2009 Volvo S80: MOT pass rate and reliability

75.3% of 2009 Volvo S80s pass the MOT first time, measured across 461 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 131,108 miles.

How the 2009 compares

  • Against all Volvo S80s (75.4%, 7,078 tests): -0.1 points
  • Against all 2009 cars (66.1%): +9.2 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Volvo S80 model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2009 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Volvo S80:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2001 63.3% 240 123,977
2002 71.5% 344 131,078
2003 67.5% 419 133,167
2004 67.7% 427 135,470
2005 69.7% 446 140,370
2006 74% 381 137,618
2007 72.5% 746 138,107
2008 76.4% 643 136,136
2009 75.3% 461 131,108
2010 81.8% 578 129,730
2011 79.6% 412 130,442
2012 78.8% 353 116,348
2013 79.5% 429 102,628
2014 82.4% 392 97,808
2015 83.7% 404 88,525

What this means if you are buying a 2009 S80

The 2009 sits close to the Volvo S80 average, so there is no strong model-year signal either way. Judge the individual car on its own history. 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 17-year-old car fails on

A 2009 car is 17 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 2009 Volvo S80 the average at test was 131,108 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 2015 at 83.7%, and the weakest in our data is 2001 at 63.3%. That 20.4 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2009 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Volvo S80 MOT data · Every model