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MOT fail rates

Ford Focus MOT fail rate by age

How often the Ford Focus fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 3,840,973 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 10 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 10 (n=297,664)32.5%
All cars at 10 years (n=9,049,507)30.3%
Median mileage at test78,612
All cars, median mileage75,043

198 of 309 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 10 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Ford Focus fails 11.6% of MOTs (134,403 tests), about the same as the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 47.5% (3,218 tests), 11.2 points above the 36.3% average.
  • It moves from below to above the all-car rate between 8 and 9 years.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 10 years: Coil spring broken, at 6 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 25 years 52.3%

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Ford Focus: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
AgeMOT fail rateTests (n)All carsDifferenceMedian mileage
3 years11.6%134,40312.1%−0.4 pts22,442 miles
4 years12.9%164,64113.4%−0.5 pts29,747 miles
5 years14.7%207,40315.3%−0.6 pts37,627 miles
6 years16.8%233,11317.8%−1.0 pts45,769 miles
7 years18.1%253,15120.6%−2.5 pts54,112 miles
8 years22.4%281,33823.8%−1.4 pts62,829 miles
9 years28.1%292,86227.1%+1.0 pts71,083 miles
10 years32.5%297,66430.3%+2.2 pts78,612 miles
11 years36.3%286,52233.3%+3.1 pts85,600 miles
12 years38.6%268,18436.0%+2.6 pts91,830 miles
13 years40.3%255,60338.3%+2.1 pts96,618 miles
14 years42.1%239,31340.3%+1.9 pts100,433 miles
15 years42.7%218,89541.6%+1.1 pts102,109 miles
16 years43.1%189,42642.6%+0.5 pts103,583 miles
17 years43.6%151,02543.1%+0.5 pts104,062 miles
18 years44.6%114,62443.3%+1.4 pts103,158 miles
19 years45.6%84,21443.2%+2.4 pts101,650 miles
20 years47.0%63,14842.8%+4.2 pts99,968 miles
21 years47.6%45,27742.1%+5.5 pts98,295 miles
22 years46.4%30,22141.0%+5.4 pts96,959 miles
23 years47.1%18,36139.6%+7.4 pts99,158 miles
24 years46.1%8,36737.8%+8.3 pts99,966 miles
25 years47.5%3,21836.3%+11.2 pts99,503 miles

Most common fail items at 10 years

Split into structural or mechanical items and wear items. Wear items (tyres, brake pads, wipers, bulbs) say more about upkeep than about the design.

Structural and mechanical

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Coil spring broken Major6
Tyre pressure monitoring system: malfunctioning or obviously inoperative Major2.2

Out of 297,664 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Side/position light not working Major4.3
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous4.1
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major3.3
Brake light not working Major2.3
Headlamp aim: too low Major2
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous2
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous1.9
Individual direction indicators: incorrect colour Major1.6

Out of 297,664 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 10 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Ford Fiesta35.6%464,66230.3%
Ford Kuga27.3%76,03830.3%
Ford KA30.4%67,95630.3%

MOT fail rate by first-use year

Each year has its own page: the fail rate for cars first used that year at each MOT from 2022 to 2025 with at least 1,000 tests, the most common faults at that age, and the car tax and ULEZ rules for that year.

First-use year data updated .

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First usedAge at testMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
199925 years in 202449.0%1,31736.3%
200025 years in 202546.1%1,78936.3%
200124 years in 202544.5%4,08037.8%
200223 years in 202546.4%7,13639.6%
200322 years in 202544.3%9,09241.0%
200421 years in 202547.1%11,99542.1%
200520 years in 202544.7%16,45042.8%
200619 years in 202541.5%23,18743.2%
200718 years in 202542.0%32,60243.3%
200817 years in 202543.9%39,14343.1%
200916 years in 202543.8%48,85942.6%
201015 years in 202543.0%49,78641.6%
201114 years in 202541.6%59,64340.3%
201213 years in 202538.1%64,59038.3%
201312 years in 202537.5%70,58536.0%
201411 years in 202535.5%72,48433.3%
201510 years in 202527.4%74,43230.3%
20169 years in 202523.0%63,49627.1%
20178 years in 202519.1%63,51123.8%
20187 years in 202518.1%47,44120.6%
20196 years in 202518.4%55,48217.8%
20205 years in 202514.2%38,12115.3%
20214 years in 202511.1%20,93313.4%
20223 years in 20259.9%15,88812.1%

More on the Ford Focus

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

Looking at one Ford Focus?

These are figures for the model, not for one car. The VetTheCar Buying Report looks at a single car: its MOT tests, defects, advisories and mileage readings.

See an example report Browse the car tools

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources