Volvo XC60 MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The XC60 is 6.8 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is well above average. The unadjusted figure is 80.2%; 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 Volvo XC60 tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened29.2%

   5,846 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained

2. 2.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm15.9%

   3,189 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

3. 3.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements14.9%

   2,984 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

4. 4.A tyre seriously damaged13.3%

   2,668 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

5. 5.A tyre cords visible or damaged8.0%

   1,595 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

6. 6.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen6.1%

   1,214 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

7. 7.A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning5.0%

   997 occurrencesDirection indicator not working explained

8. 8.Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction3.9%

   788 occurrencesEngine management light on, or not working explained

9. 9.Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc3.8%

   767 occurrencesSteering rack gaiter split, damaged or missing explained

10. 10.A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play3.7%

    747 occurrencesBall joint worn explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Volvo XC60 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 requirements25.6%

   30,514 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm13.3%

   15,774 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

3. 3.A tyre seriously damaged10.0%

   11,945 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

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

   9,546 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

5. 5.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn4.9%

   5,873 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

6. 6.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn4.9%

   5,815 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

7. 7.Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt3.6%

   4,268 tests

8. 8.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements3.4%

   4,032 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit 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 XC60 fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

79,649

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Diesel69.8%

Hybrid14.9%

Petrol9.6%

Diesel hybrid5.7%

Compare within the range

Other Volvo models

• Volvo V40 — 67.4% adjusted
• Volvo XC40 — 90.0% unadjusted
• Volvo XC90 — 77.6% adjusted
• Volvo V60 — 78.3% adjusted
• Volvo V70 — 63.8% unadjusted
• Volvo V50 — 55.2% unadjusted
• All Volvo models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Land Rover Defender — 74.4% adjusted, ranked 117
• Audi Q5 — 81.6% adjusted, ranked 42
• Dacia Sandero — 64.4% adjusted, ranked 226
• Land Rover Discovery Sport — 81.9% adjusted, ranked 40

Common questions

Is the Volvo XC60 reliable?

On MOT evidence the Volvo XC60 is well above average. It passes 79.1% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 62 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 Volvo XC60?

The item recorded most often is "A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened", which appears in 29.2% of failed Volvo XC60 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 Volvo XC60?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 25.6% of all Volvo XC60 tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Volvo XC60 usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 79,649 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 Volvo XC60 get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 90.3% of Volvo XC60 tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 66.3%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Volvo XC60 models petrol or diesel?

Of the Volvo XC60 cars tested, 70% are diesel, 15% are hybrid, 10% 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 Volvo