A rejected car is almost never rejected for the reason the driver thinks. There are two separate gates in London and they are run by different organisations with different rules. TfL decides whether your vehicle can be licensed at all. Uber decides which products it can work once it is. A car can sail through one and fail the other. Every rule below was checked against TfL's own inspection manual and Uber's published requirements on 4 August 2026.
The two gates, in order
TfL comes first. Under section 7 of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998, TfL may licence a vehicle only if it is satisfied that it is suitable in type, size and design for use as a private hire vehicle, that it is safe, comfortable and in suitable mechanical condition, and that it is not of such design and appearance as to lead a person to believe it is a taxi.
Uber comes second, and only looks at cars that already hold a PHV licence. Its own product rules then decide whether you see UberX only, or Comfort, or Exec.
Nine reasons account for most rejections. Six belong to TfL, three to Uber.
1. The car is too old, and age is not measured how you think
TfL will not licence a private hire vehicle that is more than 10 years old from first registration. The same limit applies at re-licensing, so a car does not get to age out gracefully once it is in the fleet.
The measurement is the thing that catches people. TfL's inspection manual states that age "will normally be taken from the date on which the vehicle was first registered", meaning first registered with the DVLA or with an overseas authority, not the model year on the advert. A car sold to you as a 2016 model may have been first registered in 2015, and you lose a year you thought you had.
There are published exemption categories in the manual, including wheelchair accessible vehicles, so if you believe your vehicle falls into one it is worth reading section 1.2 rather than assuming the flat ten years applies.
Uber then applies its own cap on top, and Uber measures differently again. For Exec and Lux, Uber states that from 1 January 2026 vehicles must be registered from 1 January 2020 or later. For Comfort in London the cap is six years rolling, which lands on 2020 in 2026.
2. Emissions
Since 1 January 2023, every private hire vehicle licensed in London for the first time has had to be zero emission capable. TfL's test is that the vehicle emits no more than 50g/km CO2 and can run with zero exhaust emissions for at least 10 miles, or no more than 75g/km CO2 with at least 20 miles of zero emission range. Where an internal combustion engine forms part of the specification, as in a hybrid, it must also meet Euro 6.
This is the rule that quietly disqualifies a large amount of otherwise sound used stock. A clean, low mileage, well priced diesel saloon from 2019 will never be licensed as a new London PHV.
3. The MOT is wrong, or there is only one of it
TfL requires an MOT certificate issued within the last 14 days to be produced at the licensing inspection, counting the inspection date as day one. An MOT from three weeks ago is not acceptable, however valid it remains for road use.
Private hire vehicles more than 12 months from manufacture also need two MOTs a year, not one, with the second obtained around six months after the first, as a condition of continued licensing.
Uber applies its own version of this. Uber states that MOTs for private hire vehicles are only valid for six months, and will reject the document once six months have passed since the issue date, regardless of the expiry printed on it.
4. Cosmetic condition, measured with a ruler
This is the most underestimated rejection reason, because drivers assume "good condition" is a judgement call. TfL publishes thresholds.
A vehicle is refused for a single dent of more than 80mm in diameter, or more than three dents of 20mm or more in any one panel. It is refused for more than four scratches or abrasions of more than 50mm in length in any one panel. On stone chips, refusal follows more than 16 visible on the bonnet or grill that have not penetrated to the metal, or more than six that have, or more than eight on any panel where the primer coat has been exposed.
TfL also refuses where there is evidence of crudely repaired or insecure body panels, including paint runs and overspray. A cheap respray can fail a car that had nothing wrong with it before the respray.
Uber's requirement here is much vaguer, simply "Good condition with no cosmetic damage", which in practice means a photo review. TfL's numbers are the ones to work to, because they are the harder test and they are published.
5. Seating, doors and the kerbside rule
TfL will not licence a private hire vehicle whose passenger seating capacity, including wheelchair positions, exceeds eight passengers.
For private hire specifically, where a vehicle has only one passenger door, that door must be on the nearside, the kerb side. A single offside passenger door is a refusal.
There is also a newer restriction worth knowing about. TfL Notice 01/26, issued on 7 January 2026, deals with seven seaters whose rearmost seats cannot be reached from the kerbside. Such a vehicle will only be licensed to carry a maximum of four passengers, and the rearmost seats must be folded down whenever the vehicle is in use as a PHV. If you bought a seven seater to work UberXL, check this before you licence it.
All PHVs must also be right hand drive. TfL will consider an exemption, but only on the narrow grounds it publishes, and you should read its wording rather than rely on a summary.
6. Paperwork that does not match
TfL refuses on a long list of document problems, and they are all avoidable.
The V5 or V5C not submitted, or a fleet V5 printout more than 14 days old. A V5C that is not the current document. A V5C containing discrepancies. Owner details that do not agree with TfL's records.
The licence is issued to a named individual, and TfL expects that person to be the registered keeper recorded at DVLA. Where the registered keeper is a company, additional evidence is required. This is the single most common failure for drivers in rented or leased cars, because the paperwork chain has to be right end to end.
On insurance, TfL requires hire and reward cover that complies with section 7(2)(b) of the 1998 Act and covers carrying passengers for hire and reward both at the point of inspection and in use. For leased vehicles TfL also checks that the lease agreement permits passenger hire and reward journeys, and refuses where it does not. A standard consumer lease will not do.
Window tint is checked too. TfL requires 75% of light to be transmitted through the front windscreen and 70% through the front side windows, and manufacturer tint counts towards the total. Aftermarket film on the front side glass is a common and entirely self inflicted failure.
7. Salvage history
TfL currently lists evidence on the V5C that the vehicle has been salvaged as a reason for refusal, and where salvage for structural damage is noted in the special notes section on page one of the V5C, the vehicle is referred onward rather than simply passed.
The DVLA categories matter here. Category A cannot be repaired and the whole vehicle must be crushed. Category B cannot be repaired and the body shell must be crushed, though parts may be salvaged. Category S can be repaired following structural damage. Category N is non structural.
This area is about to get stricter. TfL opened a consultation on 17 July 2026 proposing to stop licensing any taxi or PHV that has ever been recorded as salvage, across categories A, B, S and N. We covered what that would mean in our piece on the salvage vehicle ban. If you are buying used, a category N car that is licensable today may not be licensable at your next renewal.
8. Uber's insurance list
Even with correct hire and reward cover, Uber will reject your policy if it comes from the wrong insurer. Since 1 January 2022 Uber has only accepted London private hire policies from a specific list of providers: Acorn and Haven, Connect, Clegg Gifford, DCL, Nelson and Headway, Freeway, Inshur, Walsingham and Zego.
Uber also requires the policy to cover private hire or the carriage of passengers and goods for hire or reward, and will not accept policies covering public hire, Hackney carriage, or ordinary business use.
Two drivers with identical TfL compliant cover can get different answers from Uber purely on who underwrote it.
9. The model is not on Uber's list
This one is not a rejection of your car's condition at all. It is an absence.
Uber's eligible vehicles page states that the model list covers every product except UberX, and that for UberX any vehicle with a PHV licence from an approved council is accepted. Comfort, Exec, Lux and Exec XXL all gate on the model appearing on that list.
So a perfectly good, perfectly legal car can be accepted on UberX and simply not exist as far as Comfort is concerned. Exec and Lux narrow it further, restricting brand to Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Lexus, colour to black, grey, blue, dark blue or dark grey in London, and body style to saloons, with estates excluded outright.
If your model is missing, Uber has a submission form and says that if it decides to add the model it will appear within four weeks. Note the discretion and note the delay. Check the list before you buy, not after.
Our searchable list of every model that reaches a selective tier is in the Uber approved cars list, and the Comfort tier specifically is covered in the Uber Comfort requirements guide.
Rejection is not always final
A TfL failure at inspection is not the end. You have four routes: an informal appeal asking the inspection site team leader to reconsider, a retest, a personal hearing, or an appeal to Westminster Magistrates' Court. A PHV retest must be booked within 21 days of the first inspection, and that window can be extended if specific repairs are needed. What the inspection actually covers, and how to prepare for it, is in our guide to the TfL vehicle inspection.
One refusal reason that catches people who have done everything else right is equipment they added themselves. Anything aftermarket, a dashcam included, counts as a modification needing TfL's approval before it goes on the car, and "Unapproved modification fitted" is a listed reason for refusal. The camera rules are set out here.
It is also worth knowing that TfL can act between inspections. Any defect found at any point in the licence period can lead to an unfit notice prohibiting use of the vehicle until it is rectified.
Frequently asked questions
Why was my car accepted on UberX but not Comfort?
Because UberX does not use the eligible model list and Comfort does. Your car is licensed and legal, it is simply not on Uber's Comfort list, either because the model was never added or because it is older than the six year London cap.
Does TfL go by model year or registration date?
Registration date. TfL's manual says age is normally taken from when the vehicle was first registered. A 2016 model first registered in 2015 counts as 2015.
Can I get a car licensed with a category N write off?
Today, TfL's published refusal reason is salvage evidence on the V5C, with structural salvage referred onward. TfL is consulting on refusing every salvage category outright, so treat any write off history as a risk to your next renewal, not just this one.
My car failed on scratches. Is that really a rule?
Yes, and it is numeric. More than four scratches over 50mm in any one panel is a published refusal threshold, as is a single dent over 80mm.
Will Uber accept my insurance if TfL did?
Not necessarily. Uber restricts London private hire cover to a named list of providers. Correct cover from an insurer outside that list will be refused by Uber while being perfectly acceptable to TfL.
Skip the guesswork
Every car in the Blackties fleet is already licensed, insured on a compliant policy and on Uber's eligible list, which removes all nine of these failure modes before you ever see the car. See what is available or register an account.