Toyota RAV4 MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The RAV4 is 6.7 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is well above average. The unadjusted figure is 81.0%; 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 Toyota RAV4 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 pin, bush or joint excessively worn17.9%

   2,785 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

2. 2.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen11.5%

   1,788 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

3. 3.A tyre seriously damaged11.3%

   1,759 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

4. 4.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements10.7%

   1,661 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

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

   1,620 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc8.7%

   1,362 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

7. 7.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning7.7%

   1,198 occurrencesLamp not working explained

8. 8.The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired7.5%

   1,168 occurrencesSuspension mounting corroded or insecure explained

9. 9.The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements6.0%

   928 occurrencesHeadlamp aim incorrect explained

10. 10.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage5.0%

    779 occurrencesShock absorber defective explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Toyota RAV4 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 requirements20.3%

   21,333 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A tyre seriously damaged14.7%

   15,415 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

3. 3.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn10.5%

   11,002 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

4. 4.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured10.3%

   10,858 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm8.5%

   8,941 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened6.0%

   6,326 testsRoad spring broken or fractured explained

7. 7.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded5.3%

   5,524 testsBrake pipe corroded explained

8. 8.A suspension component excessively damaged or corroded3.3%

   3,439 testsSuspension mounting corroded or insecure explained

The rest of the record

Everything else recorded on the Toyota RAV4

The 16 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.

• Tyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating4.6%
• Exhaust leaking or insecure4.5%
• Headlamp not working3.4%
• Engine management light on, or not working3.2%
• Tyre pressure monitoring system inoperative3.1%
• Stop lamp not working3.1%
• Parking brake efficiency too low2.9%
• Emissions above the permitted limit2.8%
• Registration plate missing, insecure or illegible2.7%
• Corrosion in a structural area2.4%
• Seat belt anchorage corroded or weakened2.4%
• Brake binding or imbalanced across an axle2.2%
• Lamp of the wrong colour, position or intensity2.0%
• Brake hose deteriorated, damaged or chafing1.7%
• Driveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing1.5%
• Parking brake lever or cable travel excessive1.3%

How wear changes the picture

RAV4 pass rate by age and registration year

How often the Toyota RAV4 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 RAV4 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 RAV4 fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

70,316

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Hybrid56.7%

Diesel23.4%

Petrol19.9%

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 C-Hr — 86.0% unadjusted
• All Toyota models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Mazda 3 — 70.6% adjusted, ranked 164
• Ford C-Max — 68.7% adjusted, ranked 183
• Kia Niro — 85.8% adjusted, ranked 15
• BMW X3 — 79.5% adjusted, ranked 58

Common questions

Is the Toyota RAV4 reliable?

On MOT evidence the Toyota RAV4 is well above average. It passes 79.0% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 63 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 RAV4?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn", which appears in 17.9% of failed Toyota RAV4 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 RAV4?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 20.3% of all Toyota RAV4 tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Toyota RAV4 usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 70,316 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 RAV4 years are the most reliable?

Going by MOT pass rate, Toyota RAV4 cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 92.2%, and those registered 2010 and earlier do worst at 61.0%. 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 RAV4 get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 92.2% of Toyota RAV4 tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 61.0%. 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 RAV4 models petrol or diesel?

Of the Toyota RAV4 cars tested, 57% are hybrid, 23% are diesel, 20% 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