Is the Ssangyong Rexton reliable?

On MOT evidence the Ssangyong Rexton is below average. It passes 67.6% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 70% of the national age and mileage range, which is enough to quote but not to rank. 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 Ssangyong Rexton?

The item recorded most often is "A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play", which appears in 19.3% of failed Ssangyong Rexton 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 Ssangyong Rexton?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 25.9% of all Ssangyong Rexton tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Ssangyong Rexton usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 64,767 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 Ssangyong Rexton years are the most reliable?

Going by MOT pass rate, Ssangyong Rexton cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 81.6%, and those registered 2010 and earlier do worst at 55.4%. 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 Ssangyong Rexton get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 81.6% of Ssangyong Rexton tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 55.4%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Model reliability file

Ssangyong Rexton MOT pass rate & common failures

From 3,639 recorded MOT tests of the Ssangyong Rexton, published by DVSA.

Data updated 29 July 2026

Quick answer

The Ssangyong Rexton passes 67.6% of MOT tests once results are adjusted for the age and mileage of the cars tested, against a national average of 72.3%. That is below average. Based on 3,639 tests. Its most commonly recorded failure is steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, which appears in 19.3% of failed tests. Cars of this model average 64,767 miles on the odometer when tested.

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

67.6%national average72.3%unadjusted68.0%range covered70%

The Rexton is 4.7 percentage points below the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is below average. The unadjusted figure is 68.0%; 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 Ssangyong Rexton tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1.A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play19.3%
194 occurrencesBall joint worn explained
2.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm17.1%
172 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained
3.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened17.1%
172 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained
4.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn13.3%
134 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained
5.An obligatory rear fog lamp missing, or a front or rear fog lamp inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning12.3%
124 occurrencesLamp not working explained
6.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc11.4%
115 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained
7.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements11.3%
114 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained
8.Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement9.6%
96 occurrencesParking brake efficiency too low explained
9.Parking brake inoperative on one side9.4%
94 occurrencesParking brake efficiency too low explained
10.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded7.6%
76 occurrencesBrake pipe corroded explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Ssangyong Rexton tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements25.9%
942 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained
2.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm18.6%
677 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained
3.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded11.3%
411 testsBrake pipe corroded explained
4.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured9.5%
345 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained
5.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn5.7%
209 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained
6.A tyre seriously damaged5.2%
191 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained
7.A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play4.8%
175 testsBall joint worn explained
8.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn4.2%
152 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

The rest of the record

Everything else recorded on the Ssangyong Rexton

The 18 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.

How wear changes the picture

Rexton pass rate by age and registration year

How often the Ssangyong Rexton 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.

3–5 yrsreg. 2020–202282%

6–8 yrsreg. 2017–201971%

9–11 yrsreg. 2014–201659%

12–14 yrsreg. 2011–201350%

15+ yrsreg. 2010 and earlier55%

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 Rexton 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 Rexton fleet

Average mileage recorded at test: 64,767
Fuel mix of tested cars: Diesel99.9%

Trim names grouped into this model (14)

Recorded exactly as DVSA holds them. Trim-level names are rolled up so one model is not split across a dozen thin pages.

REXTON 270 EX AUTO
REXTON 270 S
REXTON 270 S 5S
REXTON 270 S 5S AUTO
REXTON 270 S AUTO
REXTON 270 SPR AUTO
REXTON EX
REXTON RX270 S
REXTON RX270 SE5 AUTO
REXTON RX270 SE7 AUTO
REXTON SE AUTO
REXTON ULTIMATE AUTO
REXTON ULTIMATE PLUS AUTO
REXTON VENTURA AUTO

Check a specific Ssangyong Rexton

A model average tells you the pattern. Its own MOT record tells you the car.

Compare within the range

Other Ssangyong models

Ssangyong Korando — 65.9% adjusted
Ssangyong Tivoli — 71.4% unadjusted
Ssangyong Musso — 64.3% unadjusted
Ssangyong Rodius — 59.5% unadjusted
All Ssangyong models

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

Lexus GS — 87.8% adjusted, ranked 9
Fiat Qubo — 62.5% adjusted, ranked 242
Nissan Serena — 76.5% adjusted, ranked 92
Vauxhall Movano — 67.7% adjusted, ranked 198

Common questions

Is the Ssangyong Rexton reliable?: On MOT evidence the Ssangyong Rexton is below average. It passes 67.6% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 70% of the national age and mileage range, which is enough to quote but not to rank. 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 Ssangyong Rexton?: The item recorded most often is "A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play", which appears in 19.3% of failed Ssangyong Rexton 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 Ssangyong Rexton?: The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 25.9% of all Ssangyong Rexton tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.
What mileage does a Ssangyong Rexton usually have at its MOT?: The average odometer reading recorded at test is 64,767 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 Ssangyong Rexton years are the most reliable?: Going by MOT pass rate, Ssangyong Rexton cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 81.6%, and those registered 2010 and earlier do worst at 55.4%. 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 Ssangyong Rexton get harder to pass as it ages?: Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 81.6% of Ssangyong Rexton tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 55.4%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

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.