Common problems

Ford Transit Courier common problems

What MOT testers find on the Ford Transit Courier: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 103,155 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 5 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=16,521)13.3

All cars at 5 years (n=9,425,360)3.7

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=16,521)24.7

All cars, same age (n=9,425,360)23.3

What stands out

Lights and electrics fails show up on 13.3 of every 100 MOTs of a Ford Transit Courier at 5 years old (n=16,521), against 3.7 for all cars of that age (n=9,425,360).
The fail item testers record most often at 5 years: brake light not working, on 5.4 per 100 MOTs (all cars 0.4).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 18.9 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 5 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 Courier at 5 years (n=16,521) against all cars at 5 years (n=9,425,360). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	13.3	3.7	5.4	1.3
Tyres	6.1	5.1	24.7	23.3
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.1	3.4	8.1	3.0
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.0	1.0	2.2	0.8
Brakes	3.5	2.8	12.5	15.1
Suspension	2.3	1.6	2.6	4.2
Steering	0.9	0.3	0.7	0.5
Body and structure	0.8	0.5	0.8	0.8
Number plates and VIN	0.4	0.2	2.2	0.8
Seat belts and airbags	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2
Road wheels	0.1	0.2	1.3	0.5

What testers fail most on the Transit Courier at 5 years

Fail items on the Ford Transit Courier at 5 years (n=16,521), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,425,360).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	5.4	0.4	£10 to £47 per lamp
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	3.0	0.6	£18 to £86 per lamp
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	3.0	1.7	£88 to £145 per tyre
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.6	2.1	£15 to £30 per blade
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.1	0.4	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	1.8	1.7	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	Lights and electrics	1.6	0.2	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	1.4	0.3	£10 to £47 per lamp
Tyre condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords	Tyres	1.4	1.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Headlamp aim: too low	Lights and electrics	1.3	0.7	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 5 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 Courier at 5 years (n=16,521), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,425,360).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	18.9	13.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	6.4	8.8	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Windscreen: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	6.1	1.6
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	4.4	6.4	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	4.0	0.7
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	3.7	8.6	£88 to £145 per tyre
Nail in tyre	Other	2.7	2.1
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	2.6	1.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread	Number plates and VIN	2.2	0.8	£23 to £63 per plate (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively	Brakes	2.1	2.2	£148 to £376 per axle (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.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 5 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Tyres	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors
3 years	16,208	7.2	6.1	7.1
4 years	16,117	9.4	6.0	6.3
5 years	16,521	13.3	6.1	5.1
6 years	15,784	16.6	7.1	5.5
7 years	14,580	18.9	7.3	6.2
8 years	11,239	21.1	8.4	7.0
9 years	7,233	20.9	8.6	8.0
10 years	4,446	23.2	8.9	9.9
11 years	1,027	21.0	7.8	9.0

Mileage

At 5 years, Ford Transit Courier cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 15.1% of MOTs (n=1,849); the band that failed most, 90,000 to 120,000 miles, failed 31.9% (n=2,432). For pass and fail rates by age, see Ford Transit Courier MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Ford Transit Courier, testers most often record brake light not working; dipped headlight not working; tyre tread below 1.6 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.

Tyres

Check the tread across the full width of all four tyres, and the spare if there is one.
Look for cuts, bulges and cracking in the sidewalls.
Wear on one edge only can point to worn suspension or the tracking being out.

Windscreen, wipers and mirrors

Look for chips or cracks in the windscreen, above all in front of the driver.
Run the wipers and washers: they should clear the screen without smearing.
Check that the mirrors are present, secure and not cracked.

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 Courier?

At 5 years, the age with the most MOT tests (16,521), the fail items testers record most often on the Ford Transit Courier are brake light not working (5.4 per 100 MOTs), dipped headlight not working (3.0 per 100 MOTs), tyre tread below 1.6 mm (3.0 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (18.9) and brake pads: wearing thin (6.4).

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

At 5 years: lights and electrics (13.3 per 100 MOTs against 3.7 for all cars); exhaust, emissions and leaks (4.0 per 100 MOTs against 1.0 for all cars); windscreen, wipers and mirrors (5.1 per 100 MOTs against 3.4 for all cars). Compared with 9,425,360 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Ford Transit Courier 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 Courier?

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