Jaguar XK MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Jaguar XK took 8,423 MOT tests in Britain and passed 81% of them first time, above 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: 8,423
First-time pass rate: 81%
All cars: 71%

What the XK fails on

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

Suspension6.2% (all cars 9.0%)
Lights and electrics5.3% (all cars 11.3%)
Tyres4.3% (all cars 6.4%)
Brakes3.3% (all cars 6.8%)
Visibility3.2% (all cars 4.8%)
Steering2.2% (all cars 1.8%)
Exhaust and emissions1.4% (all cars 3.1%)
Seat belts and airbags0.9% (all cars 1.0%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 3.3%
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 1.9%
Track rod end: ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 1.6%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 1.5%
Headlamp aim: too low 1.2%
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction 1.0%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 1.0%
Tyres, condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords 0.9%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 13.3%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 5.8%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 4.6%
Brake pads: wearing thin 4.5%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 4.1%
Sub-frame: corroded but not seriously weakened 4.0%
Road Wheels, condition: slightly distorted 2.7%
Flexible brake hoses: has slight corrosion to ferrule 2.6%

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
2006	1,780	75%
2007	1,092	75%
2008	704	78%
2009	601	78%
2010	592	82%
2011	572	84%
2012	549	85%
2013	841	90%
2014	1,176	89%

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
8 years	30,869 miles
9 years	38,731 miles
10 years	43,538 miles
11 years	49,199 miles
12 years	55,660 miles
13 years	62,805 miles
14 years	67,322 miles
15 years	71,047 miles
16 years	76,754 miles
17 years	81,019 miles

Check a particular XK

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

Other Jaguar 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.