Toyota Alphard MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Alphard is 3.1 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is above average. The unadjusted figure is 72.8%; 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 Toyota Alphard 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 joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc17.6%

   437 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

2. 2.The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements12.5%

   311 occurrencesHeadlamp aim incorrect explained

3. 3.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen12.2%

   302 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm11.9%

   295 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 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 functioning11.4%

   282 occurrencesLamp not working explained

6. 6.A tyre cords visible or damaged10.9%

   269 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

7. 7.A stub axle swivel pin and/or bush excessively worn10.0%

   248 occurrencesBall joint worn explained

8. 8.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements9.8%

   242 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

9. 9.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning9.6%

   239 occurrencesLamp not working explained

10. 10.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn7.5%

    185 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Toyota Alphard 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.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn24.2%

   2,719 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

2. 2.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements23.7%

   2,664 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

3. 3.A stub axle swivel pin and/or bush excessively worn11.1%

   1,250 testsBall joint worn explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm11.0%

   1,242 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.A tyre seriously damaged10.3%

   1,162 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

6. 6.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured9.4%

   1,055 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

7. 7.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users5.4%

   611 tests

8. 8.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened5.2%

   589 testsRoad spring broken or fractured 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 Alphard fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

85,652

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Hybrid98.8%

Petrol1.2%

Compare within the range

Other Toyota models

• Toyota Yaris — 72.3% adjusted
• Toyota Aygo — 70.4% adjusted
• Toyota Prius — 81.4% adjusted
• Toyota Auris — 72.6% adjusted
• Toyota Corolla — 78.8% adjusted
• Toyota RAV4 — 79.0% adjusted
• All Toyota models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Mitsubishi Mirage — 77.3% adjusted, ranked 82
• Audi A8 — 88.6% adjusted, ranked 6
• Volkswagen Jetta — 69.3% adjusted, ranked 177
• Tesla Model S — 81.5% adjusted, ranked 43

Common questions

Is the Toyota Alphard reliable?

On MOT evidence the Toyota Alphard is above average. It passes 75.4% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 83% 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 Toyota Alphard?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc", which appears in 17.6% of failed Toyota Alphard 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 Toyota Alphard?

The most common advisory is "A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn", noted on 24.2% of all Toyota Alphard tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Toyota Alphard usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 85,652 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 Toyota Alphard get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 73.7% of Toyota Alphard tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 72.2%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Toyota Alphard models petrol or diesel?

Of the Toyota Alphard cars tested, 99% are hybrid, 1% 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. 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 Toyota