Volvo S80 MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Volvo S80 in Great Britain in 2025 — 6,207 tests. Figures cover every S80 first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the S80 ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
69.0%
3.3 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
6,207
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
8.4%
of S80 first tests; national 7.3%

How many Volvo S80 cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 8,323 Volvo S80 cars that were taxed or on SORN: 5,768 taxed and 2,555 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. Volvo S80 vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
5,768
69.3% of the 8,323 S80 cars taxed or on SORN; 192 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
2,555
declared off the road by their keepers — 30.7% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed S80 cars peaked at 18,745 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 12,977 (69.2%) to 5,768 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 1,105 at the end of 2014 to 2,555 at the end of 2025, up 131.2%. 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 S80 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 S80 cars, year 2014: 19kTaxed S80 cars, year 2015: 18kTaxed S80 cars, year 2016: 16kTaxed S80 cars, year 2017: 14kTaxed S80 cars, year 2018: 13kTaxed S80 cars, year 2019: 11kTaxed S80 cars, year 2020: 10kTaxed S80 cars, year 2021: 9kTaxed S80 cars, year 2022: 8kTaxed S80 cars, year 2023: 7kTaxed S80 cars, year 2024: 7kTaxed S80 cars, year 2025: 6k6k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed S80 cars
201418,745
201517,502
201615,925
201714,255
201812,532
201911,150
20209,980
20218,979
20228,205
20237,295
20246,528
20255,768

S80 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.

01k2k3k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)S80 cars on SORN, year 2014: 1kS80 cars on SORN, year 2015: 1kS80 cars on SORN, year 2016: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2017: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2018: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2019: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2020: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2021: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2022: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2023: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2024: 2kS80 cars on SORN, year 2025: 3k3k
View this chart as a table
YearS80 cars on SORN
20141,105
20151,319
20161,637
20171,831
20181,984
20192,154
20202,362
20212,363
20222,347
20232,461
20242,458
20252,555

Which model years survive

Taxed S80 cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 5,768 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 S80 cars
20161642.8%
20153846.7%
20143676.4%
20133876.7%
20123325.8%
20113536.1%
20105148.9%
20093766.5%
20085189.0%
200757910.0%
20062935.1%
20053355.8%
20043085.3%
20033195.5%
20022314.0%
20011602.8%
2000831.4%
All other build years (two years, each under 1%)651.1%

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 S80 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 S80 ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, S80 vs all cars, 2025.

Volvo S80All cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Volvo S80, vehicle age 15: 71.3%Volvo S80, vehicle age 17: 67.2%Volvo S80, vehicle age 18: 66.8%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%Volvo S80 66.8%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)S80 testsS80 pass rateAll cars
1552771.3%59.3%
1756467.2%57.2%
1864266.8%57.4%

Better or worse than the average car?

The S80's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the S80 beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

S80 ahead
-14-7+0+7+14Age 15: +12.0 points vs the average car15Age 17: +10.0 points vs the average car17Age 18: +9.4 points vs the average carVehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
15+12.0
17+10.0
18+9.4

The S80 fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the S80 fleet still in use.

0175350525700Age 15: 52715Age 17: 56417Age 18: 64218Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
15527
17564
18642

What an S80 fails on

Where the failure items land when an S80 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 equipment30.8%
Brakes15.2%
Suspension15.2%
Tyres12.1%
Body, chassis, structure6.9%
Visibility6.6%
Steering6.0%
Noise, emissions and leaks4.2%

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 S80, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Suspension: 32.4% of advisories32.4%Tyres: 25.7% of advisories25.7%Brakes: 19.4% of advisories19.4%Non-component advisories: 5.3% of advisoriesBody, chassis, structure: 4.4% of advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaks: 3.8% of advisories
SuspensionTyresBrakesNon-component advisoriesBody, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Suspension32.4%
Tyres25.7%
Brakes19.4%
Non-component advisories5.3%
Body, chassis, structure4.4%
Noise, emissions and leaks3.8%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid S80?

First-time pass rate for the two most-tested S80 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%Diesel: 70.4% of 4,755 tests70.4%Diesel4,755 testsPetrol: 64.4% of 1,439 tests64.4%Petrol1,439 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Diesel4,75570.4%
Petrol1,43964.4%

What mileage is normal for an S80?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) S80; 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 S80 (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k175k151718Vehicle age (years)Age 15: typical 131,250 miles (middle half 91,250–166,250)Age 17: typical 136,250 miles (middle half 103,750–168,750)Age 18: typical 136,250 miles (middle half 106,250–168,750)136k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
1591,250131,250166,250
17103,750136,250168,750
18106,250136,250168,750

What fails at each age

The S80'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.

TyresLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentBrakesSuspensionSteeringBody, chassis, structureEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
10-13 yrsTyres23.5%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment20.7%
10-13 yrsBrakes14.4%
10-13 yrsSuspension12.4%
10-13 yrsSteering11.9%
10-13 yrsEverything else17.1%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment25.2%
14+ yrsSuspension18.8%
14+ yrsBrakes18.1%
14+ yrsTyres11.6%
14+ yrsBody, chassis, structure8.6%
14+ yrsEverything else17.7%

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.