Common problems

Volvo V50 common problems

What MOT testers find on the Volvo V50: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 126,765 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 14 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=20,275)19.7

All cars at 14 years (n=6,054,526)18.3

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=20,275)32.9

All cars, same age (n=6,054,526)28.4

What stands out

Tyres fails show up on 10.9 of every 100 MOTs of a Volvo V50 at 14 years old (n=20,275), against 7.5 for all cars of that age (n=6,054,526).
The fail item testers record most often at 14 years: side/position light not working, on 8.2 per 100 MOTs (all cars 5.4).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 24.4 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 14 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.

Volvo V50 at 14 years (n=20,275) against all cars at 14 years (n=6,054,526). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	19.7	18.3	17.1	12.2
Suspension	19.3	16.0	27.6	30.4
Tyres	10.9	7.5	32.9	28.4
Brakes	9.2	9.9	23.6	26.4
Body and structure	8.5	5.9	11.0	9.7
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.3	6.1	5.4	5.1
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.7	5.1	8.6	9.7
Steering	4.3	3.2	3.6	3.9
Seat belts and airbags	1.4	1.5	0.7	0.9
Road wheels	0.5	0.6	2.7	1.4
Number plates and VIN	0.4	0.5	3.7	3.8

What testers fail most on the V50 at 14 years

Fail items on the Volvo V50 at 14 years (n=20,275), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=6,054,526).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	8.2	5.4	£10 to £47 per lamp
Coil spring broken	Suspension	6.3	4.2	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Driveshaft CV boot split	Body and structure	5.6	2.3	£88 to £196 per boot (rough guide)
Tyre with cords exposed	Tyres	4.4	1.8	£88 to £145 per tyre
Suspension arm bush worn	Suspension	4.3	2.1	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	3.3	3.1	£88 to £145 per tyre
Headlamp aim: too low	Lights and electrics	2.8	1.7	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Suspension ball joint worn	Suspension	2.7	2.5	£75 to £237 per side (rough guide)
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	2.7	2.3	£18 to £86 per lamp
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	2.5	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 14 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 Volvo V50 at 14 years (n=20,275), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=6,054,526).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	24.4	18.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	12.1	8.4	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	10.2	11.0	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	9.7	7.2	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	8.2	5.6
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	7.4	8.5
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	6.7	9.3	£88 to £145 per tyre
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	5.6	6.4
Drive shaft joints: constant velocity boot severely deteriorated	Body and structure	5.3	2.6
Windscreen: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	3.8	3.1

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 14 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Tyres
10 years	3,239	11.1	15.8	9.6
11 years	7,810	14.6	17.8	11.0
12 years	13,008	16.7	18.7	9.8
13 years	17,806	17.2	18.5	10.6
14 years	20,275	19.7	19.3	10.9
15 years	18,344	19.6	19.5	10.6
16 years	16,282	19.3	19.9	10.8
17 years	13,575	19.3	21.5	11.1
18 years	8,798	18.8	22.8	11.3
19 years	5,277	18.9	21.9	10.3
20 years	2,351	18.7	22.3	11.2

Mileage

At 14 years, Volvo V50 cars showing 60,000 to 90,000 miles failed 36.7% of MOTs (n=2,661); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 49.3% (n=5,609). For pass and fail rates by age, see Volvo V50 MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Volvo V50, testers most often record side/position light not working; coil spring broken; driveshaft CV boot split. 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.

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.

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 Volvo V50?

At 14 years, the age with the most MOT tests (20,275), the fail items testers record most often on the Volvo V50 are side/position light not working (8.2 per 100 MOTs), coil spring broken (6.3 per 100 MOTs), driveshaft CV boot split (5.6 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (24.4) and suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (12.1).

Which parts of the Volvo V50 fail more often than on other cars?

At 14 years: tyres (10.9 per 100 MOTs against 7.5 for all cars); suspension (19.3 per 100 MOTs against 16.0 for all cars); body and structure (8.5 per 100 MOTs against 5.9 for all cars). Compared with 6,054,526 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Volvo V50 problems by area

Other Volvo models

All Volvo 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 Volvo V50?

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