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135,233 tests in 2025

Land Rover Discovery reliability and MOT pass rate

78.8% passed first time. The 21.2% fail rate is 1.4 points better than the all-car average, on a median example 13 years old with 115,128 miles.

MOT pass rates / Land Rover

Pass rate

78.8%

22.6% of all cars failed; 21.2% of these did.

Fixed on the day

4.4%

Passed after a defect was put right during the visit.

Median at test

115,128 mi

13 years old.

Fail rate by age

Age at testTestsFail rate
3-5 years12,2999.9%
6-9 years33,10614.1%
10-13 years27,29320.1%
14+ years62,39927.7%

What the Discovery 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. Suspension1,471 dangerous40.3%
  2. Brakes5,066 dangerous34.8%
  3. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment205 dangerous28.9%
  4. Body, chassis, structure761 dangerous26.8%
  5. Tyres4,682 dangerous19.4%
  6. Visibility24 dangerous11.6%
  7. Steering158 dangerous9.4%
  8. Noise, emissions and leaks108 dangerous8.9%

Is the Discovery getting worse?

The fail rate fell 1.4 points to 21.7% from 2022 to 2025, against a rising rate across all cars.

YearTestsMedian ageFail rate All cars
2022155,849—23.1%22.5%
2023150,689—22.6%22.8%
2024129,298—22.9%23.2%
2025129,149—21.7%22.6%

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

  1. 1Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn4,454 tests
  2. 2Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick2,353 tests
  3. 3Position lamp: not working2,142 tests
  4. 4Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords2,015 tests
  5. 5Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded1,901 tests
  6. 6Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt1,844 tests
  7. 7Ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt1,645 tests
  8. 8Ball joint: ball joint excessively worn1,621 tests

What wears out first

Advisories are the tester flagging wear that is still legal. A typical Discovery collects 2.96 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 1.6mm17,257 tests
  2. 2Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn14,386 tests
  3. 3Engine oil leaks: leaking excessively from engine11,436 tests
  4. 4Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded11,404 tests
  5. 5Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick11,109 tests
  6. 6Brake discs: in such a condition that it is seriously weakened9,606 tests
  7. 7Chassis condition: corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced5,793 tests
  8. 8Flexible brake hoses: ferrule excessively corroded4,742 tests

Questions

What is the Land Rover Discovery MOT pass rate?

78.8% of the 135,233 Land Rover Discovery first-attempt MOTs in 2025 passed. The fail rate of 21.2% compares with 22.6% across all cars. A further 4.4% passed after a defect was fixed during the test visit.

What does a Land Rover Discovery usually fail on?

The single most common failure is "Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn", recorded on 4,454 failed tests, followed by "Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick" and "Position lamp: not working". By section, suspension appears in 40.3% of failures, brakes appears in 34.8% of failures, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment appears in 28.9% of failures.

Does age change the odds?

Sharply. At 3 to 5 years old the fail rate was 9.9%; at 14+ years it was 27.7%. The median Land Rover Discovery tested in 2025 was 13 years old with 115,128 miles.

Is the Land Rover Discovery getting less reliable?

The fail rate fell 1.4 points to 21.7% 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 Discovery 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 55 safety recalls naming the Land Rover Discovery: Land Rover Discovery recalls.

Other Land Rover models

Checking a particular Discovery?

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.