Land Rover Range Rover MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Range Rover is 10.1 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is well above average. The unadjusted figure is 79.4%; 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 Land Rover Range Rover 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 worn15.3%

   2,396 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

2. 2.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded14.2%

   2,231 occurrencesBrake pipe corroded explained

3. 3.A tyre seriously damaged11.2%

   1,757 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm11.1%

   1,743 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc10.0%

   1,569 occurrencesDriveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing explained

6. 6.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc9.1%

   1,419 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

7. 7.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn8.7%

   1,366 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

8. 8.A tyre cords visible or damaged8.3%

   1,308 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

9. 9.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen8.0%

   1,252 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

10. 10.An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction5.9%

    919 occurrencesAirbag warning lamp on, or airbag missing explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Land Rover Range Rover 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 requirements18.3%

   16,063 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded14.4%

   12,681 testsBrake pipe corroded explained

3. 3.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn13.6%

   11,950 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

4. 4.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured10.2%

   8,981 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.1%

   8,927 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users8.2%

   7,236 tests

7. 7.A tyre seriously damaged5.2%

   4,533 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

8. 8.A suspension component excessively damaged or corroded5.1%

   4,446 testsSuspension mounting corroded or insecure 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 Range Rover fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

95,289

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Diesel79.9%

Petrol15.2%

Hybrid4.1%

Compare within the range

Other Land Rover models

• Land Rover Range Rover Evoque — 82.3% adjusted
• Land Rover Discovery — 80.1% adjusted
• Land Rover Range Rover Sport — 81.1% adjusted
• Land Rover Discovery Sport — 81.9% adjusted
• Land Rover Defender — 74.4% adjusted
• Land Rover Freelander — 72.6% adjusted
• All Land Rover models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Nissan X-Trail — 70.5% adjusted, ranked 167
• Mercedes-Benz Vito — 71.0% adjusted, ranked 161
• Mazda MX-5 — 77.2% adjusted, ranked 85
• Renault Megane — 63.3% adjusted, ranked 238

Common questions

Is the Land Rover Range Rover reliable?

On MOT evidence the Land Rover Range Rover is well above average. It passes 82.4% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 33 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 Land Rover Range Rover?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn", which appears in 15.3% of failed Land Rover Range Rover 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 Land Rover Range Rover?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 18.3% of all Land Rover Range Rover tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Land Rover Range Rover usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 95,289 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 Land Rover Range Rover get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 89.4% of Land Rover Range Rover tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 71.2%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Land Rover Range Rover models petrol or diesel?

Of the Land Rover Range Rover cars tested, 80% are diesel, 15% are petrol, 4% are hybrid. 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 Land Rover