Volvo 800 MOT reliability

Volvo 800s passed their MOT first time 63% of the time across 1,641 tests in 2025.

First-time pass rate

63%

MOTs analysed

1,641

Still licensed (GB)

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Body type

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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

1996 petrol

697 MOTs

Passed first time 61%. Typical mileage 142,826 (most between 109,401 and 177,942).

2021: 58% → 2022: 62% → 2023: 62% → 2024: 62% → 2025: 61%

Most common failures

Anti-lock braking system: warning lamp indicates an ABS fault (6.3%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (4.7%)
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.6%)
Ball joint excessively worn (4.6%)
Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements (4.6%)

1996 diesel

78 MOTs

These figures come from 78 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 67%. Typical mileage 156,723 (most between 127,431 and 211,242).

2021: 59% → 2022: 59% → 2023: 59% → 2024: 57% → 2025: 67%

Most common failures

Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (7.7%)
Anti-lock braking system: warning lamp indicates an ABS fault (7.7%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (6.4%)
Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements (6.4%)
Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn (5.1%)

1996 lpg

3 MOTs

These figures come from only 3 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 67%. Typical mileage 180,676 (most between 179,539 and 214,372).

2021: 83% → 2022: 67% → 2023: 25% → 2024: 63% → 2025: 67%

Most common failures

Exhaust system: has a major leak of exhaust gases (33.3%)

Where 1996 800s fail

Lights & electrics

15.4%

Brakes

14.6%

Suspension & axles

12.2%

Body, structure & corrosion

8.6%

Visibility & wipers

8.0%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

7.7%

Wheels & tyres

5.0%

Steering

4.4%

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.