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MOT fail rates

Toyota Corolla MOT fail rate by age

How often the Toyota Corolla fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 419,739 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 18 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 18 (n=39,864)40.2%
All cars at 18 years (n=3,261,622)43.3%
Median mileage at test102,240
All cars, median mileage105,218

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

What stands out

  • At 13 years the Toyota Corolla fails 34.3% of MOTs (1,660 tests), 4.0 points below the 38.3% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 39.7% (3,994 tests), 3.3 points above the 36.3% average.
  • The gap is widest at 14 years: 4.8 points below all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 18 years: Service brake performance: excessively binding, at 3.1 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age, first used before 2019

13 years 25 years 47.6%

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

Toyota Corolla (first used before 2019): 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
13 years34.3%1,66038.3%−4.0 pts102,231 miles
14 years35.5%5,81240.3%−4.8 pts111,212 miles
15 years37.2%11,23341.6%−4.4 pts112,648 miles
16 years38.0%25,93742.6%−4.6 pts104,339 miles
17 years38.5%36,92843.1%−4.6 pts103,974 miles
18 years40.2%39,86443.3%−3.1 pts102,240 miles
19 years40.5%38,83943.2%−2.7 pts101,430 miles
20 years41.5%28,87342.8%−1.2 pts101,564 miles
21 years41.3%18,83342.1%−0.7 pts99,058 miles
22 years40.7%12,42841.0%−0.3 pts97,071 miles
23 years38.0%8,20339.6%−1.7 pts95,176 miles
24 years38.5%5,73037.8%+0.7 pts93,902 miles
25 years39.7%3,99436.3%+3.3 pts95,089 miles

MOT fail rate by age, first used undefined or later

3 years 6 years 19.6%

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

Toyota Corolla (first used undefined or later): 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 years10.3%74,37212.1%−1.8 pts27,082 miles
4 years11.1%55,07513.4%−2.3 pts36,307 miles
5 years10.8%35,42215.3%−4.5 pts45,307 miles
6 years11.5%16,53617.8%−6.3 pts56,001 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 itemPer 100 MOTs
Service brake performance: excessively binding Major3.1
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded Major2.8

Out of 39,864 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major8.6
Side/position light not working Major6.6
Wipers not clearing screen Major5.8
Brake light not working Major5.5
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous4
Dipped headlight not working Major3.9
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous3
Headlamp: lens seriously defective Major2.5

Out of 39,864 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 18 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Toyota Yaris44.7%73,32543.3%
Toyota RAV438.1%25,53243.3%
Toyota Aygo47.0%17,86043.3%

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
199825 years in 202341.2%1,17536.3%
199925 years in 202439.0%1,17436.3%
200024 years in 202437.4%1,17337.8%
200124 years in 202537.5%1,67937.8%
200223 years in 202539.0%2,95139.6%
200322 years in 202542.3%4,52041.0%
200421 years in 202543.1%5,99542.1%
200520 years in 202540.3%9,50642.8%
200619 years in 202539.7%10,87743.2%
200718 years in 202539.2%3,79343.3%
200817 years in 202540.2%2,85243.1%
200916 years in 202539.9%1,14242.6%
20196 years in 202511.5%16,53617.8%
20205 years in 202510.4%19,06015.3%
20214 years in 202510.4%20,05213.4%
20223 years in 20259.6%19,25712.1%

More on the Toyota Corolla

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 Toyota Corolla?

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