Common problems

Toyota Estima common problems

What MOT testers find on the Toyota Estima: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 63,559 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 13 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=5,891)11.7

All cars at 13 years (n=6,612,160)17.0

Suspension advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=5,891)19.9

All cars, same age (n=6,612,160)27.9

What stands out

No part area of the Toyota Estima fails more than 1 point per 100 MOTs above all cars at 13 years old (n=5,891; all cars n=6,612,160).
Suspension fails are less common: 5.7 per 100 MOTs against 14.9 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 13 years: side/position light not working, on 2.9 per 100 MOTs (all cars 4.8).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 9.1 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 13 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.

Toyota Estima at 13 years (n=5,891) against all cars at 13 years (n=6,612,160). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	11.7	17.0	8.9	10.8
Suspension	5.7	14.9	19.9	27.9
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	3.3	5.6	2.3	4.7
Tyres	3.0	7.3	14.9	28.1
Brakes	2.8	9.1	11.9	25.0
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	1.3	4.3	2.2	8.2
Body and structure	1.0	5.0	1.9	8.0
Steering	0.7	2.9	2.7	3.5
Seat belts and airbags	0.5	1.2	0.1	0.7
Number plates and VIN	0.4	0.4	0.8	3.4
Road wheels	0.3	0.5	0.1	1.3

What testers fail most on the Estima at 13 years

Fail items on the Toyota Estima at 13 years (n=5,891), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=6,612,160).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	2.9	4.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt	Suspension	2.5	1.4	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Rear fog lamp: not working	Lights and electrics	2.4	0.6	£10 to £47 per lamp
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	1.8	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	1.8	2.1	£15 to £30 per blade
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	1.5	1.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Shock absorber leaking	Suspension	1.3	1.5	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Rear fog lamp: does not emit a steady red light	Lights and electrics	1.2	0.1
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	1.2	2.0	£2 to £14 per car (rough guide)
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	1.1	2.2	£18 to £86 per lamp

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 13 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 Toyota Estima at 13 years (n=5,891), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=6,612,160).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	9.1	18.2	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	7.6	7.3	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Swivel pins and bushes: swivel pin and/or bush slightly worn	Suspension	5.0	0.7	£157 to £384 per side (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	4.9	9.1	£88 to £145 per tyre
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	4.4	4.0	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	3.6	5.2
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated	Suspension	3.2	1.1
Play in steering rack inner joint(s)	Other	3.2	2.1
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	3.1	10.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Headlamp: has a product on the lens but not seriously reducing light output	Lights and electrics	3.0	0.8	£28 to £98 per lamp (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 13 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors
3 years	1,957	16.8	8.1	4.8
4 years	2,329	17.7	6.4	4.8
5 years	2,510	17.0	7.2	4.7
6 years	3,266	13.7	5.8	4.3
7 years	3,526	13.1	5.9	3.5
8 years	3,660	13.0	5.7	3.5
9 years	3,666	13.5	6.8	3.7
10 years	4,005	10.9	6.5	3.2
11 years	5,130	10.6	5.6	2.8
12 years	5,651	11.5	5.8	3.0
13 years	5,891	11.7	5.7	3.3
14 years	5,437	14.1	6.0	4.2
15 years	5,311	14.9	6.2	4.3
16 years	4,487	15.8	6.8	4.4
17 years	3,178	17.7	8.1	5.4
18 years	2,197	18.8	7.5	6.2
19 years	1,358	19.0	7.7	6.7

Mileage

At 13 years, Toyota Estima cars showing 60,000 to 90,000 miles failed 17.5% of MOTs (n=2,905); the band that failed most, 90,000 to 120,000 miles, failed 22.3% (n=1,323). For pass and fail rates by age, see Toyota Estima MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Toyota Estima, testers most often record side/position light not working; linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt; rear fog lamp: not working. 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.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

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 Toyota Estima?

At 13 years, the age with the most MOT tests (5,891), the fail items testers record most often on the Toyota Estima are side/position light not working (2.9 per 100 MOTs), linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.5 per 100 MOTs), rear fog lamp: not working (2.4 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (9.1) and brake pads: wearing thin (7.6).

Which parts of the Toyota Estima fail more often than on other cars?

None by more than 1 point per 100 MOTs at 13 years, compared with 6,612,160 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Toyota Estima problems by area

Other Toyota models

All Toyota 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 Toyota Estima?

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