MG TF MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on an MG TF in Great Britain in 2025 — 8,685 tests. Figures cover every TF first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the TF ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
69.6%
2.7 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
8,685
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
6.0%
of TF first tests; national 7.3%

How many MG TF cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 14,367 MG TF cars that were taxed or on SORN: 5,902 taxed and 8,465 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. MG TF vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
5,902
41.1% of the 14,367 TF cars taxed or on SORN; 21 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
8,465
declared off the road by their keepers — 58.9% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed TF cars peaked at 17,051 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 11,149 (65.4%) to 5,902 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 4,983 at the end of 2014 to 8,465 at the end of 2025, up 69.9%. 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 TF cars, year by year

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

05k10k15k20k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed TF cars, year 2014: 17kTaxed TF cars, year 2015: 16kTaxed TF cars, year 2016: 14kTaxed TF cars, year 2017: 13kTaxed TF cars, year 2018: 11kTaxed TF cars, year 2019: 10kTaxed TF cars, year 2020: 9kTaxed TF cars, year 2021: 9kTaxed TF cars, year 2022: 8kTaxed TF cars, year 2023: 7kTaxed TF cars, year 2024: 6kTaxed TF cars, year 2025: 6k6k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed TF cars
201417,051
201515,674
201614,212
201712,666
201811,462
201910,302
20209,224
20218,710
20228,032
20237,131
20246,449
20255,902

TF 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 — for this model, cars on SORN outnumber taxed ones.

02k4k6k8k10k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)TF cars on SORN, year 2014: 5kTF cars on SORN, year 2015: 6kTF cars on SORN, year 2016: 7kTF cars on SORN, year 2017: 7kTF cars on SORN, year 2018: 8kTF cars on SORN, year 2019: 8kTF cars on SORN, year 2020: 9kTF cars on SORN, year 2021: 8kTF cars on SORN, year 2022: 8kTF cars on SORN, year 2023: 9kTF cars on SORN, year 2024: 9kTF cars on SORN, year 2025: 8k8k
View this chart as a table
YearTF cars on SORN
20144,983
20155,667
20166,520
20177,297
20187,718
20198,071
20208,657
20218,385
20228,478
20238,716
20248,506
20258,465

Which model years survive

Taxed TF cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 5,902 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 TF cars
20101502.5%
20092033.4%
2008821.4%
20061983.4%
200579013.4%
20041,60627.2%
20031,60527.2%
20021,02817.4%
1954931.6%
All other build years (15 years, each under 1%)1472.5%

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 TF 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 TF ages

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

MG TFAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)MG TF, vehicle age 20: 72.2%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%MG TF 72.2%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)TF testsTF pass rateAll cars
201,16072.2%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

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

TF ahead
-16-8+0+8+16Age 20: +14.6 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
20+14.6

The TF fleet on the road, by age

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

05001k1k2kAge 20: 1k20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
201,160

What a TF fails on

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

Brakes23.2%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment17.7%
Suspension17.5%
Noise, emissions and leaks13.5%
Visibility9.0%
Tyres5.7%
Body, chassis, structure5.4%
Steering4.3%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (96.3% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

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

Suspension: 33.1% of advisories33.1%Brakes: 29.4% of advisories29.4%Tyres: 14.7% of advisories14.7%Body, chassis, structure: 4.9% of advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaks: 4.4% of advisoriesSteering: 4.3% of advisories
SuspensionBrakesTyresBody, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaksSteering
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Suspension33.1%
Brakes29.4%
Tyres14.7%
Body, chassis, structure4.9%
Noise, emissions and leaks4.4%
Steering4.3%

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.