Jaguar XF MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The XF is 5.6 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is above average. The unadjusted figure is 74.4%; the difference is what the age and mileage of this model’s fleet was hiding.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

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

1. 1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements17.0%

   3,465 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn13.9%

   2,835 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

3. 3.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc12.2%

   2,491 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

4. 4.A tyre cords visible or damaged12.2%

   2,489 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.6%

   2,169 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened8.9%

   1,807 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained

7. 7.A tyre seriously damaged7.8%

   1,594 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

8. 8.A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps7.7%

   1,576 occurrencesLamp not working explained

9. 9.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc7.2%

   1,476 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

10. 10.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn6.3%

    1,281 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Jaguar XF 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 requirements29.9%

   27,923 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured17.4%

   16,227 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

3. 3.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn15.9%

   14,830 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.9%

   10,206 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.A suspension component excessively damaged or corroded9.9%

   9,244 testsSuspension mounting corroded or insecure explained

6. 6.A tyre seriously damaged8.9%

   8,354 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

7. 7.A brake hose ferrule excessively corroded4.8%

   4,470 testsBrake hose deteriorated, damaged or chafing explained

8. 8.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements3.7%

   3,474 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

How wear changes the picture

Pass rate by vehicle age

Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The XF fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

90,616

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Diesel90.2%

Petrol9.8%

Compare within the range

Other Jaguar models

• Jaguar F-Pace — 84.6% adjusted
• Jaguar XE — 82.0% adjusted
• Jaguar E-Pace — 87.3% unadjusted
• Jaguar I-Pace — 91.5% unadjusted
• Jaguar XJ — 79.9% adjusted
• Jaguar X-Type — 59.0% unadjusted
• All Jaguar models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• BMW X5 — 81.8% adjusted, ranked 41
• Mercedes-Benz GLA — 82.3% adjusted, ranked 35
• Renault Megane — 63.3% adjusted, ranked 238
• Mazda MX-5 — 77.2% adjusted, ranked 85

Common questions

Is the Jaguar XF reliable?

On MOT evidence the Jaguar XF is above average. It passes 77.9% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 74 of 262 models with enough data for a fair comparison. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Jaguar XF?

The item recorded most often is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", which appears in 17.0% of failed Jaguar XF 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 Jaguar XF?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 29.9% of all Jaguar XF tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Jaguar XF usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 90,616 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.

Does a Jaguar XF get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 88.3% of Jaguar XF tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 64.6%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Jaguar XF models petrol or diesel?

Of the Jaguar XF cars tested, 90% are diesel, 10% are petrol. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

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. The adjusted rate is directly standardised across twenty-five age and mileage bands and reweighted onto the national distribution, so this model is compared against cars that have lived a similar life rather than against a younger or lighter-used fleet.

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 Jaguar