Ford Fiesta MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Ford Fiesta took 1,440,962 MOT tests in Britain and passed 66% of them first time, below the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.

MOT tests in 2023: 1,440,962
First-time pass rate: 66%
All cars: 71%

What the Fiesta fails on

Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.

Lights and electrics15.8% (all cars 11.3%)
Suspension12.2% (all cars 9.0%)
Tyres7.5% (all cars 6.4%)
Brakes5.5% (all cars 6.8%)
Visibility4.8% (all cars 4.8%)
Exhaust and emissions3.7% (all cars 3.1%)
Body and structure3.3% (all cars 3.5%)
Steering3.1% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Stop lamp: not working 5.9%
Suspension arms, ball joint: ball joint excessively worn 4.0%
Coil spring: fractured or broken 3.1%
Position lamp: not working 2.8%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.7%
Track rod end: ball joint has excessive play 2.4%
Headlamp aim: too low 2.1%
Headlamp: not working on dipped beam 2.1%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 18.8%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 10.3%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 7.7%
Coil spring: corroded 7.0%
Brake pads: wearing thin 5.9%
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material 5.5%
Swivel pins and bushes: swivel pin and/or bush slightly worn 3.9%
Road Wheels, condition: slightly distorted 3.8%

Pass rate by year of registration

Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare a car with others of the same age.

First registered	Tests	Pass rate
1988	359	77%
1991	325	77%
1995	303	67%
1996	410	58%
1997	746	53%
1998	1,593	51%
1999	2,008	53%
2000	1,948	54%
2001	3,435	54%
2002	9,258	56%
2003	19,008	55%
2004	24,800	54%
2005	29,836	54%
2006	49,090	53%
2007	59,071	56%
2008	62,592	55%
2009	96,994	55%
2010	89,920	57%
2011	87,202	60%
2012	100,540	61%
2013	114,615	64%
2014	124,500	67%
2015	127,696	70%
2016	115,998	70%
2017	91,232	79%
2018	93,598	86%
2019	78,733	88%
2020	50,961	84%
2021	2,300	90%

Typical mileage by age

Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.

Age at test	Average mileage
3 years	20,743 miles
4 years	26,671 miles
5 years	33,881 miles
6 years	40,755 miles
7 years	48,688 miles
8 years	55,457 miles
9 years	62,606 miles
10 years	69,472 miles
11 years	75,380 miles
12 years	82,943 miles
13 years	88,001 miles
14 years	90,114 miles
15 years	90,008 miles
16 years	91,508 miles
17 years	93,357 miles
18 years	93,722 miles
19 years	94,760 miles
20 years	94,097 miles

Check a particular Fiesta

Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.

Other Ford models

Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.