Volvo XC40 MOT reliability

Volvo XC40s passed their MOT first time 90% of the time across 88,848 tests in 2025. 181,108 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

90%

MOTs analysed

88,848

Still licensed (GB)

181,108

Body type

Suv

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

2021 hybrid

12,884 MOTs

Passed first time 92%. Typical mileage 33,764 (most between 24,463 and 45,755).

2022: 100% → 2023: 92% → 2024: 92% → 2025: 92%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.1%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (0.9%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (0.9%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (0.7%)
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick (0.5%)

2021 petrol

10,297 MOTs

Passed first time 90%. Typical mileage 31,840 (most between 23,496 and 41,033).

2021: 100% → 2022: 80% → 2023: 91% → 2024: 90% → 2025: 90%

Most common failures

Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick (3.9%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.8%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.1%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (0.7%)
Headlamp aim: too high (0.4%)

2021 electric

1,762 MOTs

Passed first time 87%. Typical mileage 33,800 (most between 24,568 and 42,755).

2022: 100% → 2023: 79% → 2024: 88% → 2025: 87%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (4.0%)
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (1.9%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (1.8%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.7%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (1.3%)

2021 diesel

42 MOTs

These figures come from 42 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 88%. Typical mileage 40,131 (most between 27,816 and 48,638).

2023: 100% → 2024: 95% → 2025: 88%

Most common failures

Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick (2.4%)
Headlamp cleaning device: for LED or HID headlamp inoperative (2.4%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (2.4%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.4%)
Ball joint excessively worn (2.4%)

Where 2021 XC40s fail

Wheels & tyres

4.4%

Lights & electrics

1.1%

Visibility & wipers

1.0%

Brakes

0.8%

Body, structure & corrosion

0.3%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.2%

Suspension & axles

0.2%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

0.1%

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.