Common problems

Toyota Hiace common problems

What MOT testers find on the Toyota Hiace: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 55,241 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 17 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=6,492)16.6

All cars at 17 years (n=4,040,458)21.0

Suspension advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=6,492)37.7

All cars, same age (n=4,040,458)34.7

What stands out

No part area of the Toyota Hiace fails more than 1 point per 100 MOTs above all cars at 17 years old (n=6,492; all cars n=4,040,458).
Suspension fails are less common: 12.2 per 100 MOTs against 17.2 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 17 years: side/position light not working, on 6.1 per 100 MOTs (all cars 5.8).
The most common advisory or minor defect: rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material, on 19.9 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 17 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 Hiace at 17 years (n=6,492) against all cars at 17 years (n=4,040,458). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	16.6	21.0	15.4	16.9
Suspension	12.2	17.2	37.7	34.7
Brakes	9.5	12.3	29.9	31.1
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	7.5	7.1	8.0	6.0
Body and structure	5.5	8.3	12.1	13.9
Tyres	4.5	7.3	21.7	28.1
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.2	6.5	6.7	13.2
Seat belts and airbags	1.7	2.5	1.2	1.2
Number plates and VIN	0.7	0.6	6.2	5.2
Steering	0.7	3.6	1.7	5.1
Road wheels	0.2	0.6	0.2	1.4

What testers fail most on the Hiace at 17 years

Fail items on the Toyota Hiace at 17 years (n=6,492), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=4,040,458).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	6.1	5.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength	Suspension	4.5	1.9
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	4.3	2.8	£15 to £30 per blade
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	3.9	4.0	£10 to £47 per lamp
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded	Brakes	3.7	1.9	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Linkage pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn	Suspension	2.6	0.2
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.0	2.4	£2 to £14 per car (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	2.0	1.9	£10 to £47 per lamp
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	1.9	3.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Rear fog lamp: not working	Lights and electrics	1.6	0.9	£10 to £47 per lamp

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 17 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 Hiace at 17 years (n=6,492), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=4,040,458).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	Brakes	19.9	10.5	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	14.6	17.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	9.0	5.9
Wheel bearings: has slight play	Suspension	8.5	1.1	£103 to £276 per wheel (rough guide)
Linkage pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	8.1	0.9
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	7.5	7.5
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	6.3	9.6	£88 to £145 per tyre
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread	Number plates and VIN	6.1	5.1	£23 to £63 per plate (rough guide)
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive	Suspension	5.7	2.4
Suspension arm: corroded but not seriously weakened	Suspension	5.4	2.7	£92 to £237 per arm (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 17 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Brakes
12 years	1,773	16.3	7.3	8.9
13 years	2,660	16.9	7.9	8.6
14 years	4,205	15.5	9.2	8.0
15 years	5,654	16.0	9.7	8.3
16 years	6,239	16.8	10.9	9.6
17 years	6,492	16.6	12.2	9.5
18 years	5,926	18.1	13.3	10.2
19 years	5,011	18.2	16.1	9.3
20 years	4,262	16.0	15.6	8.3
21 years	3,665	17.6	16.8	9.3
22 years	3,119	16.3	18.5	8.7
23 years	2,532	18.0	16.7	8.4
24 years	2,117	16.6	18.4	9.4
25 years	1,586	15.8	17.8	9.5

Mileage

At 17 years, Toyota Hiace cars showing 90,000 to 120,000 miles failed 29.8% of MOTs (n=1,127); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 39.8% (n=2,944). For pass and fail rates by age, see Toyota Hiace MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Toyota Hiace, testers most often record side/position light not working; component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength; wipers not clearing screen. 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.

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 Toyota Hiace?

At 17 years, the age with the most MOT tests (6,492), the fail items testers record most often on the Toyota Hiace are side/position light not working (6.1 per 100 MOTs), component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (4.5 per 100 MOTs), wipers not clearing screen (4.3 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material (19.9) and tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (14.6).

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

None by more than 1 point per 100 MOTs at 17 years, compared with 4,040,458 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Toyota Hiace 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 Hiace?

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