Honda HR-V MOT failure rate and common faults
37,026 Honda HR-V cars aged 3 to 20 took their MOT in 2025, and 11.8% failed at the first attempt. An average car of the same age failed 19.2% of the time, which makes the Honda HR-V 38% less likely to fail than the typical car on the road. Here is what fails, and which years to look for.
11.8%
failed first time
37,026 MOT tests in 2025
-38%
vs same age average
average car of this age mix: 19.2%
7 of 208
age adjusted rank
among cars; 1 fails least
51.6
dangerous defects per 1,000
same age average: 79.1
What fails on a Honda HR-V 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 Honda HR-V MOT failures
The individual failure items testers recorded most often, per 1,000 tests.
| Failure item | Area | Per 1,000 tests |
|---|---|---|
| Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively | Windscreen, wipers and mirrors | 24.3 |
| Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick | Brakes | 22.2 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm | Tyres | 15.8 |
| Tyres: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords | Tyres | 13.3 |
| Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak | Suspension | 8.8 |
| Suspension arms: pin or bush excessively worn | Suspension | 8.6 |
| Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid | Windscreen, wipers and mirrors | 7.9 |
| Headlamp aim: too low | Lights and electrics | 6.5 |
| Headlamp aim: too high | Lights and electrics | 6.2 |
| Tyre pressure monitoring system: malfunctioning or obviously inoperative | Tyres | 5.1 |
Honda HR-V 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 | 6,345 | 4.7% | 11.4% | 21,700 |
| 2020 | 3,703 | 8.8% | 14.1% | 31,700 |
| 2019 | 4,859 | 8.9% | 16.5% | 37,200 |
| 2018 | 6,078 | 11.3% | 19.1% | 45,900 |
| 2017 | 5,827 | 14.0% | 21.8% | 55,200 |
| 2016 | 6,847 | 17.8% | 25.1% | 63,300 |
| 2015 | 2,761 | 18.1% | 28.1% | 71,700 |
Advisories to look for in a Honda HR-V'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 Honda HR-V, 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 edge217.0
- Tyres: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing150.6
- Brake pads: wearing thin110.1
- Suspension arms: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement62.7
- Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil43.2
- Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened38.3
Checking a used Honda HR-V before you buy
The Honda HR-V has no part of the car that fails well above average for its age, so check the areas that fail most often overall.
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.
Brakes
Look through the wheel spokes at the discs for a deep lip or scoring, check the handbrake holds the car on a slope, and feel for a pull to one side when braking hard.
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 Honda HR-V cars tested: Petrol 58%, Diesel 23%, Hybrid 18%. Average age at test 6.8 years, average recorded mileage 45,800.
Honda HR-V MOT questions
What is the Honda HR-V MOT failure rate?
11.8% of Honda HR-V cars failed their first MOT test of 2025, from 37,026 tests on vehicles aged 3 to 20. An average car with the same age mix failed 19.2% of the time, so the Honda HR-V was 38% less likely to fail.
What fails most often on a Honda HR-V MOT?
Tyres caused the most failure items, at 46 per 1,000 tests. The single most common failure item was "Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively", recorded 24.3 times per 1,000 tests.
Which Honda HR-V year has the best MOT record?
Measured against cars of the same age, 2022 registrations did best: 4.7% failed against an average of 11.4% 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 Honda HR-V will pass?
No. These are averages across every Honda HR-V 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 Honda models
- Honda Jazz24.6% failed
- Honda Civic31.6% failed
- Honda CR-V23.8% failed
Ranked close to the Honda HR-V
- Porsche Cayennerank 4
- Mercedes-Benz S-Classrank 5
- Lexus CTrank 6
- Jaguar I-Pacerank 8
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 Honda HR-V cars 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.