Rover 25: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Rover 25 fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 7.5 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 3,244 individual Rover 25 tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 69.2% first-time pass rate means roughly 31 in every 100 Rover 25s 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 Rover 25 tested had covered 67,099 miles and was built around 2003.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Rover 25 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. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific Rover 25 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 Rover 25s actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Rover 25

1. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any seat belt anchorage (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 2.5% of tests (10.67x the national rate for this defect)
2. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 8.1% of tests (7.26x the national rate for this defect)
3. Body, cab or chassis excessively corroded at a mounting point, 1.4% of tests (7x the national rate for this defect)
4. 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 (6.92x the national rate for this defect)
5. Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced, 1.8% of tests (5.07x the national rate for this defect)
6. Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle., 1.6% of tests (4.08x the national rate for this defect)
7. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 2.9% of tests (3.78x the national rate for this defect)
8. Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake, 2.5% of tests (3.21x the national rate for this defect)
9. Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen, 3.1% of tests (2.25x the national rate for this defect)
10. Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 2% of tests (2.01x the national rate for this defect)

From 4,560 DVSA-tracked Rover 25 tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 2.78% of these flagged Rover 25 defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Rover 25 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 Rover 25 year:

• 2000 Rover 25 - 69.6% first-time pass, 378 tests
• 2001 Rover 25 - 70.4% first-time pass, 605 tests
• 2002 Rover 25 - 70.2% first-time pass, 583 tests
• 2003 Rover 25 - 70.4% first-time pass, 646 tests
• 2004 Rover 25 - 67.1% first-time pass, 565 tests
• 2005 Rover 25 - 71.4% first-time pass, 370 tests

Rover 25 by fuel type

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

• Petrol Rover 25 - 69.5% first-time pass, 3,002 tests
• Diesel Rover 25 - 72.5% first-time pass, 218 tests

Other Rover models

• Rover MINI - 73.7%
• Rover 75 - 62.6%
• Rover 45 - 62.1%
• Rover 216 - 70.7%
• Rover Metro - 70.4%
• Rover 214 - 67.9%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Saab 900 - 69.3%
• Renault Master - 69.2%
• Ssangyong Rexton - 69.2%
• Chrysler-Jeep 300 - 69.1%
• Volvo V70 - 69%
• Chevrolet Cruze - 69%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• 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