Ford Orion MOT reliability

Ford Orions passed their MOT first time 82% of the time across 325 tests in 2025. 295 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

82%

MOTs analysed

325

Still licensed (GB)

295

Body type

Sedan

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

1990 petrol

77 MOTs

These figures come from 77 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

Passed first time 78%. Typical mileage 55,643 (most between 23,020 and 78,622).

2005: 44% → 2006: 47% → 2007: 49% → 2008: 49% → 2009: 49% → 2010: 50% → 2011: 53% → 2012: 55% → 2013: 52% → 2014: 63% → 2015: 66% → 2016: 59% → 2017: 62% → 2018: 66% → 2019: 68% → 2020: 72% → 2021: 71% → 2022: 76% → 2023: 77% → 2024: 73% → 2025: 78%

Most common failures

Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (3.9%)
Wheel bearings: has excessive play (2.6%)
Ball joint excessively worn (2.6%)
Prescribed areas: prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced (2.6%)
Headlamp: not working on dipped beam (2.6%)

1990 diesel

1 MOT

These figures come from only 1 MOT test. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 100%. Typical mileage 75,556 (most between 75,556 and 75,556).

2005: 54% → 2006: 54% → 2007: 45% → 2008: 50% → 2009: 64% → 2010: 47% → 2011: 47% → 2012: 36% → 2013: 33% → 2014: 50% → 2015: 33% → 2016: 75% → 2017: 33% → 2018: 50% → 2019: 100% → 2020: 100% → 2021: 75% → 2022: 33% → 2023: 50% → 2024: 75% → 2025: 100%

Most common failures

Where 1990 Orions fail

Suspension & axles

11.7%

Lights & electrics

7.8%

Body, structure & corrosion

6.5%

Visibility & wipers

3.9%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

2.6%

Seat belts & other equipment

2.6%

Wheels & tyres

1.3%

Brakes

1.3%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB.