Toyota MR2 MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Toyota MR2 in Great Britain in 2025 — 9,713 tests. Figures cover every MR2 first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the MR2 ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
67.8%
4.5 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
9,713
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
7.0%
of MR2 first tests; national 7.3%

How many Toyota MR2 cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 20,881 Toyota MR2 cars that were taxed or on SORN: 6,793 taxed and 14,088 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. Toyota MR2 vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
6,793
32.5% of the 20,881 MR2 cars taxed or on SORN; 9 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
14,088
declared off the road by their keepers — 67.5% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed MR2 cars peaked at 17,433 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 10,640 (61.0%) to 6,793 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 9,507 at the end of 2014 to 14,088 at the end of 2025, up 48.2%. 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 MR2 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 MR2 cars, year 2014: 17kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2015: 16kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2016: 15kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2017: 13kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2018: 12kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2019: 11kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2020: 10kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2021: 9kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2022: 9kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2023: 8kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2024: 7kTaxed MR2 cars, year 2025: 7k7k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed MR2 cars
201417,433
201516,176
201614,799
201713,180
201811,947
201910,942
20209,826
20219,376
20228,625
20237,916
20247,242
20256,793

MR2 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.

05k10k15k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)MR2 cars on SORN, year 2014: 10kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2015: 10kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2016: 11kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2017: 12kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2018: 12kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2019: 13kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2020: 13kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2021: 13kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2022: 14kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2023: 14kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2024: 14kMR2 cars on SORN, year 2025: 14k14k
View this chart as a table
YearMR2 cars on SORN
20149,507
201510,023
201610,775
201711,710
201812,270
201912,597
202013,299
202113,279
202213,661
202314,003
202413,917
202514,088

Which model years survive

Taxed MR2 cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 6,793 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. 4 taxed MR2 cars have no recorded year of manufacture and are not in the table, so the rows add up to 6,789. 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 MR2 cars
20065167.6%
20055718.4%
200475111.1%
200378111.5%
20026619.7%
20015397.9%
20005518.1%
19991161.7%
19981712.5%
19971572.3%
19961552.3%
19951592.3%
19942002.9%
19932643.9%
19922814.1%
19912253.3%
19902313.4%
19891762.6%
19881051.5%
1987911.3%
All other build years (six years, each under 1%)881.3%

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 MR2 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 MR2 ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, MR2 vs all cars, 2025.

Toyota MR2All cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Toyota MR2, vehicle age 19: 69%Toyota MR2, vehicle age 20: 71.9%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%Toyota MR2 71.9%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)MR2 testsMR2 pass rateAll cars
1971269.0%57.0%
2077671.9%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

The MR2's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the MR2 beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

MR2 ahead
-16-8+0+8+16Age 19: +12.0 points vs the average car19Age 20: +14.3 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
19+12.0
20+14.3

The MR2 fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the MR2 fleet still in use.

0200400600800Age 19: 71219Age 20: 77620Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
19712
20776

What an MR2 fails on

Where the failure items land when an MR2 fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Brakes30.1%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment19.1%
Noise, emissions and leaks16.0%
Suspension14.1%
Body, chassis, structure5.5%
Visibility5.0%
Tyres5.0%
Steering2.2%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (97.0% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a MR2, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Suspension: 36.2% of advisories36.2%Brakes: 25.5% of advisories25.5%Tyres: 15.6% of advisories15.6%Noise, emissions and leaks: 7.5% of advisories7.5%Body, chassis, structure: 6.7% of advisoriesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 2.5% of advisories
SuspensionBrakesTyresNoise, emissions and leaksBody, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Suspension36.2%
Brakes25.5%
Tyres15.6%
Noise, emissions and leaks7.5%
Body, chassis, structure6.7%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment2.5%

What mileage is normal for an MR2?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) MR2; 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 MR2 (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k1920Vehicle age (years)Age 19: typical 68,750 miles (middle half 48,750–91,250)Age 20: typical 78,750 miles (middle half 58,750–101,250)78k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
1948,75068,75091,250
2058,75078,750101,250

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.