MOT fail rates

Subaru Impreza MOT fail rate by age

How often the Subaru Impreza fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 66,952 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 22 September 2026

At 18 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 18 (n=7,887)27.0%

All cars at 18 years (n=3,261,622)43.3%

Median mileage at test98,253

All cars, median mileage105,218

16 of 238 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 18 years.

What stands out

At 12 years the Subaru Impreza fails 27.0% of MOTs (1,183 tests), 9.0 points below the 36.0% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 22.4% (2,388 tests), 13.9 points below the 36.3% average.
The gap is widest at 19 years: 16.7 points below all cars.
Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 18 years: Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength, at 5.6 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

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

Subaru Impreza: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	MOT fail rate	Tests (n)	All cars	Difference	Median mileage
12 years	27.0%	1,183	36.0%	−9.0 pts	77,312 miles
13 years	24.8%	2,067	38.3%	−13.4 pts	81,352 miles
14 years	26.7%	3,056	40.3%	−13.5 pts	86,196 miles
15 years	27.9%	4,887	41.6%	−13.7 pts	88,613 miles
16 years	27.8%	5,870	42.6%	−14.7 pts	90,992 miles
17 years	28.4%	7,241	43.1%	−14.7 pts	95,958 miles
18 years	27.0%	7,887	43.3%	−16.2 pts	98,253 miles
19 years	26.5%	7,860	43.2%	−16.7 pts	101,516 miles
20 years	26.3%	7,201	42.8%	−16.4 pts	104,546 miles
21 years	26.5%	5,729	42.1%	−15.6 pts	105,401 miles
22 years	26.4%	4,750	41.0%	−14.5 pts	108,403 miles
23 years	25.6%	3,777	39.6%	−14.0 pts	109,433 miles
24 years	24.0%	3,056	37.8%	−13.8 pts	106,758 miles
25 years	22.4%	2,388	36.3%	−13.9 pts	105,659 miles

Most common fail items at 18 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 item	Per 100 MOTs
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Major	5.6
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction Major	3.4
Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Major	3.1
Catalyst emissions: carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Major	2.4
Driveshaft CV boot split Major	2.1

Out of 7,887 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail item	Per 100 MOTs
Side/position light not working Major	4.8
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major	3.1
Wipers not clearing screen Major	1.9
Headlamp aim: too low Major	1.9
Headlight aimed too high Major	1.7

Out of 7,887 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 18 years

Model	MOT fail rate	Tests (n)	All cars
Ford Fiesta	46.4%	146,193	43.3%
Ford Focus	44.6%	114,624	43.3%
Volkswagen Golf	44.9%	109,892	43.3%

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 28 September 2026.

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First used	Age at test	MOT fail rate	Tests (n)	All cars
2001	22 years in 2023	29.4%	1,010	41.0%
2002	23 years in 2025	25.0%	1,006	39.6%
2003	22 years in 2025	25.2%	1,610	41.0%
2004	21 years in 2025	21.9%	1,693	42.1%
2005	20 years in 2025	24.6%	2,145	42.8%
2006	19 years in 2025	24.9%	1,624	43.2%
2007	18 years in 2025	28.2%	1,690	43.3%
2008	16 years in 2024	28.6%	1,062	42.6%

More on the Subaru Impreza

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 Subaru Impreza?

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