Lexus IS MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Lexus IS in Great Britain in 2025 — 34,589 tests. Figures cover every IS first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the IS ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
77.6%
5.3 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
34,589
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
6.8%
of IS first tests; national 7.3%
Typical mileage at 10 years
81,250
middle half: 58,750–116,250 miles (2,500-mile-band midpoints)

How many Lexus IS cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 41,179 Lexus IS cars that were taxed or on SORN: 32,227 taxed and 8,952 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. Lexus IS vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
32,227
78.3% of the 41,179 IS cars taxed or on SORN; 57 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
8,952
declared off the road by their keepers — 21.7% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed IS cars peaked at 61,109 at the end of 2015 and has since fallen by 28,882 (47.3%) to 32,227 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 1,770 at the end of 2014 to 8,952 at the end of 2025, up 405.8%. 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 IS cars, year by year

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

020k40k60k80k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed IS cars, year 2014: 61kTaxed IS cars, year 2015: 61kTaxed IS cars, year 2016: 60kTaxed IS cars, year 2017: 57kTaxed IS cars, year 2018: 54kTaxed IS cars, year 2019: 50kTaxed IS cars, year 2020: 47kTaxed IS cars, year 2021: 43kTaxed IS cars, year 2022: 40kTaxed IS cars, year 2023: 37kTaxed IS cars, year 2024: 35kTaxed IS cars, year 2025: 32k32k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed IS cars
201460,755
201561,109
201659,891
201757,007
201853,657
201950,152
202046,630
202143,210
202240,277
202337,396
202434,649
202532,227

IS 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.

02k4k6k8k10k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)IS cars on SORN, year 2014: 2kIS cars on SORN, year 2015: 3kIS cars on SORN, year 2016: 3kIS cars on SORN, year 2017: 4kIS cars on SORN, year 2018: 5kIS cars on SORN, year 2019: 6kIS cars on SORN, year 2020: 7kIS cars on SORN, year 2021: 7kIS cars on SORN, year 2022: 8kIS cars on SORN, year 2023: 8kIS cars on SORN, year 2024: 9kIS cars on SORN, year 2025: 9k9k
View this chart as a table
YearIS cars on SORN
20141,770
20152,509
20163,304
20174,174
20185,041
20195,906
20206,809
20217,419
20227,914
20238,427
20248,654
20258,952

Which model years survive

Taxed IS cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 32,227 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. 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 IS cars
20205241.6%
20191,1023.4%
20181,3554.2%
20171,4824.6%
20161,8775.8%
20152,6788.3%
20142,9649.2%
20131,6095.0%
20128562.7%
20111,4194.4%
20102,0626.4%
20092,0916.5%
20082,2096.9%
20072,7038.4%
20062,1446.7%
20051,2033.7%
20041,1473.6%
20039783.0%
20027612.4%
20015551.7%
All other build years (five years, each under 1%)5081.6%

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 names IS 300, IS 250, IS 200, IS 220, IS F 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 IS ages

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

Lexus ISAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Lexus IS, vehicle age 5: 91.9%Lexus IS, vehicle age 6: 89.3%Lexus IS, vehicle age 7: 91.2%Lexus IS, vehicle age 8: 90%Lexus IS, vehicle age 9: 85.4%Lexus IS, vehicle age 10: 85.9%Lexus IS, vehicle age 11: 84.9%Lexus IS, vehicle age 12: 83.4%Lexus IS, vehicle age 13: 82.5%Lexus IS, vehicle age 14: 77.8%Lexus IS, vehicle age 15: 74.6%Lexus IS, vehicle age 16: 73%Lexus IS, vehicle age 17: 73.8%Lexus IS, vehicle age 18: 70%Lexus IS, vehicle age 19: 68.6%Lexus IS, vehicle age 20: 65.7%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%Lexus IS 65.7%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)IS testsIS pass rateAll cars
555791.9%86.0%
61,16389.3%83.5%
71,47891.2%80.9%
81,57190.0%78.2%
91,98085.4%74.9%
102,78885.9%71.9%
113,03284.9%68.6%
121,64183.4%65.8%
1387582.5%63.5%
141,44777.8%61.2%
152,16974.6%59.3%
162,23073.0%58.3%
172,40873.8%57.2%
182,95370.0%57.4%
192,37268.6%57.0%
201,36665.7%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

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

IS ahead
-20-10+0+10+20Age 5: +5.9 points vs the average car5Age 6: +5.8 points vs the average carAge 7: +10.3 points vs the average car7Age 8: +11.8 points vs the average carAge 9: +10.5 points vs the average car9Age 10: +14.0 points vs the average carAge 11: +16.3 points vs the average car11Age 12: +17.6 points vs the average carAge 13: +19.0 points vs the average car13Age 14: +16.6 points vs the average carAge 15: +15.3 points vs the average car15Age 16: +14.7 points vs the average carAge 17: +16.6 points vs the average car17Age 18: +12.6 points vs the average carAge 19: +11.6 points vs the average car19Age 20: +8.1 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
5+5.9
6+5.8
7+10.3
8+11.8
9+10.5
10+14.0
11+16.3
12+17.6
13+19.0
14+16.6
15+15.3
16+14.7
17+16.6
18+12.6
19+11.6
20+8.1

The IS fleet on the road, by age

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

01k2k3k4kAge 5: 5575Age 6: 1kAge 7: 1k7Age 8: 1kAge 9: 1k9Age 10: 2kAge 11: 3k11Age 12: 1kAge 13: 87513Age 14: 1kAge 15: 2k15Age 16: 2kAge 17: 2k17Age 18: 2kAge 19: 2k19Age 20: 1k20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
5557
61,163
71,478
81,571
91,980
102,788
113,032
121,641
13875
141,447
152,169
162,230
172,408
182,953
192,372
201,366

What an IS fails on

Where the failure items land when an IS 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 equipment29.8%
Brakes17.2%
Tyres17.1%
Suspension11.8%
Visibility8.5%
Noise, emissions and leaks6.6%
Body, chassis, structure4.3%
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems1.5%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (96.7% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

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

Tyres: 32.8% of advisories32.8%Brakes: 26.4% of advisories26.4%Suspension: 20.8% of advisories20.8%Body, chassis, structure: 5.4% of advisoriesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 4.0% of advisoriesIdentification of the vehicle: 3.3% of advisories
TyresBrakesSuspensionBody, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentIdentification of the vehicle
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Tyres32.8%
Brakes26.4%
Suspension20.8%
Body, chassis, structure5.4%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4.0%
Identification of the vehicle3.3%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid IS?

First-time pass rate for the three most-tested IS fuel types, 2025, against the all-cars average. Fleet ages differ by fuel — newer fleets help the electrified bars.

50%60%70%80%90%100%all cars 72.3%Petrol: 72.4% of 16,530 tests72.4%Petrol16,530 testsHybrid electric: 86.8% of 13,584 tests86.8%Hybrid13,584 testsDiesel: 69.4% of 4,436 tests69.4%Diesel4,436 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Petrol16,53072.4%
Hybrid electric13,58486.8%
Diesel4,43669.4%

What mileage is normal for an IS?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) IS; 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 IS (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Age 5: typical 38,750 miles (middle half 26,250–61,250)Age 6: typical 51,250 miles (middle half 36,250–76,250)Age 7: typical 58,750 miles (middle half 41,250–83,750)Age 8: typical 63,750 miles (middle half 43,750–91,250)Age 9: typical 73,750 miles (middle half 51,250–106,250)Age 10: typical 81,250 miles (middle half 58,750–116,250)Age 11: typical 91,250 miles (middle half 66,250–123,750)Age 12: typical 93,750 miles (middle half 68,750–121,250)Age 13: typical 78,750 miles (middle half 56,250–103,750)Age 14: typical 91,250 miles (middle half 66,250–118,750)Age 15: typical 98,750 miles (middle half 76,250–126,250)Age 16: typical 108,750 miles (middle half 81,250–136,250)Age 17: typical 111,250 miles (middle half 86,250–138,750)Age 18: typical 118,750 miles (middle half 93,750–143,750)Age 19: typical 118,750 miles (middle half 93,750–146,250)Age 20: typical 113,750 miles (middle half 86,250–138,750)113k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
526,25038,75061,250
636,25051,25076,250
741,25058,75083,750
843,75063,75091,250
951,25073,750106,250
1058,75081,250116,250
1166,25091,250123,750
1268,75093,750121,250
1356,25078,750103,750
1466,25091,250118,750
1576,25098,750126,250
1681,250108,750136,250
1786,250111,250138,750
1893,750118,750143,750
1993,750118,750146,250
2086,250113,750138,750

What fails at each age

The IS'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.

TyresBrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibilitySuspensionNoise, emissions and leaksEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsTyres69.2%
3-5 yrsBrakes11.5%
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment9.6%
3-5 yrsVisibility9.6%
3-5 yrsEverything else0.1%
6-9 yrsTyres52.6%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment15.2%
6-9 yrsBrakes13.7%
6-9 yrsVisibility9.5%
6-9 yrsSuspension4.9%
6-9 yrsEverything else4.1%
10-13 yrsTyres37.6%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment23.1%
10-13 yrsBrakes18.4%
10-13 yrsVisibility8.3%
10-13 yrsSuspension5.2%
10-13 yrsEverything else7.4%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment26.5%
14+ yrsBrakes20.0%
14+ yrsSuspension15.4%
14+ yrsTyres13.3%
14+ yrsNoise, emissions and leaks8.2%
14+ yrsEverything else16.6%

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.