Common problems

Ford Fiesta electrical and lighting problems

How often MOT testers find lights and electrics faults on the Ford Fiesta at each age, against all cars of the same age, and which items come up most. From 5,660,045 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 9 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=481,387)15.7

All cars at 9 years (n=9,949,012)9.2

Lights and electrics advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=481,387)2.9

All cars, same age (n=9,949,012)4.5

What stands out

At 9 years, 15.7 of every 100 MOTs of the Ford Fiesta found a lights and electrics fail (n=481,387), against 9.2 for all cars of that age (n=9,949,012).
It is above the all-car rate at 19 of the 23 ages with at least 1,000 tests.
The gap is widest at 8 years: 13.9 per 100 MOTs against 7.3 for all cars.
The lights and electrics fail item recorded most often at 9 years: brake light not working, on 7.8 per 100 MOTs.

Lights and electrics fails by age

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

Ford Fiesta: lights and electrics fails and advisories per 100 MOTs, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
3 years	187,046	5.3	2.9	0.5	0.7
4 years	251,578	4.2	3.1	0.5	1.0
5 years	314,772	5.0	3.7	0.8	1.3
6 years	381,553	7.9	4.7	1.3	1.9
7 years	430,004	10.9	5.8	1.8	2.5
8 years	459,355	13.9	7.3	2.3	3.4
9 years	481,387	15.7	9.2	2.9	4.5
10 years	464,662	16.5	11.2	4.4	5.9
11 years	424,219	17.2	13.3	6.3	7.5
12 years	389,900	18.5	15.4	8.7	9.3
13 years	372,522	20.2	17.0	10.7	10.8
14 years	334,302	21.6	18.3	11.6	12.2
15 years	302,723	23.0	19.5	13.6	13.7
16 years	257,412	24.0	20.4	16.2	15.3
17 years	185,757	24.4	21.0	18.4	16.9
18 years	146,193	24.5	21.4	18.1	17.8
19 years	108,138	23.7	21.5	16.1	17.9
20 years	71,656	21.9	21.2	13.7	17.4
21 years	45,547	21.1	20.6	13.7	16.7
22 years	25,421	18.9	19.7	11.5	15.5
23 years	13,036	15.4	18.6	9.3	14.2
24 years	7,631	13.7	17.2	6.4	12.5
25 years	5,231	13.2	16.3	6.8	11.1

Lights and electrics fail items at 9 years

Lights and electrics fail items on the Ford Fiesta at 9 years (n=481,387), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,949,012).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Brake light not working	7.8	1.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Dipped headlight not working	2.4	1.5	£18 to £86 per lamp
Headlamp aim: too low	1.7	1.1	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	1.4	0.8	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Side/position light not working	1.1	1.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Side repeaters: not working	0.6	0.4	£10 to £47 per lamp
Headlight aimed too high	0.6	0.8	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

What to check on a viewing

On the Ford Fiesta, the lights and electrics items testers fail most are brake light not working; dipped headlight not working; headlamp aim: too low.

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Ask for the car's MOT history: a lights and electrics advisory that repeats from year to year has not been fixed. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the common electrical and lighting problems on the Ford Fiesta?

At 9 years (481,387 MOTs), the lights and electrics fail items testers record most often are brake light not working (7.8 per 100 MOTs), dipped headlight not working (2.4 per 100 MOTs), headlamp aim: too low (1.7 per 100 MOTs).

Does the Ford Fiesta have more electrical and lighting problems than other cars?

At 9 years it has 15.7 lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs against 9.2 for all cars of the same age (6.5 more). It is above the all-car rate at 19 of the 23 ages with enough tests.

What does a lights and electrics repair cost on the Ford Fiesta?

For brake light not working, an independent garage estimate is £10 to £47 per lamp. This is a guide built from the national median garage labour rate and estimated labour hours, not a quote.

Electrical and lighting problems on other Ford models

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.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Ford Fiesta?

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Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

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 28 September 2026.

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