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265,413 tests in 2025

Ford Transit reliability and MOT pass rate

69.2% passed first time. The 30.8% fail rate is 8.2 points worse than the all-car average, on a median example 10 years old with 114,731 miles.

MOT pass rates / Ford

Pass rate

69.2%

22.6% of all cars failed; 30.8% of these did.

Fixed on the day

6.8%

Passed after a defect was put right during the visit.

Median at test

114,731 mi

10 years old.

Fail rate by age

Age at testTestsFail rate
3-5 years4,75014.5%
6-9 years98,07825.4%
10-13 years89,78132.3%
14+ years71,99837.7%

What the Transit 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. Suspension4,643 dangerous42.8%
  2. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment955 dangerous40%
  3. Body, chassis, structure1,517 dangerous37.7%
  4. Brakes12,615 dangerous36.2%
  5. Visibility94 dangerous17.7%
  6. Tyres12,297 dangerous15.5%
  7. Noise, emissions and leaks293 dangerous14.8%
  8. Steering259 dangerous8.2%

Is the Transit getting worse?

The fail rate rose 1.4 points to 31% from 2022 to 2025, against a rising rate across all cars.

YearTestsMedian ageFail rate All cars
2022334,457829.6%22.5%
2023316,079—30.6%22.8%
2024267,717—31.5%23.2%
2025261,912—31%22.6%

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

  1. 1Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt18,063 tests
  2. 2Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn10,470 tests
  3. 3Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded9,688 tests
  4. 4Position lamp: not working8,497 tests
  5. 5Stop lamp: not working7,729 tests
  6. 6Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps7,533 tests
  7. 7Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength7,424 tests
  8. 8Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick6,963 tests

What wears out first

Advisories are the tester flagging wear that is still legal. A typical Transit collects 3.26 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. 1Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded59,133 tests
  2. 2Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn47,871 tests
  3. 3Brake discs: in such a condition that it is seriously weakened39,462 tests
  4. 4Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm35,653 tests
  5. 5Engine oil leaks: leaking excessively from engine31,545 tests
  6. 6Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick26,144 tests
  7. 7Condition: has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure19,014 tests
  8. 8Brake discs: significantly and obviously worn8,639 tests

Questions

What is the Ford Transit MOT pass rate?

69.2% of the 265,413 Ford Transit first-attempt MOTs in 2025 passed. The fail rate of 30.8% compares with 22.6% across all cars. A further 6.8% passed after a defect was fixed during the test visit.

What does a Ford Transit usually fail on?

The single most common failure is "Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt", recorded on 18,063 failed tests, followed by "Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn" and "Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded". By section, suspension appears in 42.8% of failures, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment appears in 40% of failures, body, chassis, structure appears in 37.7% of failures.

Does age change the odds?

Sharply. At 3 to 5 years old the fail rate was 14.5%; at 14+ years it was 37.7%. The median Ford Transit tested in 2025 was 10 years old with 114,731 miles.

Is the Ford Transit getting less reliable?

The fail rate rose 1.4 points to 31% 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 Transit 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 56 safety recalls naming the Ford Transit: Ford Transit recalls.

Other Ford models

Checking a particular Transit?

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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