
BMW I30.1%
28 times in 26,183 tests
BMW M40.1%
14 times in 13,534 tests
Toyota C-Hr0.1%
74 times in 103,567 tests
Jaguar E-Pace0.1%
17 times in 32,424 tests
Polestar 20.0%
3 times in 13,952 tests
Mercedes-Benz Eqa0.0%
2 times in 9,845 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

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.