2018 Ford Focus: MOT pass rate and reliability

87% of 2018 Ford Focus pass the MOT first time, measured across 47,766 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 47,581 miles.

How the 2018 compares

  • Against all Ford Focus (74.8%, 916,938 tests): +12.2 points
  • Against all 2018 cars (85.9%): +1.1 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Ford Focus model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2018 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Ford Focus:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
1999 57.2% 1,297 107,716
2000 60.1% 2,362 103,756
2001 62% 5,335 103,915
2002 61.9% 9,235 101,920
2003 61.5% 11,672 97,819
2004 61.2% 15,471 104,518
2005 63.3% 21,427 106,566
2006 66.6% 28,910 107,847
2007 66.8% 39,998 107,421
2008 64.9% 46,653 108,040
2009 66.3% 55,735 104,795
2010 67.2% 54,531 103,600
2011 68% 63,787 101,992
2012 71.2% 67,859 96,256
2013 71.9% 73,238 90,287
2014 74.7% 74,437 82,720
2015 81.6% 75,426 75,219
2016 84.7% 64,007 66,778
2017 86.7% 63,862 57,534
2018 87% 47,766 47,581
2019 86.4% 53,571 41,705
2020 89.8% 30,736 35,162
2021 88.5% 9,033 30,930
2022 91.9% 492 23,689

What this means if you are buying a 2018 Focus

The 2018 is one of the stronger years for this model, passing 12.2 points more often than the Ford Focus average. That is a point in its favour, though condition and service history still matter more than the model year. 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 an 8-year-old car fails on

A 2018 car is 8 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 below average for a car this age, worth a mileage-consistency check since an unusually low reading is sometimes clocking rather than luck. On a 2018 Ford Focus the average at test was 47,581 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 2022 at 91.9%, and the weakest in our data is 1999 at 57.2%. That 34.7 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2018 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Ford Focus MOT data · Every model