Toyota Estima MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Estima is 8.0 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is well above average. The unadjusted figure is 76.7%; 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 Estima 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 etc19.2%

   612 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

2. 2.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning18.1%

   576 occurrencesLamp not working explained

3. 3.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 functioning14.5%

   461 occurrencesLamp not working explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm13.9%

   443 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements11.1%

   355 occurrencesHeadlamp aim incorrect explained

6. 6.A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps10.1%

   323 occurrencesLamp not working explained

7. 7.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen10.1%

   322 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

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

   312 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

9. 9.A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED8.5%

   270 occurrencesHeadlamp not working explained

10. 10.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage8.0%

    254 occurrencesShock absorber defective explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Toyota Estima 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 requirements17.0%

   3,219 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.6%

   2,008 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

3. 3.A stub axle swivel pin and/or bush excessively worn10.3%

   1,951 testsBall joint worn explained

4. 4.A tyre seriously damaged8.0%

   1,516 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

5. 5.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured7.1%

   1,340 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

6. 6.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn7.0%

   1,320 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

7. 7.Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than white or yellow6.8%

   1,279 testsLamp of the wrong colour, position or intensity explained

8. 8.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage4.8%

   903 testsShock absorber defective 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 Estima fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

102,163

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol54.2%

Hybrid40.0%

LPG3.9%

Diesel0.8%

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

• Renault Grand Scenic — 59.4% adjusted, ranked 253
• Lexus RX — 88.2% adjusted, ranked 8
• Abarth 595 — 76.0% adjusted, ranked 95
• Citroen C5 — 69.6% adjusted, ranked 175

Common questions

Is the Toyota Estima reliable?

On MOT evidence the Toyota Estima is well above average. It passes 80.3% 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 Estima?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc", which appears in 19.2% of failed Toyota Estima 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 Estima?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 17.0% of all Toyota Estima tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

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

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 102,163 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 Estima get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 69.9% of Toyota Estima tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 73.6%. 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 Estima models petrol or diesel?

Of the Toyota Estima cars tested, 54% are petrol, 40% are hybrid, 4% are lpg. 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