Jeep Cherokee MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Recorded pass rate

We are not publishing a ranking for the Cherokee. 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 8,958 tests and are worth reading on their own terms.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

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

1. 1.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn23.6%

   574 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

2. 2.The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired13.0%

   316 occurrencesSuspension mounting corroded or insecure explained

3. 3.A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED11.4%

   277 occurrencesHeadlamp not working explained

4. 4.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements9.6%

   235 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm9.2%

   224 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc9.0%

   220 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

7. 7.Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement7.8%

   190 occurrencesParking brake efficiency too low explained

8. 8.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen7.8%

   189 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

9. 9.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning7.1%

   172 occurrencesLamp not working explained

10. 10.A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED6.6%

    160 occurrencesHeadlamp not working explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Jeep Cherokee 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 requirements23.2%

   2,079 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured21.4%

   1,921 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

3. 3.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn18.5%

   1,661 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

4. 4.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users13.5%

   1,205 tests

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm11.6%

   1,037 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.A tyre seriously damaged8.9%

   796 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

7. 7.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened8.7%

   776 testsRoad spring broken or fractured explained

8. 8.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded6.0%

   539 testsBrake pipe corroded 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 Cherokee fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

93,020

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Diesel84.1%

Petrol15.5%

Compare within the range

Other Jeep models

• Jeep Renegade — 74.8% adjusted
• Jeep Compass — 71.8% adjusted
• Jeep Grand Cherokee — 75.4% adjusted
• Jeep Wrangler — 73.9% adjusted
• Jeep Patriot — 49.5% unadjusted
• All Jeep models →

Common questions

How reliable is the Jeep Cherokee compared with other cars?

We do not publish a comparison for the Jeep Cherokee, 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 68.4% across 8,958 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 Jeep Cherokee?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn", which appears in 23.6% of failed Jeep Cherokee 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 Jeep Cherokee?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 23.2% of all Jeep Cherokee tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Jeep Cherokee usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 93,020 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 Jeep Cherokee get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 6 to 8 years old, 80.3% of Jeep Cherokee tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 59.4%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Jeep Cherokee models petrol or diesel?

Of the Jeep Cherokee cars tested, 84% are diesel, 15% 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. 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 Jeep