2004 Bentley Continental: MOT pass rate and reliability

88.9% of 2004 Bentley Continentals pass the MOT first time, measured across 1,054 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 70,461 miles.

How the 2004 compares

  • Against all Bentley Continentals (91.4%, 10,922 tests): -2.5 points
  • Against all 2004 cars (64%): +24.9 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Bentley Continental model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2004 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Bentley Continental:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2004 88.9% 1,054 70,461
2005 89.8% 1,150 67,289
2006 89.9% 1,104 63,358
2007 90.6% 1,336 57,579
2008 90% 894 55,191
2009 92.3% 417 52,400
2010 91% 543 48,209
2011 90.4% 542 47,136
2012 92.6% 745 43,814
2013 92.9% 722 42,044
2014 95.3% 748 36,733
2015 94.7% 773 32,766
2016 95.5% 357 31,205

What this means if you are buying a 2004 Continental

The 2004 is a weaker year for this model, passing 2.5 points less often than the Bentley Continental average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2004 figure for all cars above rather than against newer examples. Check the exact car with the free MOT history checker before you buy, and run its VIN and mileage through our free VIN decoder and clocking check.

What a 22-year-old car fails on

A 2004 car is 22 years old now, and age drives the failure mix more than the badge does. Across all cars tested, these are the categories that actually cause failures:

  • Lights and electrical: 10.36% of all cars tested
  • Suspension: 8.65% of all cars tested
  • Tyres: 6.23% of all cars tested
  • Brakes: 6.1% of all cars tested
  • Visibility: wipers, washers, glass: 4.65% of all cars tested
  • Body, chassis and structure: 3.18% of all cars tested

That is a shade above the middle of the range, still ordinary wear rather than a red flag, but worth checking against the service book for the car's age. On a 2004 Bentley Continental the average at test was 70,461 miles, so treat anything far above that as a car that has worked harder than its peers, and anything far below as one worth checking for the faults that come from standing still.

The strongest year for this model is 2016 at 95.5%, and the weakest in our data is 2004 at 88.9%. That 6.6 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2004 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Bentley Continental MOT data · Every model