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MOT fail rates

Ford Mondeo MOT fail rate by age

How often the Ford Mondeo fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 817,456 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 14 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 14 (n=67,067)40.2%
All cars at 14 years (n=6,054,526)40.3%
Median mileage at test128,127
All cars, median mileage96,840

143 of 280 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 14 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Ford Mondeo fails 16.4% of MOTs (8,614 tests), 4.4 points above the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 40.8% (1,538 tests), 4.5 points above the 36.3% average.
  • The gap is widest at 24 years: 5.0 points above all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 14 years: Suspension arm bush worn, at 6.1 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 25 years 49.9%

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

Ford Mondeo: 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 years16.4%8,61412.1%+4.4 pts32,363 miles
4 years16.4%15,56713.4%+3.1 pts44,757 miles
5 years15.0%25,38615.3%−0.4 pts55,538 miles
6 years15.8%39,28417.8%−2.0 pts66,156 miles
7 years17.7%52,75520.6%−2.9 pts76,075 miles
8 years20.8%57,45023.8%−2.9 pts86,535 miles
9 years24.9%59,70027.1%−2.2 pts97,171 miles
10 years29.6%60,07430.3%−0.7 pts106,315 miles
11 years33.2%56,03133.3%0.0 pts114,563 miles
12 years36.4%62,37236.0%+0.4 pts119,343 miles
13 years38.2%66,74538.3%0.0 pts123,382 miles
14 years40.2%67,06740.3%−0.1 pts128,127 miles
15 years42.9%64,19041.6%+1.3 pts129,800 miles
16 years44.4%52,34942.6%+1.9 pts128,769 miles
17 years44.9%40,95843.1%+1.8 pts125,510 miles
18 years45.3%29,53243.3%+2.1 pts120,438 miles
19 years45.2%20,20543.2%+2.0 pts116,056 miles
20 years44.9%14,22242.8%+2.1 pts113,603 miles
21 years44.0%9,95442.1%+1.9 pts111,189 miles
22 years43.6%6,44741.0%+2.6 pts107,291 miles
23 years43.8%4,29339.6%+4.1 pts104,912 miles
24 years42.8%2,72337.8%+5.0 pts102,890 miles
25 years40.8%1,53836.3%+4.5 pts95,395 miles

Most common fail items at 14 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
Suspension arm bush worn Major6.1
Suspension arm: corroded and seriously weakened Major2.2

Out of 67,067 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Side/position light not working Major5.9
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous5.4
Brake light not working Major4.6
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major3.9
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous3.9
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous3.7
Headlamp aim: too low Major2.3
Individual direction indicators: incorrect colour Major2.3

Out of 67,067 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 14 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Ford Fiesta43.8%334,30240.3%
Ford Focus42.1%239,31340.3%
Ford KA42.6%60,77140.3%

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
200124 years in 202541.5%1,14237.8%
200223 years in 202544.1%1,30339.6%
200322 years in 202544.1%1,67441.0%
200421 years in 202543.7%2,87142.1%
200520 years in 202544.3%4,51342.8%
200619 years in 202543.5%5,48343.2%
200718 years in 202544.8%8,49943.3%
200817 years in 202544.4%11,14743.1%
200916 years in 202542.0%12,51742.6%
201015 years in 202541.5%13,31841.6%
201114 years in 202537.1%11,99740.3%
201213 years in 202535.6%14,70738.3%
201312 years in 202534.4%11,94636.0%
201411 years in 202532.3%11,07033.3%
201510 years in 202523.8%17,13030.3%
20169 years in 202519.6%16,06827.1%
20178 years in 202517.5%10,88823.8%
20187 years in 202516.5%7,01620.6%
20196 years in 202515.5%4,39417.8%
20205 years in 202514.2%2,24415.3%
20214 years in 202515.2%1,18113.4%

More on the Ford Mondeo

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 Mondeo?

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