Volvo V50 MOT reliability

Volvo V50s passed their MOT first time 55% of the time across 26,141 tests in 2025. 21,628 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

55%

MOTs analysed

26,141

Still licensed (GB)

21,628

Body type

Wagon

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

2011 diesel

3,621 MOTs

Passed first time 56%. Typical mileage 133,325 (most between 106,206 and 162,590).

2011: 100% → 2012: 87% → 2013: 84% → 2014: 77% → 2015: 76% → 2016: 71% → 2017: 67% → 2018: 62% → 2019: 60% → 2020: 60% → 2021: 60% → 2022: 56% → 2023: 56% → 2024: 55% → 2025: 56%

Most common failures

Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (9.6%)
Coil spring: fractured or broken (7.5%)
Position lamp: not working (5.2%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (4.7%)
Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn (4.6%)

2011 petrol

261 MOTs

Passed first time 68%. Typical mileage 82,965 (most between 53,715 and 109,059).

2011: 100% → 2013: 100% → 2014: 81% → 2015: 84% → 2016: 78% → 2017: 72% → 2018: 74% → 2019: 69% → 2020: 70% → 2021: 71% → 2022: 67% → 2023: 64% → 2024: 67% → 2025: 68%

Most common failures

Position lamp: not working (6.1%)
Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn (3.4%)
Coil spring: fractured or broken (3.4%)
Linkage: fractured (3.1%)
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.7%)

Where 2011 V50s fail

Suspension & axles

21.7%

Lights & electrics

16.9%

Wheels & tyres

11.5%

Body, structure & corrosion

11.4%

Brakes

7.7%

Visibility & wipers

5.1%

Steering

3.4%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

2.6%

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.