T V R 280 MOT reliability

T V R 280s passed their MOT first time 77% of the time across 52 tests in 2025. 88 are still licensed in Great Britain.

These figures come from 52 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

First-time pass rate

77%

MOTs analysed

52

Still licensed (GB)

88

Body type

–

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

1988 petrol

14 MOTs

These figures come from only 14 MOT tests. 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 71%. Typical mileage 66,441 (most between 60,237 and 77,838).

2005: 50% → 2006: 79% → 2007: 67% → 2008: 64% → 2009: 71% → 2010: 44% → 2011: 64% → 2012: 40% → 2013: 56% → 2014: 50% → 2015: 60% → 2016: 44% → 2017: 65% → 2018: 71% → 2019: 78% → 2020: 69% → 2021: 85% → 2022: 77% → 2023: 81% → 2024: 100% → 2025: 71%

Most common failures

Rear fog lamp: not working (14.3%)
Headlamp: not working on main beam (7.1%)
Headlamp: not working on dipped beam (7.1%)
Linkage: insecurely attached (7.1%)
Parking brake performance: inoperative on one side (7.1%)

Where 1988 280s fail

Lights & electrics

14.3%

Suspension & axles

14.3%

Brakes

7.1%

Visibility & wipers

7.1%

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.