Ford Transit Courier MOT failure rate and common faults
30,895 Ford Transit Courier vans aged 3 to 20 took their MOT in 2025, and 29.5% failed at the first attempt. An average car of the same age failed 18.6% of the time, which makes the Ford Transit Courier 59% more likely to fail than the typical car on the road. Here is what fails, and which years to look for.
29.5%
failed first time
30,895 MOT tests in 2025
+59%
vs same age average
average car of this age mix: 18.6%
24 of 24
age adjusted rank
among vans and pickups; 1 fails least
106.7
dangerous defects per 1,000
same age average: 76.9
What fails on a Ford Transit Courier MOT
Failure items recorded per 1,000 tests, by part of the car, set against an average car with exactly the same spread of ages. A figure well above average is a weak spot worth checking before you buy.
The most common Ford Transit Courier MOT failures
The individual failure items testers recorded most often, per 1,000 tests.
| Failure item | Area | Per 1,000 tests |
|---|---|---|
| Stop lamp: not working | Lights and electrics | 66.8 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm | Tyres | 43.0 |
| Headlamp: not working on dipped beam | Lights and electrics | 32.8 |
| Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively | Windscreen, wipers and mirrors | 31.8 |
| Coil spring: fractured or broken | Suspension | 27.6 |
| Ball joint excessively worn | Suspension | 25.1 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction | Engine, emissions and leaks | 22.9 |
| Tyres: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords | Tyres | 21.7 |
| Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick | Brakes | 21.1 |
| Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps | Lights and electrics | 20.9 |
Ford Transit Courier MOT failure rate by year
Every car fails more often as it ages, so each registration year is compared with the average for all cars of the same age. Years with fewer than 500 tests are left out.
| First registered | Tests | Failed | Same age average | Average mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4,496 | 20.0% | 11.4% | 43,200 |
| 2021 | 3,539 | 21.7% | 12.8% | 53,200 |
| 2020 | 3,337 | 26.3% | 14.1% | 68,800 |
| 2019 | 4,477 | 28.7% | 16.5% | 76,700 |
| 2018 | 4,233 | 30.2% | 19.1% | 85,200 |
| 2017 | 3,792 | 34.5% | 21.8% | 98,100 |
| 2016 | 2,655 | 36.2% | 25.1% | 103,700 |
| 2015 | 3,344 | 40.4% | 28.1% | 115,700 |
| 2014 | 1,022 | 39.0% | 31.4% | 123,600 |
Advisories to look for in a Ford Transit Courier's MOT history
An advisory is a tester's warning that something is wearing but has not failed yet. These are the ones written most often on the Ford Transit Courier, per 1,000 tests. If the car you are looking at has one of these, ask whether it has been fixed since.
- Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge347.6
- Brake pads: wearing thin77.5
- Tyres: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing58.1
- Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened53.7
- Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread31.1
- Brake discs: worn, but not excessively29.0
Checking a used Ford Transit Courier before you buy
Against cars of the same age, the Ford Transit Courier fails more often than average on lights and electrics, tyres and windscreen, wipers and mirrors. Start there.
Lights and electrics
Walk round the car with every light on: headlights on dip and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and the number plate lamp. A pattern of electrical faults costs more than a bulb.
Tyres
Check the tread across the full width of every tyre, inner edge included. Uneven wear points to worn suspension or out of line steering geometry.
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors
Look for chips or cracks in the driver's line of sight, and test the wipers and washers. Windscreen damage in the swept area is an MOT failure.
Averages only take you so far. The specific car's MOT history shows whether it has already failed on any of these, how often advisories were ignored, and whether the mileage climbs steadily from test to test. Read our guide to reading a car's MOT history before you go to view it.
Fuel mix of the Ford Transit Courier vans tested: Diesel 84%, Petrol 16%. Average age at test 6.5 years, average recorded mileage 80,000.
Ford Transit Courier MOT questions
What is the Ford Transit Courier MOT failure rate?
29.5% of Ford Transit Courier vans failed their first MOT test of 2025, from 30,895 tests on vehicles aged 3 to 20. An average car with the same age mix failed 18.6% of the time, so the Ford Transit Courier was 59% more likely to fail.
What fails most often on a Ford Transit Courier MOT?
Lights and electrics caused the most failure items, at 219 per 1,000 tests. The single most common failure item was "Stop lamp: not working", recorded 66.8 times per 1,000 tests.
Which Ford Transit Courier year has the best MOT record?
Measured against cars of the same age, 2014 registrations did best: 39.0% failed against an average of 31.4% for cars that age. Older cars always fail more often, so compare a year with its age group rather than with newer cars.
Does this tell me whether a particular Ford Transit Courier will pass?
No. These are averages across every Ford Transit Courier tested in 2025. The car in front of you has its own record: its full MOT history shows every pass, failure and advisory it has had, and it is free to view by registration.
Other Ford models
- Ford Fiesta34.1% failed
- Ford Focus31.4% failed
- Ford Kuga20.6% failed
- Ford Transit37.5% failed
- Ford Transit Custom22.8% failed
- Ford Ka33.3% failed
Ranked close to the Ford Transit Courier
- Nissan NV200rank 21
- Citroen Dispatchrank 23
How these figures are calculated
Source: DVSA Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2025 release. We count first tests of cars and small vans (class 4) aged 3 to 20, so a car that fails and is retested is counted once. A failure includes faults fixed and passed within the same visit. The same age average weights the national failure rate for each age by how many Ford Transit Courier vans of that age were tested, so a model is never penalised for having an older fleet. Make and model are as recorded at the test; trim levels are combined. Full method and rankings.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.