Common problems

Ford Transit common problems

What MOT testers find on the Ford Transit: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 1,227,954 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 8 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=150,998)11.4

All cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457)7.3

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=150,998)34.7

All cars, same age (n=10,440,457)19.1

What stands out

Body and structure fails show up on 9.6 of every 100 MOTs of a Ford Transit at 8 years old (n=150,998), against 1.8 for all cars of that age (n=10,440,457).
Tyres fails are less common: 5.1 per 100 MOTs against 6.3 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 8 years: driveshaft CV boot split, on 8.3 per 100 MOTs (all cars 0.9).
The most common advisory or minor defect: suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement, on 18.7 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 8 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Ford Transit at 8 years (n=150,998) against all cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	11.4	7.3	9.4	3.4
Body and structure	9.6	1.8	6.6	2.2
Brakes	9.5	4.8	34.7	19.1
Suspension	7.1	6.1	23.5	11.8
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	6.5	3.7	9.6	3.4
Tyres	5.1	6.3	21.8	25.2
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.2	2.1	5.3	2.3
Steering	1.5	1.2	3.1	1.5
Seat belts and airbags	0.8	0.5	1.0	0.3
Number plates and VIN	0.4	0.3	1.5	1.4
Road wheels	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.7

What testers fail most on the Transit at 8 years

Fail items on the Ford Transit at 8 years (n=150,998), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,440,457).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Driveshaft CV boot split	Body and structure	8.3	0.9	£88 to £196 per boot (rough guide)
Suspension arm bush worn	Suspension	4.3	0.9	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	3.0	2.0	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded	Brakes	2.9	0.2	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	2.7	1.3	£10 to £47 per lamp
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.6	1.7	£15 to £30 per blade
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	2.3	1.2	£18 to £86 per lamp
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	1.9	2.3	£88 to £145 per tyre
Washers: not working	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	1.6	0.6	£28 to £118 per car (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	1.6	0.8	£10 to £47 per lamp

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 8 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Ford Transit at 8 years (n=150,998), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,440,457).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	18.7	4.0	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	Brakes	15.3	1.4	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	13.5	8.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	13.4	15.7	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	11.1	8.6	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	7.0	8.6	£88 to £145 per tyre
Windscreen: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	6.9	2.1
Drive shaft joints: constant velocity boot severely deteriorated	Body and structure	5.2	0.6
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	4.5	1.9
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.2	1.8

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.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 8 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Body and structure	Brakes
3 years	8,111	8.6	2.0	3.7
4 years	25,830	7.8	1.6	5.0
5 years	68,358	8.7	2.7	6.2
6 years	108,424	9.6	4.6	7.2
7 years	141,008	10.6	7.3	8.3
8 years	150,998	11.4	9.6	9.5
9 years	127,926	14.1	11.4	10.9
10 years	102,413	18.9	12.5	12.5
11 years	86,600	24.4	11.8	13.8
12 years	74,075	29.4	12.6	15.3
13 years	65,207	28.8	13.2	16.1
14 years	63,257	26.9	13.5	16.4
15 years	54,953	26.2	14.6	16.4
16 years	43,690	25.1	15.3	15.7
17 years	32,260	23.6	15.6	14.6
18 years	21,181	22.6	15.8	14.1
19 years	14,221	21.4	16.6	14.0
20 years	10,758	21.6	17.8	15.0
21 years	8,517	21.4	16.3	14.3
22 years	6,716	19.5	15.8	13.0
23 years	5,392	19.1	14.7	12.5
24 years	4,256	16.6	14.1	11.3
25 years	3,803	16.8	13.7	12.0

Mileage

At 8 years, Ford Transit cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 14.8% of MOTs (n=2,508); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 36.7% (n=19,178). For pass and fail rates by age, see Ford Transit MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Ford Transit, testers most often record driveshaft CV boot split; suspension arm bush worn; brake pads under 1.5 mm. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Lights and electrics

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.

Body and structure

Look underneath at the sills, floor, subframes and jacking points for corrosion, or for fresh underseal that may hide it.
Check that doors, bonnet and boot open, close and latch properly.
Look for loose trim, sharp edges or damage around the bumpers and wheel arches.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Ford Transit?

At 8 years, the age with the most MOT tests (150,998), the fail items testers record most often on the Ford Transit are driveshaft CV boot split (8.3 per 100 MOTs), suspension arm bush worn (4.3 per 100 MOTs), brake pads under 1.5 mm (3.0 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (18.7) and rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material (15.3).

Which parts of the Ford Transit fail more often than on other cars?

At 8 years: body and structure (9.6 per 100 MOTs against 1.8 for all cars); brakes (9.5 per 100 MOTs against 4.8 for all cars); lights and electrics (11.4 per 100 MOTs against 7.3 for all cars). Compared with 10,440,457 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Ford Transit problems by area

Other Ford models

All Ford models · Common problems by make

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 Transit?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

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