Skip to content
My MOT CheckerSources

835,727 tests in 2025

Ford Focus reliability and MOT pass rate

74.6% passed first time. The 25.4% fail rate is 2.8 points worse than the all-car average, on a median example 12 years old with 80,686 miles.

MOT pass rates / Ford

Pass rate

74.6%

22.6% of all cars failed; 25.4% of these did.

Fixed on the day

6.9%

Passed after a defect was put right during the visit.

Median at test

80,686 mi

12 years old.

Fail rate by age

Age at testTestsFail rate
3-5 years68,58710.2%
6-9 years211,44915.5%
10-13 years261,85927.2%
14+ years292,82734.4%

What the Focus fails on

Share of failed tests with at least one fail item in each DVSA inspection section. A test can fail in several sections at once.

  1. Suspension12,665 dangerous40%
  2. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment543 dangerous39.7%
  3. Tyres63,357 dangerous30%
  4. Brakes22,362 dangerous21%
  5. Noise, emissions and leaks208 dangerous13.6%
  6. Body, chassis, structure1,706 dangerous12.6%
  7. Visibility132 dangerous12.4%
  8. Steering662 dangerous5.5%

Is the Focus getting worse?

The fail rate rose 0.6 points to 25.6% from 2022 to 2025, against a rising rate across all cars.

YearTestsMedian ageFail rate All cars
20221,033,001—25%22.5%
20231,001,138—25.2%22.8%
2024832,675—25.4%23.2%
2025825,257—25.6%22.6%

Fail rate is first attempts at class 4 tests. Median age is the age of a typical Focus at its test that year, and it is the number to watch: across the whole fleet each extra year of age adds roughly 1.9 points to the fail rate, so a model whose age and fail rate rise together is simply getting older.

The exact defects that fail it

Every failure item DVSA recorded against a Focus in 2025, counted by how many tests each one appeared on.

  1. 1Coil spring: fractured or broken25,619 tests
  2. 2Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm22,105 tests
  3. 3Position lamp: not working21,921 tests
  4. 4Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect18,151 tests
  5. 5Condition: has ply or cords exposed15,517 tests
  6. 6Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick14,654 tests
  7. 7Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn14,604 tests
  8. 8Ball joint: ball joint excessively worn12,636 tests

What wears out first

Advisories are the tester flagging wear that is still legal. A typical Focus collects 2.92 of them per test, and these are the ones that come up most. Treat it as the running-repairs list for the next year or two.

  1. 1Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm162,481 tests
  2. 2Condition: has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure79,226 tests
  3. 3Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn77,581 tests
  4. 4Brake discs: in such a condition that it is seriously weakened72,065 tests
  5. 5Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick67,968 tests
  6. 6Sub-frame: corroded and seriously weakened50,467 tests
  7. 7Coil spring: corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened47,182 tests
  8. 8Engine oil leaks: leaking excessively from engine39,378 tests

Questions

What is the Ford Focus MOT pass rate?

74.6% of the 835,727 Ford Focus first-attempt MOTs in 2025 passed. The fail rate of 25.4% compares with 22.6% across all cars. A further 6.9% passed after a defect was fixed during the test visit.

What does a Ford Focus usually fail on?

The single most common failure is "Coil spring: fractured or broken", recorded on 25,619 failed tests, followed by "Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm" and "Position lamp: not working". By section, suspension appears in 40% of failures, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment appears in 39.7% of failures, tyres appears in 30% of failures.

Does age change the odds?

Sharply. At 3 to 5 years old the fail rate was 10.2%; at 14+ years it was 34.4%. The median Ford Focus tested in 2025 was 12 years old with 80,686 miles.

Is the Ford Focus getting less reliable?

The fail rate rose 0.6 points to 25.6% from 2022 to 2025, against a rising rate across all cars.

First-attempt class 4 tests, 2025, from DVSA’s anonymised MOT data (OGL v3, retrieved 2026-09-12). DVSA records newer cars trim by trim; this page adds every Focus trim together. Year-on-year figures come from the same DVSA extracts for 2026 and earlier years. Full method on the pass rates hub.

DVSA has published 58 safety recalls naming the Ford Focus: Ford Focus recalls.

Other Ford models

Checking a particular Focus?

The odds above are the model. The car in front of you has its own record: every test, every advisory, the mileage at each one.

Due a test? Find an approved MOT station near you.