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2,063 tests in 2025

Toyota Vitz reliability and MOT pass rate

84.4% passed first time. The 15.6% fail rate is 7.0 points better than the all-car average, on a median example 12 years old with 49,195 miles.

MOT pass rates / Toyota

Pass rate

84.4%

22.6% of all cars failed; 15.6% of these did.

Fixed on the day

5%

Passed after a defect was put right during the visit.

Median at test

49,195 mi

12 years old.

Fail rate by age

Age at testTestsFail rate
3-5 years37—
6-9 years30810.4%
10-13 years1,17213.8%
14+ years51923.1%

What the Vitz 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. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment59.6%
  2. Suspension1 dangerous36.3%
  3. Tyres74 dangerous20.5%
  4. Visibility1 dangerous16.1%
  5. Brakes24 dangerous14.9%
  6. Body, chassis, structure3 dangerous9.3%
  7. Noise, emissions and leaks5.6%
  8. Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems1.6%

Is the Vitz getting worse?

The fail rate rose 2.4 points to 15.5% from 2022 to 2025 while the median one tested aged 1 year, which is about what ageing alone predicts (2.2 points). Read it as the fleet getting older rather than the model changing.

YearTestsMedian ageFail rate All cars
20225481113.1%22.5%
20231,1351111.5%22.8%
20241,5051213.2%23.2%
20252,0521215.5%22.6%

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

  1. 1Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt65 tests
  2. 2Rear fog lamp: not working46 tests
  3. 3Rear fog lamp: missing39 tests
  4. 4Position lamp: not working34 tests
  5. 5Rear fog lamp: does not emit a steady red light33 tests
  6. 6Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively32 tests
  7. 7Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm30 tests
  8. 8Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect24 tests

What wears out first

Advisories are the tester flagging wear that is still legal. A typical Vitz collects 2 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. 1Condition: has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure191 tests
  2. 2Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm148 tests
  3. 3Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn105 tests
  4. 4Headlamp: has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced56 tests
  5. 5Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick44 tests
  6. 6Tread depth: tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm31 tests
  7. 7Non-component advisories: Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt30 tests
  8. 8Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak29 tests

Questions

What is the Toyota Vitz MOT pass rate?

84.4% of the 2,063 Toyota Vitz first-attempt MOTs in 2025 passed. The fail rate of 15.6% compares with 22.6% across all cars. A further 5% passed after a defect was fixed during the test visit.

What does a Toyota Vitz usually fail on?

The single most common failure is "Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt", recorded on 65 failed tests, followed by "Rear fog lamp: not working" and "Rear fog lamp: missing". By section, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment appears in 59.6% of failures, suspension appears in 36.3% of failures, tyres appears in 20.5% of failures.

Does age change the odds?

Sharply. At 3 to 5 years old the fail rate was 13.5%; at 14+ years it was 23.1%. The median Toyota Vitz tested in 2025 was 12 years old with 49,195 miles.

Is the Toyota Vitz getting less reliable?

The fail rate rose 2.4 points to 15.5% from 2022 to 2025 while the median one tested aged 1 year, which is about what ageing alone predicts (2.2 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 Vitz 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 Toyota models

Checking a particular Vitz?

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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