Ford Focus MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Ford Focus took 986,031 MOT tests in Britain and passed 68% 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: 986,031
First-time pass rate: 68%
All cars: 71%

What the Focus fails on

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

Lights and electrics15.0% (all cars 11.3%)
Suspension10.9% (all cars 9.0%)
Tyres7.6% (all cars 6.4%)
Brakes5.4% (all cars 6.8%)
Visibility4.5% (all cars 4.8%)
Exhaust and emissions3.5% (all cars 3.1%)
Body and structure3.2% (all cars 3.5%)
Steering1.2% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Coil spring: fractured or broken 3.9%
Position lamp: not working 3.6%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 3.1%
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect 2.9%
Stop lamp: not working 2.2%
Tyres, condition: has ply or cords exposed 1.9%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn 1.8%
Headlamp: not working on dipped beam 1.8%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 21.4%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 8.7%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 8.4%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 7.9%
Brake pads: wearing thin 7.4%
Coil spring: corroded 5.2%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 4.0%
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread 3.6%

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
1999	1,736	51%
2000	3,333	52%
2001	7,037	52%
2002	12,093	52%
2003	15,060	52%
2004	19,747	52%
2005	27,657	53%
2006	35,950	57%
2007	48,903	58%
2008	54,607	56%
2009	62,206	57%
2010	58,654	58%
2011	66,874	60%
2012	70,613	64%
2013	75,601	64%
2014	76,161	69%
2015	76,062	79%
2016	64,394	82%
2017	64,214	84%
2018	48,005	85%
2019	56,187	86%
2020	39,348	88%
2021	1,451	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	25,470 miles
4 years	33,054 miles
5 years	39,451 miles
6 years	49,294 miles
7 years	58,586 miles
8 years	67,155 miles
9 years	75,195 miles
10 years	83,256 miles
11 years	89,675 miles
12 years	95,932 miles
13 years	98,436 miles
14 years	100,608 miles
15 years	104,988 miles
16 years	105,269 miles
17 years	106,090 miles
18 years	105,543 miles
19 years	102,997 miles
20 years	97,423 miles

Check a particular Focus

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.