Ford Mustang MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Ford Mustang in Great Britain in 2025 — 12,726 tests. Figures cover every Mustang first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the Mustang ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
83.8%
11.5 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
12,726
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
5.1%
of Mustang first tests; national 7.3%

How many Ford Mustang cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 14,377 Ford Mustang cars that were taxed or on SORN: 12,055 taxed and 2,322 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper). The MOT figures above count tests; these count cars, across the whole United Kingdom, cars only. Ford Mustang vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
12,055
83.8% of the 14,377 Mustang cars taxed or on SORN; 20 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
2,322
declared off the road by their keepers — 16.2% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed Mustang cars is still rising: 12,055 at the end of 2025, up 581 (5.1%) on the end of 2024, and the highest in the years shown. Cars on SORN went from 469 at the end of 2014 to 2,322 at the end of 2025, up 395.1%. A car leaves the taxed count when it is scrapped, exported or declared off the road; the year-end counts do not say which.

Taxed Mustang cars, year by year

Cars of this model taxed and on the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025.

05k10k15k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed Mustang cars, year 2014: 1kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2015: 2kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2016: 5kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2017: 7kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2018: 9kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2019: 10kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2020: 11kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2021: 11kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2022: 11kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2023: 11kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2024: 11kTaxed Mustang cars, year 2025: 12k12k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed Mustang cars
20141,294
20151,769
20164,842
20176,561
20188,714
20199,662
202010,561
202110,848
202211,463
202311,432
202411,474
202512,055

Mustang cars on SORN, year by year

Cars of this model declared off the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025. Its own scale — SORN counts are a fraction of the taxed count.

05001k2k2k2k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Mustang cars on SORN, year 2014: 469Mustang cars on SORN, year 2015: 500Mustang cars on SORN, year 2016: 699Mustang cars on SORN, year 2017: 981Mustang cars on SORN, year 2018: 1kMustang cars on SORN, year 2019: 1kMustang cars on SORN, year 2020: 2kMustang cars on SORN, year 2021: 2kMustang cars on SORN, year 2022: 2kMustang cars on SORN, year 2023: 2kMustang cars on SORN, year 2024: 2kMustang cars on SORN, year 2025: 2k2k
View this chart as a table
YearMustang cars on SORN
2014469
2015500
2016699
2017981
20181,147
20191,367
20201,595
20211,629
20221,856
20232,006
20242,188
20252,322

Which model years survive

Taxed Mustang cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 12,055 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. 39 taxed Mustang cars have no recorded year of manufacture and are not in the table, so the rows add up to 12,016. A build year's count depends on how many were sold that year as well as how many have lasted.

Year of manufacture Taxed, end of 2025Share of taxed Mustang cars
20256375.3%
20241671.4%
20231671.4%
20225894.9%
20214914.1%
20209287.7%
20191,1109.2%
20181,96316.3%
20171,72214.3%
20162,17418.0%
20152452.0%
20071241.0%
20061301.1%
20051511.3%
19681561.3%
19671671.4%
19662291.9%
19652011.7%
All other build years (44 years, each under 1%)6655.5%

Population source: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026; counts of the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, United Kingdom, cars only, excluding cars recorded with no model name. SortedCars groups DVLA's model name MUSTANG under this model. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, DVLA or the Department for Transport.

How the Mustang ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, Mustang vs all cars, 2025.

Ford MustangAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Ford Mustang, vehicle age 3: 91.5%Ford Mustang, vehicle age 4: 90%Ford Mustang, vehicle age 5: 86.7%Ford Mustang, vehicle age 6: 84.5%Ford Mustang, vehicle age 7: 83.6%Ford Mustang, vehicle age 8: 82%Ford Mustang, vehicle age 9: 81.4%All cars, vehicle age 3: 88.5%All cars, vehicle age 4: 87.2%All cars, vehicle age 5: 86%All cars, vehicle age 6: 83.5%All cars, vehicle age 7: 80.9%All cars, vehicle age 8: 78.2%All cars, vehicle age 9: 74.9%All cars, vehicle age 10: 71.9%All cars, vehicle age 11: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 12: 65.8%All cars, vehicle age 13: 63.5%All cars, vehicle age 14: 61.2%All cars, vehicle age 15: 59.3%All cars, vehicle age 16: 58.3%All cars, vehicle age 17: 57.2%All cars, vehicle age 18: 57.4%All cars, vehicle age 19: 57%All cars, vehicle age 20: 57.6%Ford Mustang 81.4%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Mustang testsMustang pass rateAll cars
366291.5%88.5%
454190.0%87.2%
51,03586.7%86.0%
61,22184.5%83.5%
72,11383.6%80.9%
81,87182.0%78.2%
92,52681.4%74.9%

Better or worse than the average car?

The Mustang's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the Mustang beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

Mustang ahead
-8-4+0+4+8Age 3: +3.0 points vs the average car3Age 4: +2.8 points vs the average carAge 5: +0.7 points vs the average car5Age 6: +1.0 points vs the average carAge 7: +2.7 points vs the average car7Age 8: +3.8 points vs the average carAge 9: +6.5 points vs the average car9Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
3+3.0
4+2.8
5+0.7
6+1.0
7+2.7
8+3.8
9+6.5

The Mustang fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the Mustang fleet still in use.

07501k2k3kAge 3: 6623Age 4: 541Age 5: 1k5Age 6: 1kAge 7: 2k7Age 8: 1kAge 9: 2k9Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
3662
4541
51,035
61,221
72,113
81,871
92,526

What a Mustang fails on

Where the failure items land when a Mustang fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Brakes31.8%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment18.2%
Tyres17.3%
Visibility11.1%
Suspension8.2%
Noise, emissions and leaks5.7%
Identification of the vehicle3.0%
Steering1.7%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (97.1% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a Mustang, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Tyres: 47.1% of advisories47.1%Brakes: 25.9% of advisories25.9%Suspension: 12.5% of advisories12.5%Non-component advisories: 4.5% of advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaks: 3.6% of advisoriesBody, chassis, structure: 2.3% of advisories
TyresBrakesSuspensionNon-component advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaksBody, chassis, structure
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Tyres47.1%
Brakes25.9%
Suspension12.5%
Non-component advisories4.5%
Noise, emissions and leaks3.6%
Body, chassis, structure2.3%

What mileage is normal for a Mustang?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Mustang; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

Typical Mustang (median)
0k25k50k75k3579Vehicle age (years)Age 3: typical 13,750 miles (middle half 6,250–18,750)Age 4: typical 16,250 miles (middle half 11,250–23,750)Age 5: typical 21,250 miles (middle half 13,750–31,250)Age 6: typical 23,750 miles (middle half 16,250–36,250)Age 7: typical 31,250 miles (middle half 21,250–43,750)Age 8: typical 33,750 miles (middle half 21,250–48,750)Age 9: typical 36,250 miles (middle half 23,750–51,250)36k mi

Mileage values are midpoints of 2,500-mile bands.

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
36,25013,75018,750
411,25016,25023,750
513,75021,25031,250
616,25023,75036,250
721,25031,25043,750
821,25033,75048,750
923,75036,25051,250

What fails at each age

The Mustang's failure mix by age band, 2025 — each band's top categories at their true share of that band's failure items; the pale remainder is everything else. How the mix shifts with age is the point of the chart.

TyresBrakesVisibilityIdentification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspensionNoise, emissions and leaksSteeringEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsTyres39.4%
3-5 yrsBrakes31.2%
3-5 yrsVisibility13.0%
3-5 yrsIdentification of the vehicle5.4%
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4.9%
3-5 yrsEverything else6.1%
6-9 yrsBrakes40.8%
6-9 yrsTyres21.2%
6-9 yrsVisibility10.2%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment8.3%
6-9 yrsSuspension8.2%
6-9 yrsEverything else11.3%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment29.1%
10-13 yrsBrakes23.5%
10-13 yrsVisibility13.3%
10-13 yrsTyres10.7%
10-13 yrsSuspension10.2%
10-13 yrsEverything else13.2%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment33.6%
14+ yrsBrakes22.8%
14+ yrsSuspension12.8%
14+ yrsNoise, emissions and leaks9.8%
14+ yrsSteering5.2%
14+ yrsEverything else15.8%

More vehicles we've checked

How these figures are computed. Every number on this page is calculated by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (every MOT test in Great Britain — 2025 for single-year figures; trend figures state their span, currently 2023–2025). Where a figure comes from a sample or uses banded values (mileage is banded to 2,500 miles), the page says so beside the figure. Test class 4 only, first tests only — retests are excluded. Class 4 is the car MOT class and also covers car-derived vans, pickups and motorhomes tested to the same standard; where this page says "cars" it means class 4. Pass rate = passes ÷ (passes + failures + pass-after-rectification): a vehicle that failed and was fixed during the visit counts as a fail. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Alias spellings of a make in the DVSA file are counted under one make name, and all trims and variants of a model are grouped under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables. The taxed and SORN counts on this page are the one exception: they are not computed from MOT records but taken from the Department for Transport's vehicle licensing statistics (DfT/DVLA table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0), which count the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, UK-wide, cars only. They describe a model as a whole, grouped under SortedCars' model names, and say nothing about any one car. “Dangerous” is DVSA's statutory defect category (in force since May 2018): a defect posing an immediate risk to road safety — driving the vehicle before repair is an offence. What these figures are for. These statistics are general information about groups of vehicles. They are not advice, a valuation or a recommendation to buy, avoid or price any particular vehicle, and no decision about one car should rest on them alone — check the car itself and its own records. We take care over the calculations, but we cannot guarantee they are complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for loss arising from reliance on them. This does not limit any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — see our Terms & Conditions. If you believe any figure on this page is inaccurate, contact us. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DVSA or DVLA. DVSA publishes the raw test records; the statistics on this page are SortedCars' own calculations from them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.