Ford Focus UK Reliability Profile — DVSA MOT pass rates

Background

This profile examines UK MOT outcomes for the Ford Focus using a dataset of 3,924,030 tests. The results cover vehicle ages from 3 to 25 and test years from 2020 to 2023.

As a reliability lens, MOT pass rates are useful because they capture whether a vehicle met the roadworthiness standard at the point of inspection. They do not describe every ownership issue, but they do show how often cars of a given age clear the test without a recorded failure.

For the Focus, the broad pattern is straightforward. Pass rates are strongest at the youngest observed ages, then decline steadily as the car ages. The decline is not abrupt in the early years, but it becomes more pronounced through the middle of the age range before flattening somewhat among the oldest surviving cars.

Overall pattern by vehicle age

The clearest finding is the age gradient. At age 3, the Ford Focus records a pass rate of 91.56 across 210,990 tests. By age 4, that falls to 89.83 from 225,506 tests, and by age 5 it is 88.96 from 245,217 tests.

The downward movement continues through the core ownership years. At age 6, the pass rate is 86.69 across 273,053 tests. At age 7, it is 82.28 across 284,762 tests. At age 8, it drops to 77.82 across 293,381 tests. By age 9, the figure is 73.74 from 287,480 tests, and at age 10 it stands at 71.58 from 274,226 tests.

That means the Focus moves from a very strong early-life MOT record into a more mixed picture by the time it reaches the later single-digit years. The age 7 result of 82.28, paired with a median mileage of 57,351, sits near the point where the model’s MOT performance begins to look materially less robust than it does at age 3.

The same pattern continues into older ages. At age 11, the pass rate is 70.19 from 267,633 tests. At age 12, it is 68.45 from 263,150 tests. At age 13, it is 67.25 from 258,851 tests. At age 14, it is 66.2 from 244,304 tests. At age 15, it is 64.95 from 211,649 tests.

Age, test volume, and median mileage

The dataset is large across much of the age range, which gives the age-by-age pattern weight. Test counts remain substantial from age 3 through age 18, and they stay meaningful even beyond that point.

Age	Tests	Pass rate	Median mileage
3	210,990	91.56	22,981
7	284,762	82.28	57,351
12	263,150	68.45	92,460
16	170,676	63.51	102,556
20	51,014	59.39	100,537
24	1,900	58.53	104,021
25	112	52.68	101,077

Mileage rises in a familiar way through the early and middle years. The median is 22,981 at age 3, 30,944 at age 4, 39,328 at age 5, 48,514 at age 6, and 57,351 at age 7. It then reaches 65,570 at age 8, 73,315 at age 9, and 80,484 at age 10.

By age 11, the median mileage is 86,589, and by age 12 it is 92,460. At age 13 it is 96,543, and at age 14 it is 99,929. From there, the mileage profile changes character. At age 15 it is 102,190, at age 16 it is 102,556, at age 17 it is 101,463, at age 18 it is 100,929, and at age 19 it is 100,338.

That flattening matters. It suggests the oldest tested cars are not simply accumulating ever-higher median mileage year after year. Instead, the surviving older pool clusters around 100,338 to 104,951 miles, depending on age. In practical terms, the later-life decline in pass rates is happening even though median mileage growth has largely levelled off.

When the decline becomes more visible

The Focus does not show a sudden collapse at one exact age. Rather, the deterioration is progressive, with a more visible shift between ages 7 and 12.

At age 7, the pass rate is 82.28. At age 8, it is 77.82. At age 9, it is 73.74. At age 10, it is 71.58. At age 11, it is 70.19. At age 12, it is 68.45.

This span is important because it combines still-high test volumes with a clear weakening in outcomes. There are 284,762 tests at age 7, 293,381 at age 8, 287,480 at age 9, 274,226 at age 10, 267,633 at age 11, and 263,150 at age 12. These are not fringe sample sizes. They represent a large body of inspections showing that the Focus becomes materially less likely to pass first time as it moves through these years.

The comparison between age 3 and age 12 is especially telling. The pass rate falls from 91.56 at age 3 to 68.45 at age 12. Over that same span, median mileage rises from 22,981 to 92,460. The model remains capable of passing in large numbers, but the MOT record is plainly less forgiving by the time the car reaches the low-teens in age.

Older-car outcomes

Beyond age 12, the decline continues, though at a slower pace than in the earlier middle years. At age 13, the pass rate is 67.25. At age 14, it is 66.2. At age 15, it is 64.95. At age 16, it is 63.51. At age 17, it is 61.5. At age 18, it is 59.44.

From age 19 onward, the figures cluster tightly. The pass rate is 59.21 at age 19, 59.39 at age 20, 58.92 at age 21, 58.16 at age 22, 57.47 at age 23, and 58.53 at age 24. At age 25, it is 52.68.

That pattern suggests two things. First, once the Focus reaches the late-teen and early-20s age range, pass rates settle into a narrower band than in the earlier years. Second, the oldest ages should be read with more caution because test counts shrink sharply. There are 74,686 tests at age 19 and 51,014 at age 20, but only 31,752 at age 21, 15,382 at age 22, 6,043 at age 23, 1,900 at age 24, and 112 at age 25.

Results by test year

The year-by-year view shows improving pass rates from 2020 to 2023.

Test year	Tests	Pass rate
2020	260,084	80.82
2021	298,080	82.49
2022	284,551	85.27
2023	253,698	86.24

The direction is consistent across all 4 years in the dataset. The pass rate is 80.82 in 2020, 82.49 in 2021, 85.27 in 2022, and 86.24 in 2023.

This does not mean every Focus became more reliable in each successive year. The annual figures combine many ages and vehicle cohorts, and the age mix of tested cars can shift from year to year. Still, within the boundaries of this dataset, the annual MOT picture is more favourable in 2023 than in 2020.

The test counts are also substantial in every year shown: 260,084 in 2020, 298,080 in 2021, 284,551 in 2022, and 253,698 in 2023. That makes the upward annual trend notable rather than anecdotal.

What this says about real-world reliability

Taken as a whole, the Ford Focus presents a familiar mass-market hatchback reliability profile in MOT terms. It is strongest at the youngest observed ages, where pass rates remain high and median mileage is still relatively modest. At age 3, 91.56 is the pass rate, with median mileage at 22,981. Even at age 5, the pass rate remains 88.96 with median mileage at 39,328.

The more consequential shift arrives later. By age 7, the pass rate is 82.28 at a median 57,351 miles. By age 10, it is 71.58 at 80,484 miles. By age 12, it is 68.45 at 92,460 miles. In other words, the Focus remains widely testable and often passable, but the margin for a clean MOT outcome narrows steadily with age.

For used-car reliability reading, that makes the middle years especially relevant. The model is not unusual in showing wear-related deterioration as age and mileage rise, but the size of the dataset means the trend is difficult to dismiss as noise. Across 3,924,030 tests, the Focus shows a broad, persistent decline in pass rates from age 3 onward.

Limitations of the data

MOT pass rates are a useful reliability indicator, but they are not a complete ownership record. The dataset shows whether a car passed or failed its MOT, not which components caused the result, how expensive repairs were, or whether faults appeared between tests.

The figures also do not separate different Focus generations, engines, trims, or maintenance histories. A Ford Focus tested at age 7 with 57,351 median miles is grouped with all other Focus examples at that age in the dataset. That is valuable for a market-wide view, but it cannot identify which specific variant performs better or worse.

The oldest ages also come with much smaller samples. Age 24 has 1,900 tests and age 25 has 112. Those results are still part of the record, but they do not carry the same statistical weight as ages such as 8 with 293,381 tests or 12 with 263,150 tests.

Finally, the annual trend from 2020 to 2023 should be read as descriptive rather than causal. The pass rate rises from 80.82 in 2020 to 86.24 in 2023, but the dataset alone does not explain why.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is the Ford Focus MOT pass rate at age 3? A: At age 3, the Ford Focus records a 91.56 pass rate across 210,990 tests. The median mileage at that age is 22,981.

Q: How does the pass rate look at age 7? A: At age 7, the pass rate is 82.28 from 284,762 tests. The median mileage is 57,351.

Q: What is the pass rate at age 12? A: At age 12, the Ford Focus records a 68.45 pass rate across 263,150 tests. The median mileage is 92,460.

Q: Does the Focus pass rate fall as the car gets older? A: Yes. The pass rate declines from 91.56 at age 3 to 82.28 at age 7 and 68.45 at age 12, then reaches 52.68 at age 25.

Q: Which test year in the dataset has the highest pass rate? A: 2023 has the highest pass rate at 86.24. The other yearly figures are 80.82 in 2020, 82.49 in 2021, and 85.27 in 2022.

Q: How many MOT tests are included in this profile? A: The dataset includes 3,924,030 Ford Focus MOT tests. It covers ages 3 to 25 and test years 2020 to 2023.