Mini Cooper MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Cooper is 3.6 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is above average. The unadjusted figure is 84.5%; 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 Mini Cooper tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A tyre seriously damaged19.6%

   8,408 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

2. 2.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen15.7%

   6,728 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

3. 3.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements12.3%

   5,280 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

4. 4.A tyre cords visible or damaged9.3%

   3,986 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm9.0%

   3,874 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.A tyre seriously damaged8.3%

   3,540 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

7. 7.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning7.5%

   3,199 occurrencesLamp not working explained

8. 8.A tyre seriously damaged5.4%

   2,329 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

9. 9.Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen4.3%

   1,851 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

10. 10.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage3.5%

    1,481 occurrencesShock absorber defective explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Mini Cooper 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 requirements18.2%

   64,605 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A tyre seriously damaged18.0%

   63,920 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

3. 3.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured6.2%

   22,096 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm6.2%

   21,992 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.A tyre seriously damaged3.0%

   10,654 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

6. 6.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn2.9%

   10,207 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

7. 7.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn2.3%

   8,308 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

8. 8.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements2.3%

   8,289 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

The rest of the record

Everything else recorded on the Mini Cooper

The 23 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 working3.3%
• Road spring broken or fractured2.7%
• Stop lamp not working2.6%
• Tyre pressure monitoring system inoperative2.3%
• Road wheel damaged, distorted or cracked2.1%
• Headlamp aim incorrect1.7%
• Wheel nut, bolt or stud missing, loose or damaged1.6%
• Parking brake efficiency too low1.5%
• Brake binding or imbalanced across an axle1.4%
• Registration plate missing, insecure or illegible1.3%
• Emissions above the permitted limit1.2%
• Brake pipe corroded1.1%
• Suspension mounting corroded or insecure1.1%
• Driveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing0.9%
• Horn not working, or of the wrong type0.9%
• Suspension joint dust cover missing or split0.9%
• Direction indicator not working0.9%
• Headlamp not working0.7%
• Exhaust leaking or insecure0.3%
• Brake hose deteriorated, damaged or chafing0.3%
• Lamp of the wrong colour, position or intensity0.1%
• Ball joint worn0.1%
• Mirror missing, damaged or insecure0.1%

How wear changes the picture

Cooper pass rate by age and registration year

How often the Mini Cooper 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 Cooper 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 Cooper fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

46,791

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol79.7%

Diesel13.0%

Electric4.8%

Hybrid2.5%

Compare within the range

Other Mini models

• Mini Mini — 69.4% adjusted
• Mini Countryman — 79.9% adjusted
• Mini One — 73.9% adjusted
• Mini Clubman — 76.8% adjusted
• Mini John Cooper Works — 83.8% adjusted
• Mini Paceman — 81.6% unadjusted
• All Mini models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Mercedes-Benz C-Class — 77.0% adjusted, ranked 86
• Mercedes-Benz A-Class — 73.3% adjusted, ranked 131
• Honda Jazz — 75.5% adjusted, ranked 101
• Fiat 500 — 65.3% adjusted, ranked 219

Common questions

Is the Mini Cooper reliable?

On MOT evidence the Mini Cooper is above average. It passes 75.9% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 97 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 Mini Cooper?

The item recorded most often is "A tyre seriously damaged", which appears in 19.6% of failed Mini Cooper 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 Mini Cooper?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 18.2% of all Mini Cooper tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Mini Cooper usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 46,791 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 Mini Cooper years are the most reliable?

Going by MOT pass rate, Mini Cooper cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 89.0%, and those registered 2010 and earlier do worst at 60.6%. 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 Mini Cooper get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 89.0% of Mini Cooper tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 60.6%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Mini Cooper models petrol or diesel?

Of the Mini Cooper cars tested, 80% are petrol, 13% are diesel, 5% are electric. 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 Mini