Toyota Prius MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Prius is 9.1 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is well above average. The unadjusted figure is 78.7%; 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 Prius 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 functioning15.6%

   3,390 occurrencesLamp not working explained

2. 2.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements14.7%

   3,202 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

3. 3.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc12.9%

   2,801 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.8%

   2,349 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen9.6%

   2,094 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

6. 6.A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps9.4%

   2,053 occurrencesLamp not working explained

7. 7.The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements8.9%

   1,932 occurrencesHeadlamp aim incorrect explained

8. 8.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage7.1%

   1,542 occurrencesShock absorber defective explained

9. 9.A tyre seriously damaged6.5%

   1,417 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

10. 10.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc5.9%

    1,276 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Toyota Prius 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 requirements14.9%

   24,316 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured8.0%

   13,074 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

3. 3.A tyre seriously damaged6.7%

   10,905 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm6.3%

   10,233 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded4.9%

   7,998 testsBrake pipe corroded explained

6. 6.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn4.8%

   7,842 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

7. 7.Number plate inscription missing or illegible3.6%

   5,864 testsRegistration plate missing, insecure or illegible explained

8. 8.Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than white or yellow3.5%

   5,669 testsLamp of the wrong colour, position or intensity explained

The rest of the record

Everything else recorded on the Toyota Prius

The 15 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.

• Engine management light on, or not working5.5%
• Driveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing5.4%
• Parking brake efficiency too low5.2%
• Headlamp not working5.1%
• Tyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating4.7%
• Road spring broken or fractured3.0%
• Wheel nut, bolt or stud missing, loose or damaged2.7%
• Ball joint worn2.6%
• Suspension mounting corroded or insecure2.3%
• Direction indicator not working2.3%
• Exhaust leaking or insecure1.9%
• Wheel bearing has excessive play or is rough1.9%
• Corrosion in a structural area0.9%
• Brake hose deteriorated, damaged or chafing0.8%
• Brake binding or imbalanced across an axle0.5%

How wear changes the picture

Prius pass rate by age and registration year

How often the Toyota Prius 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 Prius 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 Prius fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

140,045

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Hybrid100.0%

Compare within the range

Other Toyota models

• Toyota Yaris — 72.3% adjusted
• Toyota Aygo — 70.4% adjusted
• Toyota Auris — 72.6% 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

• Ford Transit Connect — 68.4% adjusted, ranked 192
• Citroen C1 — 68.7% adjusted, ranked 184
• Renault Captur — 70.8% adjusted, ranked 162
• Hyundai Tucson — 74.8% adjusted, ranked 115

Common questions

Is the Toyota Prius reliable?

On MOT evidence the Toyota Prius is well above average. It passes 81.4% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 45 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 Toyota Prius?

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 15.6% of failed Toyota Prius 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 Prius?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 14.9% of all Toyota Prius tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

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

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 140,045 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 Toyota Prius years are the most reliable?

Going by MOT pass rate, Toyota Prius cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 90.0%, and those registered 2010 and earlier do worst at 64.4%. 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 Toyota Prius get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 90.0% of Toyota Prius tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 64.4%. 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.

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