Ford Transit Custom MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Recorded pass rate

We are not publishing a ranking for the Transit Custom. The examples tested do not cover a wide enough spread of ages and mileages to compare it fairly, and an unadjusted pass rate mostly sorts models by how recently they were bought rather than how well they were built. The failure and advisory patterns below come from the same 177,324 tests and are worth reading on their own terms.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Ford Transit Custom tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm18.3%

   5,210 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

2. 2.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen17.5%

   4,983 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

3. 3.A tyre seriously damaged12.0%

   3,419 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

4. 4.A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED10.2%

   2,893 occurrencesHeadlamp not working explained

5. 5.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements9.5%

   2,689 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

6. 6.A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc9.4%

   2,677 occurrencesDriveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing explained

7. 7.A tyre cords visible or damaged6.4%

   1,811 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

8. 8.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded5.7%

   1,612 occurrencesBrake pipe corroded explained

9. 9.Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning5.4%

   1,549 occurrencesStop lamp not working explained

10. 10.A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps5.3%

    1,513 occurrencesLamp not working explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Ford Transit Custom tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1. 1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements16.1%

   28,594 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm12.8%

   22,674 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

3. 3.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured9.2%

   16,239 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

4. 4.A tyre seriously damaged6.8%

   12,028 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

5. 5.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded5.9%

   10,401 testsBrake pipe corroded explained

6. 6.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn5.3%

   9,451 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

7. 7.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn3.0%

   5,333 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

8. 8.Nail in tyre2.6%

   4,585 tests

The rest of the record

Everything else recorded on the Ford Transit Custom

The 18 other defects testers recorded on this model, beyond the most common listed above. Each links to what it means and what it takes to put right.

• Engine management light on, or not working4.1%
• Headlamp aim incorrect3.0%
• Parking brake efficiency too low2.9%
• Wheel nut, bolt or stud missing, loose or damaged2.4%
• Mirror missing, damaged or insecure1.9%
• Registration plate missing, insecure or illegible1.5%
• Brake binding or imbalanced across an axle1.5%
• Suspension joint dust cover missing or split1.3%
• Direction indicator not working1.2%
• Wheel bearing has excessive play or is rough1.1%
• Brake system warning lamp on, or not working1.1%
• Lamp of the wrong colour, position or intensity0.7%
• Road wheel damaged, distorted or cracked0.5%
• Shock absorber defective0.4%
• Seat belt damaged or not working properly0.3%
• Ball joint worn0.1%
• Brake fluid level below minimum0.1%
• Suspension mounting corroded or insecure0.1%

How wear changes the picture

Transit Custom pass rate by age and registration year

How often the Ford Transit Custom passes at each age, with the years those cars were first registered. Tests are from 2025, so a car aged 3 to 5 was first used in 2020–2022.

Read this as an age curve rather than a verdict on particular model years. Nearly every car passes less often as it gets older, so a newer Transit Custom outscoring an older one says more about wear than about how that year’s cars were built. Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Transit Custom fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

70,105

Across examples of every age, so this is a description of the fleet rather than an annual figure.

Fuel mix of tested cars

Diesel99.6%

Compare within the range

Other Ford models

• Ford Fiesta — 67.1% adjusted
• Ford Focus — 71.6% adjusted
• Ford Kuga — 75.3% adjusted
• Ford Transit — 68.0% adjusted
• Ford Mondeo — 76.0% adjusted
• Ford KA — 62.7% adjusted
• All Ford models →

Common questions

How reliable is the Ford Transit Custom compared with other cars?

We do not publish a comparison for the Ford Transit Custom, because the cars of this model that have been tested do not cover a wide enough range of ages and mileages. Its raw pass rate is 77.3% across 177,324 tests, but comparing a raw rate between models mostly ranks them by how new they are rather than how good they are. The failure and advisory patterns further down the page are still drawn from real tests and are worth reading.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Ford Transit Custom?

The item recorded most often is "a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm", which appears in 18.3% of failed Ford Transit Custom tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Ford Transit Custom?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 16.1% of all Ford Transit Custom tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Ford Transit Custom usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 70,105 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Which Ford Transit Custom years are the most reliable?

Going by MOT pass rate, Ford Transit Custom cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 78.0%, and those registered 2014–2016 do worst at 66.4%. But that ordering is mostly age, not build year: almost every model passes less often as it wears, so the newest cars top this list whatever they are. A specific year looking strong here means little on its own; the failure items above, and the individual car's own MOT history, tell you far more.

Does a Ford Transit Custom get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 78.0% of Ford Transit Custom tests pass. By 9 to 11 years, that falls to 66.4%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. No adjusted rate is shown because this model's tested examples do not cover enough of the national age and mileage range for standardisation to mean anything.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.

Further reading

Make sense of the numbers

• How to judge reliability from evidence rather than reputation
• What counts as high or low mileage for a car’s age
• The most common MOT failures and how to avoid them
• What to check before buying a used Ford