Ford Transit Custom MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Ford Transit Custom in Great Britain in 2025 — 177,368 tests. Figures cover every Transit Custom first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. The Transit Custom is a van, tested in the car MOT class (class 4) to the same standard. How the Transit Custom ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
77.3%
5.0 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
177,368
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
6.1%
of Transit Custom first tests; national 7.3%

How the Transit Custom ages

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

Ford Transit CustomAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Ford Transit Custom, vehicle age 3: 77.3%Ford Transit Custom, vehicle age 4: 78.4%Ford Transit Custom, vehicle age 5: 78.1%Ford Transit Custom, vehicle age 6: 77.1%Ford Transit Custom, vehicle age 7: 75%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 Transit Custom 75%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Transit Custom testsTransit Custom pass rateAll cars
331,97977.3%88.5%
441,55478.4%87.2%
532,95778.1%86.0%
641,31877.1%83.5%
727,64475.0%80.9%

Better or worse than the average car?

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

Transit Custom behind
-12-6+0+6+12Age 3: -11.2 points vs the average car3Age 4: -8.8 points vs the average carAge 5: -7.9 points vs the average car5Age 6: -6.4 points vs the average carAge 7: -5.9 points vs the average car7Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
3-11.2
4-8.8
5-7.9
6-6.4
7-5.9

The Transit Custom fleet on the road, by age

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

012k25k37k50kAge 3: 31k3Age 4: 41kAge 5: 32k5Age 6: 41kAge 7: 27k7Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
331,979
441,554
532,957
641,318
727,644

What a Transit Custom fails on

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

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment33.2%
Brakes19.1%
Visibility17.0%
Tyres15.0%
Body, chassis, structure5.1%
Noise, emissions and leaks3.5%
Suspension3.3%
Road Wheels1.3%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (97.4% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

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

Brakes: 43.6% of advisories43.6%Tyres: 35.7% of advisories35.7%Suspension: 5.9% of advisoriesNon-component advisories: 5.8% of advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaks: 3.6% of advisoriesIdentification of the vehicle: 2.0% of advisories
BrakesTyresSuspensionNon-component advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaksIdentification of the vehicle
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Brakes43.6%
Tyres35.7%
Suspension5.9%
Non-component advisories5.8%
Noise, emissions and leaks3.6%
Identification of the vehicle2.0%

What mileage is normal for a Transit Custom?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Transit Custom; 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 Transit Custom (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k357Vehicle age (years)Age 3: typical 43,750 miles (middle half 31,250–61,250)Age 4: typical 56,250 miles (middle half 38,750–76,250)Age 5: typical 66,250 miles (middle half 46,250–88,750)Age 6: typical 76,250 miles (middle half 56,250–103,750)Age 7: typical 86,250 miles (middle half 63,750–113,750)86k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
331,25043,75061,250
438,75056,25076,250
546,25066,25088,750
656,25076,250103,750
763,75086,250113,750

What fails at each age

The Transit Custom'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.

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentBrakesTyresVisibilityBody, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaksSuspensionEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment22.3%
3-5 yrsBrakes22.2%
3-5 yrsTyres21.5%
3-5 yrsVisibility17.6%
3-5 yrsBody, chassis, structure5.8%
3-5 yrsEverything else10.6%
6-9 yrsBrakes26.5%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment25.5%
6-9 yrsTyres14.9%
6-9 yrsVisibility12.0%
6-9 yrsBody, chassis, structure6.9%
6-9 yrsEverything else14.2%
14+ yrsBody, chassis, structure25.0%
14+ yrsBrakes25.0%
14+ yrsNoise, emissions and leaks25.0%
14+ yrsSuspension25.0%

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. “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.