Mitsubishi Lancer MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Mitsubishi Lancer in Great Britain in 2025 — 9,054 tests. Figures cover every Lancer first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the Lancer ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
68.2%
4.1 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
9,054
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
7.6%
of Lancer first tests; national 7.3%

How many Mitsubishi Lancer cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 10,747 Mitsubishi Lancer cars that were taxed or on SORN: 6,332 taxed and 4,415 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 Lancer vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
6,332
58.9% of the 10,747 Lancer cars taxed or on SORN; 68 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
4,415
declared off the road by their keepers — 41.1% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed Lancer cars peaked at 18,683 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 12,351 (66.1%) to 6,332 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 1,255 at the end of 2014 to 4,415 at the end of 2025, up 251.8%. 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 Lancer 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 Lancer cars, year 2014: 19kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2015: 18kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2016: 17kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2017: 16kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2018: 15kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2019: 13kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2020: 12kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2021: 11kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2022: 10kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2023: 9kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2024: 7kTaxed Lancer cars, year 2025: 6k6k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed Lancer cars
201418,683
201517,955
201616,962
201715,773
201814,529
201913,224
202011,949
202110,779
20229,720
20238,593
20247,423
20256,332

Lancer 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)Lancer cars on SORN, year 2014: 1kLancer cars on SORN, year 2015: 2kLancer cars on SORN, year 2016: 2kLancer cars on SORN, year 2017: 2kLancer cars on SORN, year 2018: 3kLancer cars on SORN, year 2019: 3kLancer cars on SORN, year 2020: 3kLancer cars on SORN, year 2021: 4kLancer cars on SORN, year 2022: 4kLancer cars on SORN, year 2023: 4kLancer cars on SORN, year 2024: 4kLancer cars on SORN, year 2025: 4k4k
View this chart as a table
YearLancer cars on SORN
20141,255
20151,517
20161,883
20172,316
20182,707
20193,077
20203,493
20213,681
20223,938
20234,137
20244,198
20254,415

Which model years survive

Taxed Lancer cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 6,332 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. 1 taxed Lancer car has no recorded year of manufacture and is not in the table, so the rows add up to 6,331. 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 Lancer cars
201191114.4%
20101,20919.1%
200981112.8%
20081,00415.9%
20075648.9%
20065859.2%
20055789.1%
20041752.8%
19991111.8%
1998861.4%
All other build years (20 years, each under 1%)2974.7%

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 LANCER 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 Lancer ages

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

Mitsubishi LancerAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Mitsubishi Lancer, vehicle age 14: 58.3%Mitsubishi Lancer, vehicle age 15: 61%Mitsubishi Lancer, vehicle age 16: 58%Mitsubishi Lancer, vehicle age 17: 64.2%Mitsubishi Lancer, vehicle age 18: 62.8%Mitsubishi Lancer, vehicle age 19: 68.9%Mitsubishi Lancer, vehicle age 20: 69.3%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%Mitsubishi Lancer 69.3%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lancer testsLancer pass rateAll cars
141,05158.3%61.2%
151,39061.0%59.3%
1696658.0%58.3%
171,27364.2%57.2%
1875362.8%57.4%
1984668.9%57.0%
2091869.3%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

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

Lancer aheadLancer behind
-12-6+0+6+12Age 14: -2.9 points vs the average carAge 15: +1.7 points vs the average car15Age 16: -0.3 points vs the average carAge 17: +7.0 points vs the average car17Age 18: +5.4 points vs the average carAge 19: +11.9 points vs the average car19Age 20: +11.7 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
14-2.9
15+1.7
16-0.3
17+7.0
18+5.4
19+11.9
20+11.7

The Lancer fleet on the road, by age

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

05001k1k2kAge 14: 1k14Age 15: 1kAge 16: 96616Age 17: 1kAge 18: 75318Age 19: 846Age 20: 91820Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
141,051
151,390
16966
171,273
18753
19846
20918

What a Lancer fails on

Where the failure items land when a Lancer 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 equipment26.2%
Suspension23.3%
Brakes15.0%
Noise, emissions and leaks8.1%
Steering7.2%
Tyres6.5%
Visibility6.0%
Body, chassis, structure5.8%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (98.0% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

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

Suspension: 35.9% of advisories35.9%Brakes: 26.1% of advisories26.1%Tyres: 16.4% of advisories16.4%Body, chassis, structure: 7.5% of advisories7.5%Non-component advisories: 3.7% of advisoriesSteering: 3.0% of advisories
SuspensionBrakesTyresBody, chassis, structureNon-component advisoriesSteering
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Suspension35.9%
Brakes26.1%
Tyres16.4%
Body, chassis, structure7.5%
Non-component advisories3.7%
Steering3.0%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid Lancer?

First-time pass rate for the two most-tested Lancer 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: 71.7% of 7,373 tests71.7%Petrol7,373 testsDiesel: 52.7% of 1,676 tests52.7%Diesel1,676 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Petrol7,37371.7%
Diesel1,67652.7%

What mileage is normal for a Lancer?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Lancer; 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 Lancer (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k14161820Vehicle age (years)Age 14: typical 98,750 miles (middle half 71,250–128,750)Age 15: typical 101,250 miles (middle half 76,250–126,250)Age 16: typical 101,250 miles (middle half 76,250–131,250)Age 17: typical 91,250 miles (middle half 66,250–118,750)Age 18: typical 81,250 miles (middle half 58,750–108,750)Age 19: typical 83,750 miles (middle half 61,250–106,250)Age 20: typical 83,750 miles (middle half 63,750–106,250)83k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
1471,25098,750128,750
1576,250101,250126,250
1676,250101,250131,250
1766,25091,250118,750
1858,75081,250108,750
1961,25083,750106,250
2063,75083,750106,250

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.