Mitsubishi Colt MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Mitsubishi Colt in Great Britain in 2025 — 19,641 tests. Figures cover every Colt first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the Colt ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
54.1%
18.2 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
19,641
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
10.6%
of Colt first tests; national 7.3%

How many Mitsubishi Colt cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 21,910 Mitsubishi Colt cars that were taxed or on SORN: 17,761 taxed and 4,149 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. Mitsubishi Colt vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
17,761
81.1% of the 21,910 Colt cars taxed or on SORN; 62 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
4,149
declared off the road by their keepers — 18.9% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed Colt cars peaked at 50,029 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 32,268 (64.5%) to 17,761 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 1,287 at the end of 2014 to 4,149 at the end of 2025, up 222.4%. 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 Colt cars, year by year

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

020k40k60k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed Colt cars, year 2014: 50kTaxed Colt cars, year 2015: 47kTaxed Colt cars, year 2016: 45kTaxed Colt cars, year 2017: 42kTaxed Colt cars, year 2018: 39kTaxed Colt cars, year 2019: 36kTaxed Colt cars, year 2020: 33kTaxed Colt cars, year 2021: 29kTaxed Colt cars, year 2022: 27kTaxed Colt cars, year 2023: 24kTaxed Colt cars, year 2024: 21kTaxed Colt cars, year 2025: 18k18k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed Colt cars
201450,029
201547,466
201645,213
201742,287
201839,348
201936,022
202032,784
202129,424
202226,709
202323,860
202420,731
202517,761

Colt 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.

01k2k3k4k5k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Colt cars on SORN, year 2014: 1kColt cars on SORN, year 2015: 2kColt cars on SORN, year 2016: 2kColt cars on SORN, year 2017: 3kColt cars on SORN, year 2018: 3kColt cars on SORN, year 2019: 3kColt cars on SORN, year 2020: 4kColt cars on SORN, year 2021: 4kColt cars on SORN, year 2022: 4kColt cars on SORN, year 2023: 4kColt cars on SORN, year 2024: 4kColt cars on SORN, year 2025: 4k4k
View this chart as a table
YearColt cars on SORN
20141,287
20151,728
20162,182
20172,527
20182,804
20193,142
20203,576
20213,674
20223,620
20233,773
20243,938
20254,149

Which model years survive

Taxed Colt cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 17,761 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. 1 taxed Colt car has no recorded year of manufacture and is not in the table, so the rows add up to 17,760. 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 Colt cars
20134632.6%
20121,3417.6%
20111,4848.4%
20102,17612.3%
20093,12617.6%
20083,02717.0%
20072,48514.0%
20061,85310.4%
20051,2847.2%
20042601.5%
All other build years (19 years, each under 1%)2611.5%

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 COLT 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 Colt ages

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

Mitsubishi ColtAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Mitsubishi Colt, vehicle age 13: 63%Mitsubishi Colt, vehicle age 14: 61.7%Mitsubishi Colt, vehicle age 15: 56%Mitsubishi Colt, vehicle age 16: 53.7%Mitsubishi Colt, vehicle age 17: 50.4%Mitsubishi Colt, vehicle age 18: 50.2%Mitsubishi Colt, vehicle age 19: 50.8%Mitsubishi Colt, vehicle age 20: 51.9%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%All cars 57.6%Mitsubishi Colt 51.9%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Colt testsColt pass rateAll cars
131,38763.0%63.5%
141,55561.7%61.2%
152,36856.0%59.3%
163,41153.7%58.3%
173,42350.4%57.2%
182,80150.2%57.4%
192,08250.8%57.0%
201,45851.9%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

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

Colt aheadColt behind
-8-4+0+4+8Age 13: -0.5 points vs the average car13Age 14: +0.5 points vs the average carAge 15: -3.3 points vs the average car15Age 16: -4.6 points vs the average carAge 17: -6.8 points vs the average car17Age 18: -7.2 points vs the average carAge 19: -6.2 points vs the average car19Age 20: -5.7 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
13-0.5
14+0.5
15-3.3
16-4.6
17-6.8
18-7.2
19-6.2
20-5.7

The Colt fleet on the road, by age

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

01k2k3k4kAge 13: 1k13Age 14: 1kAge 15: 2k15Age 16: 3kAge 17: 3k17Age 18: 2kAge 19: 2k19Age 20: 1k20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
131,387
141,555
152,368
163,411
173,423
182,801
192,082
201,458

What a Colt fails on

Where the failure items land when a Colt 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 equipment32.5%
Suspension19.5%
Body, chassis, structure9.4%
Brakes9.2%
Visibility8.1%
Tyres6.9%
Steering5.7%
Noise, emissions and leaks5.3%

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 Colt, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Suspension: 32.1% of advisories32.1%Tyres: 24.4% of advisories24.4%Brakes: 18.3% of advisories18.3%Body, chassis, structure: 6.8% of advisories6.8%Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 5.1% of advisoriesNon-component advisories: 3.5% of advisories
SuspensionTyresBrakesBody, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNon-component advisories
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Suspension32.1%
Tyres24.4%
Brakes18.3%
Body, chassis, structure6.8%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment5.1%
Non-component advisories3.5%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid Colt?

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

40%50%60%70%80%90%100%all cars 72.3%Petrol: 54.5% of 18,340 tests54.5%Petrol18,340 testsDiesel: 48.2% of 1,298 tests48.2%Diesel1,298 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Petrol18,34054.5%
Diesel1,29848.2%

What mileage is normal for a Colt?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Colt; 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 Colt (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k1315171920Vehicle age (years)Age 13: typical 68,750 miles (middle half 48,750–88,750)Age 14: typical 73,750 miles (middle half 53,750–96,250)Age 15: typical 81,250 miles (middle half 58,750–103,750)Age 16: typical 81,250 miles (middle half 58,750–106,250)Age 17: typical 83,750 miles (middle half 63,750–106,250)Age 18: typical 88,750 miles (middle half 63,750–111,250)Age 19: typical 88,750 miles (middle half 68,750–113,750)Age 20: typical 91,250 miles (middle half 68,750–113,750)91k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
1348,75068,75088,750
1453,75073,75096,250
1558,75081,250103,750
1658,75081,250106,250
1763,75083,750106,250
1863,75088,750111,250
1968,75088,750113,750
2068,75091,250113,750

What fails at each age

The Colt'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 equipmentSuspensionTyresBody, chassis, structureVisibilityBrakesEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment23.1%
10-13 yrsSuspension21.9%
10-13 yrsTyres12.4%
10-13 yrsBody, chassis, structure10.6%
10-13 yrsVisibility8.8%
10-13 yrsEverything else23.2%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment28.3%
14+ yrsSuspension22.0%
14+ yrsBrakes10.4%
14+ yrsBody, chassis, structure9.9%
14+ yrsTyres7.3%
14+ yrsEverything else22.1%

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.