Toyota Auris MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Auris is 0.3 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is about average. The unadjusted figure is 71.9%; 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 Auris tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning14.9%

   4,343 occurrencesLamp not working explained

2. 2.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc11.8%

   3,444 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

3. 3.Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning10.7%

   3,117 occurrencesStop lamp not working explained

4. 4.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements10.6%

   3,099 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm9.4%

   2,755 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded9.4%

   2,751 occurrencesBrake pipe corroded explained

7. 7.Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement9.4%

   2,741 occurrencesParking brake efficiency too low explained

8. 8.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen9.4%

   2,731 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

9. 9.A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED8.0%

   2,327 occurrencesHeadlamp not working explained

10. 10.A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps7.3%

    2,131 occurrencesLamp not working explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Toyota Auris 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%

   27,235 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn14.9%

   22,206 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

3. 3.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured14.5%

   21,487 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

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

   21,370 testsBrake pipe corroded explained

5. 5.A tyre seriously damaged13.7%

   20,377 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

6. 6.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm8.4%

   12,451 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

7. 7.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened5.5%

   8,106 testsRoad spring broken or fractured explained

8. 8.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn5.1%

   7,533 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored 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 Auris fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

97,270

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Hybrid44.8%

Petrol44.0%

Diesel8.4%

Electric1.5%

Other1.3%

Compare within the range

Other Toyota models

• Toyota Yaris — 72.3% adjusted
• Toyota Aygo — 70.4% adjusted
• Toyota Prius — 81.4% adjusted
• Toyota Corolla — 78.8% adjusted
• Toyota RAV4 — 79.0% adjusted
• Toyota C-Hr — 86.0% unadjusted
• All Toyota models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Nissan Note — 65.9% adjusted, ranked 212
• Peugeot Partner — 65.1% adjusted, ranked 222
• Peugeot 2008 — 69.0% adjusted, ranked 179
• Volkswagen Caddy — 72.1% adjusted, ranked 148

Common questions

Is the Toyota Auris reliable?

On MOT evidence the Toyota Auris is about average. It passes 72.6% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 84% 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 Auris?

The item recorded most often is "A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning", which appears in 14.9% of failed Toyota Auris 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 Auris?

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

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

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 97,270 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 Auris get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 6 to 8 years old, 80.2% of Toyota Auris 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 Toyota Auris models petrol or diesel?

Of the Toyota Auris cars tested, 45% are hybrid, 44% are petrol, 8% are diesel. 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