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MOT fail rates

Toyota Prius MOT fail rate by age

How often the Toyota Prius fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 614,268 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 6 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 6 (n=61,042)12.4%
All cars at 6 years (n=10,382,720)17.8%
Median mileage at test82,380
All cars, median mileage44,951

52 of 340 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 6 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Toyota Prius fails 13.6% of MOTs (28,060 tests), 1.5 points above the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 21 years it fails 38.4% (1,056 tests), 3.7 points below the 42.1% average.
  • The gap is widest at 15 years: 8.3 points below all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 6 years: Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, at 0.6 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 21 years 47.6%

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

Toyota Prius: 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 years13.6%28,06012.1%+1.5 pts49,798 miles
4 years12.8%39,70613.4%−0.6 pts64,605 miles
5 years11.7%51,57015.3%−3.6 pts70,291 miles
6 years12.4%61,04217.8%−5.4 pts82,380 miles
7 years14.4%57,81920.6%−6.3 pts101,357 miles
8 years16.4%54,36323.8%−7.3 pts116,532 miles
9 years19.8%49,08827.1%−7.3 pts141,379 miles
10 years22.4%46,03330.3%−7.9 pts160,494 miles
11 years25.1%34,29133.3%−8.2 pts154,789 miles
12 years28.7%32,77736.0%−7.2 pts158,060 miles
13 years30.5%31,75738.3%−7.7 pts159,711 miles
14 years32.6%30,59240.3%−7.7 pts154,221 miles
15 years33.3%30,00341.6%−8.3 pts145,093 miles
16 years35.7%23,89242.6%−6.9 pts142,372 miles
17 years36.8%19,10343.1%−6.3 pts144,567 miles
18 years37.4%13,20843.3%−5.9 pts148,314 miles
19 years37.7%6,69143.2%−5.5 pts152,129 miles
20 years37.8%3,21742.8%−5.0 pts152,714 miles
21 years38.4%1,05642.1%−3.7 pts147,075 miles

Most common fail items at 6 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
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Major0.6

Out of 61,042 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Wipers not clearing screen Major2.6
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous2.1
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Major1.4
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous1.1
Tyre condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Major0.7
Side/position light not working Major0.7
Rear fog lamp: not working Major0.7
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous0.6
Headlamp aim: too low Major0.5

Out of 61,042 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 6 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Toyota Yaris14.4%112,21217.8%
Toyota Aygo14.2%88,16917.8%
Toyota C-HR17.0%50,88017.8%

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
200520 years in 202537.3%2,11142.8%
200619 years in 202538.8%3,20443.2%
200718 years in 202536.6%6,11743.3%
200817 years in 202536.0%6,18543.1%
200916 years in 202534.5%6,62642.6%
201015 years in 202532.5%9,33641.6%
201114 years in 202531.4%7,05940.3%
201213 years in 202527.7%7,88038.3%
201312 years in 202526.6%8,22636.0%
201411 years in 202523.4%10,80933.3%
201510 years in 202521.8%13,28330.3%
20169 years in 202516.1%14,68027.1%
20178 years in 202513.2%15,41623.8%
20187 years in 202512.3%15,32620.6%
20196 years in 202511.9%16,99417.8%
20205 years in 202510.9%10,16815.3%
20214 years in 20257.9%3,19713.4%

More on the Toyota Prius

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 Prius?

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