MG ZS MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on an MG ZS in Great Britain in 2025 — 63,767 tests. Figures cover every ZS first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the ZS ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
82.1%
9.8 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
63,767
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
5.4%
of ZS first tests; national 7.3%

How many MG ZS cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 130,866 MG ZS cars that were taxed or on SORN: 127,557 taxed and 3,309 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 ZS vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
127,557
97.5% of the 130,866 ZS cars taxed or on SORN; 35 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
3,309
declared off the road by their keepers — 2.5% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed ZS cars is still rising: 127,557 at the end of 2025, up 22,687 (21.6%) on the end of 2024, and the highest in the years shown. Cars on SORN went from 1,588 at the end of 2014 to 3,309 at the end of 2025, up 108.4%. 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 ZS cars, year by year

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

050k100k150k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed ZS cars, year 2014: 10kTaxed ZS cars, year 2015: 8kTaxed ZS cars, year 2016: 6kTaxed ZS cars, year 2017: 5kTaxed ZS cars, year 2018: 9kTaxed ZS cars, year 2019: 16kTaxed ZS cars, year 2020: 28kTaxed ZS cars, year 2021: 42kTaxed ZS cars, year 2022: 59kTaxed ZS cars, year 2023: 82kTaxed ZS cars, year 2024: 105kTaxed ZS cars, year 2025: 128k128k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed ZS cars
20149,966
20158,069
20166,137
20174,919
20188,931
201916,384
202027,939
202141,990
202258,794
202381,859
2024104,870
2025127,557

ZS 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.

01k2k3k4k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)ZS cars on SORN, year 2014: 2kZS cars on SORN, year 2015: 2kZS cars on SORN, year 2016: 2kZS cars on SORN, year 2017: 2kZS cars on SORN, year 2018: 3kZS cars on SORN, year 2019: 3kZS cars on SORN, year 2020: 3kZS cars on SORN, year 2021: 3kZS cars on SORN, year 2022: 3kZS cars on SORN, year 2023: 3kZS cars on SORN, year 2024: 3kZS cars on SORN, year 2025: 3k3k
View this chart as a table
YearZS cars on SORN
20141,588
20151,933
20162,322
20172,466
20182,544
20192,639
20202,740
20212,713
20222,792
20233,079
20243,022
20253,309

Which model years survive

Taxed ZS cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 127,557 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 ZS cars
202524,04318.8%
202421,90417.2%
202323,90518.7%
202217,08513.4%
202114,38711.3%
202011,7919.2%
20198,2706.5%
20185,0203.9%
All other build years (nine years, each under 1%)1,1520.9%

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 ZS 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 ZS ages

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

MG ZSAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)MG ZS, vehicle age 3: 85.3%MG ZS, vehicle age 4: 86.6%MG ZS, vehicle age 5: 81.1%MG ZS, vehicle age 6: 75.6%MG ZS, vehicle age 7: 74.6%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 ZS 74.6%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)ZS testsZS pass rateAll cars
318,80185.3%88.5%
415,15786.6%87.2%
512,47481.1%86.0%
68,67675.6%83.5%
75,09874.6%80.9%

Better or worse than the average car?

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

ZS behind
-8-4+0+4+8Age 3: -3.2 points vs the average car3Age 4: -0.6 points vs the average carAge 5: -4.9 points vs the average car5Age 6: -7.9 points vs the average carAge 7: -6.3 points vs the average car7Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
3-3.2
4-0.6
5-4.9
6-7.9
7-6.3

The ZS fleet on the road, by age

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

05k10k15k20kAge 3: 18k3Age 4: 15kAge 5: 12k5Age 6: 8kAge 7: 5k7Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
318,801
415,157
512,474
68,676
75,098

What a ZS fails on

Where the failure items land when a ZS 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 equipment24.6%
Brakes24.0%
Tyres22.4%
Suspension10.9%
Visibility8.1%
Noise, emissions and leaks5.0%
Body, chassis, structure1.7%
Steering1.4%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (98.1% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

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

Tyres: 39.2% of advisories39.2%Brakes: 37.8% of advisories37.8%Suspension: 9.6% of advisories9.6%Non-component advisories: 9.3% of advisories9.3%Noise, emissions and leaks: 1.6% of advisoriesBody, chassis, structure: 0.8% of advisories
TyresBrakesSuspensionNon-component advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaksBody, chassis, structure
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Tyres39.2%
Brakes37.8%
Suspension9.6%
Non-component advisories9.3%
Noise, emissions and leaks1.6%
Body, chassis, structure0.8%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid ZS?

First-time pass rate for the two most-tested ZS 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: 81.3% of 44,172 tests81.3%Petrol44,172 testsElectric: 84.0% of 19,477 tests84.0%Electric19,477 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Petrol44,17281.3%
Electric19,47784.0%

What mileage is normal for a ZS?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) ZS; 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 ZS (median)
0k25k50k75k357Vehicle age (years)Age 3: typical 23,750 miles (middle half 16,250–31,250)Age 4: typical 28,750 miles (middle half 21,250–38,750)Age 5: typical 33,750 miles (middle half 26,250–46,250)Age 6: typical 38,750 miles (middle half 28,750–51,250)Age 7: typical 46,250 miles (middle half 33,750–61,250)46k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
316,25023,75031,250
421,25028,75038,750
526,25033,75046,250
628,75038,75051,250
733,75046,25061,250

What fails at each age

The ZS'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 equipmentSuspensionVisibilityNoise, emissions and leaksBody, chassis, structureEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsTyres30.1%
3-5 yrsBrakes26.1%
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment15.9%
3-5 yrsSuspension13.8%
3-5 yrsVisibility5.7%
3-5 yrsEverything else8.4%
6-9 yrsBrakes31.7%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment20.5%
6-9 yrsTyres19.3%
6-9 yrsSuspension9.5%
6-9 yrsNoise, emissions and leaks8.7%
6-9 yrsEverything else10.3%
14+ yrsBrakes24.4%
14+ yrsSuspension22.1%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment15.9%
14+ yrsBody, chassis, structure14.5%
14+ yrsNoise, emissions and leaks8.3%
14+ yrsEverything else14.8%

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.