Mini Countryman MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Countryman is 7.6 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is well above average. The unadjusted figure is 84.6%; 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 Countryman 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 damaged21.7%

   2,619 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

2. 2.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements13.7%

   1,653 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

3. 3.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen11.6%

   1,394 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

4. 4.A tyre cords visible or damaged9.8%

   1,182 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm8.0%

   964 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

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

   707 occurrencesLamp not working explained

7. 7.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened5.6%

   670 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained

8. 8.A tyre seriously damaged4.6%

   549 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

9. 9.Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen4.6%

   549 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

10. 10.A tyre seriously damaged4.1%

    497 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Mini Countryman 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 requirements21.4%

   21,819 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A tyre seriously damaged14.1%

   14,420 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

3. 3.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm8.1%

   8,254 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

4. 4.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured5.1%

   5,211 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

5. 5.Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt3.3%

   3,384 tests

6. 6.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn2.6%

   2,686 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

7. 7.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements2.6%

   2,654 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

8. 8.A tyre seriously damaged2.3%

   2,351 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

The rest of the record

Everything else recorded on the Mini Countryman

The 22 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.

• Headlamp aim incorrect4.1%
• Tyre pressure monitoring system inoperative2.7%
• Engine management light on, or not working2.5%
• Wheel nut, bolt or stud missing, loose or damaged2.3%
• Suspension arm bush worn2.3%
• Brake pipe corroded1.9%
• Headlamp not working1.7%
• Parking brake efficiency too low1.6%
• Suspension joint dust cover missing or split1.4%
• Driveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing1.3%
• Emissions above the permitted limit1.2%
• Shock absorber defective1.2%
• Stop lamp not working1.2%
• Suspension mounting corroded or insecure1.2%
• Registration plate missing, insecure or illegible1.0%
• Wheel bearing has excessive play or is rough0.9%
• Brake system warning lamp on, or not working0.8%
• Road wheel damaged, distorted or cracked0.5%
• Brake binding or imbalanced across an axle0.4%
• Brake hose deteriorated, damaged or chafing0.4%
• Exhaust leaking or insecure0.2%
• Mirror missing, damaged or insecure0.1%

How wear changes the picture

Countryman pass rate by age and registration year

How often the Mini Countryman 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 Countryman 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 Countryman fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

52,290

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol69.8%

Diesel26.1%

Hybrid4.1%

Compare within the range

Other Mini models

• Mini Cooper — 75.9% adjusted
• Mini Mini — 69.4% 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

• Hyundai I30 — 68.7% adjusted, ranked 185
• Vauxhall Combo — 63.5% adjusted, ranked 236
• Kia Niro — 85.8% adjusted, ranked 15
• Kia Rio — 69.0% adjusted, ranked 181

Common questions

Is the Mini Countryman reliable?

On MOT evidence the Mini Countryman is well above average. It passes 79.9% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 56 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 Countryman?

The item recorded most often is "A tyre seriously damaged", which appears in 21.7% of failed Mini Countryman 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 Countryman?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 21.4% of all Mini Countryman tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

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

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 52,290 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 Countryman years are the most reliable?

Going by MOT pass rate, Mini Countryman cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 90.2%, and those registered 2010 and earlier do worst at 67.3%. 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 Countryman get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 90.2% of Mini Countryman tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 67.3%. 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 Countryman models petrol or diesel?

Of the Mini Countryman cars tested, 70% are petrol, 26% are diesel, 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 Mini