2008 Volvo S60: MOT pass rate and reliability

67.3% of 2008 Volvo S60s pass the MOT first time, measured across 342 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 125,061 miles.

How the 2008 compares

  • Against all Volvo S60s (75.6%, 18,216 tests): -8.3 points
  • Against all 2008 cars (64.7%): +2.6 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Volvo S60 model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2008 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Volvo S60:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2001 64.9% 288 124,669
2002 70.5% 641 136,763
2003 68.8% 906 137,614
2004 66.9% 1,107 140,521
2005 69.4% 1,284 137,828
2006 68.6% 1,011 126,497
2007 67.1% 592 128,822
2008 67.3% 342 125,061
2010 75% 636 119,231
2011 76.1% 1,815 118,243
2012 73.8% 1,750 114,646
2013 77.4% 1,430 111,522
2014 79.4% 1,393 106,976
2015 78.9% 1,244 97,420
2016 83.4% 1,166 86,262
2017 84.9% 1,071 70,732
2018 85.9% 879 55,564
2019 87.9% 580 38,442

What this means if you are buying a 2008 S60

The 2008 is a weaker year for this model, passing 8.3 points less often than the Volvo S60 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2008 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 an 18-year-old car fails on

A 2008 car is 18 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 high mileage, so timing belts, clutches, suspension bushes and corrosion are the items worth budgeting for rather than the MOT itself. On a 2008 Volvo S60 the average at test was 125,061 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 2019 at 87.9%, and the weakest in our data is 2001 at 64.9%. That 23.0 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2008 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Volvo S60 MOT data · Every model