Ford Transit: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Ford Transit fails its first MOT more often than the average UK vehicle, by 9.1 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 299,937 individual Ford Transit tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 67.6% first-time pass rate means roughly 32 in every 100 Ford Transits presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average Ford Transit tested had covered 115,599 miles and was built around 2013.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Ford Transit bought as a repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. See how it stacks up against the Ford Fiesta.

Looking at a specific Ford Transit rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see what damaged Ford Transits actually sold for at UK salvage auction, from 18 real settled sales.

Most common MOT failures on a Ford Transit

1. Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced, 3.8% of tests (10.46x the national rate for this defect)
2. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 5.7% of tests (6.9x the national rate for this defect)
3. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 5.3% of tests (6.46x the national rate for this defect)
4. A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps, 2.7% of tests (4.14x the national rate for this defect)
5. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 3.7% of tests (3.31x the national rate for this defect)
6. A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 5.3% of tests (3.26x the national rate for this defect)
7. Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 2.5% of tests (2.55x the national rate for this defect)
8. Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 2% of tests (2.08x the national rate for this defect)
9. A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn, 7.5% of tests (2.04x the national rate for this defect)
10. Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen, 2.4% of tests (1.78x the national rate for this defect)

From 857,268 DVSA-tracked Ford Transit tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 4.05% of these flagged Ford Transit defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Ford Transit pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each Ford Transit year:

• 1990 Ford Transit - 65.8% first-time pass, 389 tests
• 1991 Ford Transit - 63.3% first-time pass, 311 tests
• 1992 Ford Transit - 62% first-time pass, 326 tests
• 1993 Ford Transit - 66.9% first-time pass, 260 tests
• 1994 Ford Transit - 67.6% first-time pass, 537 tests
• 1995 Ford Transit - 67.5% first-time pass, 859 tests
• 1996 Ford Transit - 67.5% first-time pass, 1,108 tests
• 1997 Ford Transit - 67.1% first-time pass, 1,202 tests
• 1998 Ford Transit - 68.1% first-time pass, 1,339 tests
• 1999 Ford Transit - 68.1% first-time pass, 1,442 tests
• 2000 Ford Transit - 66% first-time pass, 2,063 tests
• 2001 Ford Transit - 62.5% first-time pass, 3,630 tests
• 2002 Ford Transit - 63.2% first-time pass, 4,977 tests
• 2003 Ford Transit - 61.3% first-time pass, 5,812 tests
• 2004 Ford Transit - 62.3% first-time pass, 5,767 tests
• 2005 Ford Transit - 61.1% first-time pass, 7,476 tests
• 2006 Ford Transit - 61.8% first-time pass, 12,264 tests
• 2007 Ford Transit - 61.2% first-time pass, 19,029 tests
• 2008 Ford Transit - 59.5% first-time pass, 22,784 tests
• 2009 Ford Transit - 57.7% first-time pass, 19,279 tests
• 2010 Ford Transit - 57.7% first-time pass, 26,205 tests
• 2011 Ford Transit - 57.3% first-time pass, 33,563 tests
• 2012 Ford Transit - 59% first-time pass, 28,979 tests
• 2013 Ford Transit - 62% first-time pass, 35,777 tests
• 2014 Ford Transit - 67.7% first-time pass, 45,338 tests
• 2015 Ford Transit - 70.3% first-time pass, 56,972 tests
• 2016 Ford Transit - 73% first-time pass, 67,898 tests
• 2017 Ford Transit - 75.6% first-time pass, 70,545 tests
• 2018 Ford Transit - 78% first-time pass, 47,408 tests
• 2019 Ford Transit - 78.3% first-time pass, 21,060 tests
• 2020 Ford Transit - 86.2% first-time pass, 920 tests
• 2021 Ford Transit - 88.4% first-time pass, 344 tests

Ford Transit by fuel type

Diesel and petrol versions of the same car fail on different things, so the fuel type moves the number:

• Diesel Ford Transit - 67.7% first-time pass, 544,555 tests
• Petrol Ford Transit - 69.1% first-time pass, 1,955 tests
• LPG Ford Transit - 70.7% first-time pass, 307 tests

Other Ford models

• Ford Fiesta - 71.7%
• Ford Focus - 74.4%
• Ford Kuga - 82.4%
• Ford Mondeo - 72.2%
• Ford Ka - 72.2%
• Ford Transit Connect - 72%
• Ford Ranger - 76.9%
• Ford C-Max - 74.8%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Iveco Daily - 67.8%
• Vauxhall Agila - 67.7%
• Volvo 240 - 67.7%
• Mercedes-Benz Clk - 67.5%
• Chevrolet Trax - 67.5%
• Chrysler-Jeep Wrangler - 67.5%

If this van is a salvage or write-off

• Transit and Sprinter: the van-flipping guide
• Britain's most and least reliable vans: 2.1 million MOT tests analysed
• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate