Ford Mondeo MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Ford Mondeo took 215,234 MOT tests in Britain and passed 67% 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: 215,234
First-time pass rate: 67%
All cars: 71%

What the Mondeo fails on

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

Lights and electrics14.2% (all cars 11.3%)
Suspension10.3% (all cars 9.0%)
Tyres8.6% (all cars 6.4%)
Brakes8.5% (all cars 6.8%)
Body and structure4.5% (all cars 3.5%)
Visibility4.5% (all cars 4.8%)
Exhaust and emissions4.3% (all cars 3.1%)
Steering2.3% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Position lamp: not working 3.6%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 3.4%
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick 2.8%
Tyres, condition: has ply or cords exposed 2.5%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn 2.4%
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect 2.2%
Stop lamp: not working 2.1%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 1.9%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 23.5%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 12.3%
Brake pads: wearing thin 10.9%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 8.3%
Coil spring: corroded 7.0%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 6.6%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 6.3%
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material 5.5%

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
1998	303	60%
1999	512	53%
2000	863	56%
2001	1,929	56%
2002	2,270	55%
2003	2,934	53%
2004	4,867	53%
2005	7,561	53%
2006	8,878	55%
2007	14,203	54%
2008	17,784	57%
2009	18,029	59%
2010	17,989	60%
2011	14,374	64%
2012	16,777	67%
2013	13,355	68%
2014	12,136	71%
2015	17,831	80%
2016	16,492	82%
2017	11,111	84%
2018	7,264	85%
2019	4,582	83%
2020	2,308	84%

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	36,648 miles
4 years	50,158 miles
5 years	62,138 miles
6 years	72,100 miles
7 years	83,025 miles
8 years	92,006 miles
9 years	109,873 miles
10 years	118,139 miles
11 years	119,784 miles
12 years	125,735 miles
13 years	126,652 miles
14 years	129,797 miles
15 years	136,127 miles
16 years	129,862 miles
17 years	121,561 miles
18 years	121,424 miles
19 years	120,219 miles
20 years	115,070 miles

Check a particular Mondeo

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.