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1,345 tests in 2025

Ford Freedom reliability and MOT pass rate

81% passed first time. The 19% fail rate is 3.6 points better than the all-car average, on a median example 8 years old with 45,817 miles.

MOT pass rates / Ford

Pass rate

81%

22.6% of all cars failed; 19% of these did.

Fixed on the day

4.3%

Passed after a defect was put right during the visit.

Median at test

45,817 mi

8 years old.

Fail rate by age

Age at testTestsFail rate
3-5 years21218.4%
6-9 years1,12919%
10-13 years2—
14+ years2—

What the Freedom 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. Tyres56 dangerous32.5%
  2. Brakes53 dangerous29.4%
  3. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment19.2%
  4. Visibility16.1%
  5. Noise, emissions and leaks3 dangerous14.5%
  6. Body, chassis, structure1 dangerous13.3%
  7. Suspension1 dangerous11.8%
  8. Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems11.4%

Is the Freedom getting worse?

The fail rate rose 5.2 points to 19% from 2022 to 2025 while the median one tested aged 3 years, which is about what ageing alone predicts (6.6 points). Read it as the fleet getting older rather than the model changing.

YearTestsMedian ageFail rate All cars
20221,262513.8%22.5%
20231,416613.6%22.8%
20241,253715.4%23.2%
20251,345819%22.6%

Fail rate is first attempts at class 4 tests. Median age is the age of a typical Freedom 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 Freedom in 2025, counted by how many tests each one appeared on.

  1. 1Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick36 tests
  2. 2Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively23 tests
  3. 3Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords22 tests
  4. 4Condition: has ply or cords exposed21 tests
  5. 5Tyre pressure monitoring system: malfunctioning or obviously inoperative19 tests
  6. 6Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm17 tests
  7. 7Condition: webbing significantly weakened cut greater than 4mm16 tests
  8. 8Exhaust system: system insecure15 tests

What wears out first

Advisories are the tester flagging wear that is still legal. A typical Freedom collects 2.19 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 1.6mm220 tests
  2. 2Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick119 tests
  3. 3Condition: has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure84 tests
  4. 4Brake discs: in such a condition that it is seriously weakened44 tests
  5. 5Condition: webbing significantly weakened cut greater than 4mm42 tests
  6. 6Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded35 tests
  7. 7Non-component advisories: Nail in tyre29 tests
  8. 8Condition: webbing significantly weakened cut from edge greater than 2mm28 tests

Questions

What is the Ford Freedom MOT pass rate?

81% of the 1,345 Ford Freedom first-attempt MOTs in 2025 passed. The fail rate of 19% compares with 22.6% across all cars. A further 4.3% passed after a defect was fixed during the test visit.

What does a Ford Freedom usually fail on?

The single most common failure is "Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick", recorded on 36 failed tests, followed by "Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively" and "Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords". By section, tyres appears in 32.5% of failures, brakes appears in 29.4% of failures, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment appears in 19.2% of failures.

Does age change the odds?

Sharply. At 3 to 5 years old the fail rate was 18.4%; at 6-9 years it was 19%. The median Ford Freedom tested in 2025 was 8 years old with 45,817 miles.

Is the Ford Freedom getting less reliable?

The fail rate rose 5.2 points to 19% from 2022 to 2025 while the median one tested aged 3 years, which is about what ageing alone predicts (6.6 points). Read it as the fleet getting older rather than the model changing.

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 Freedom trim together. Year-on-year figures come from the same DVSA extracts for 2026 and earlier years. Full method on the pass rates hub.

Other Ford models

Checking a particular Freedom?

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.

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