BMW 420 years to avoid: the later ones

Based on 62,836 real MOT tests from DVSA records. Each year is compared against every other car first registered the same year — otherwise the numbers would only tell you that older cars fail more, which you knew.

The short answer

Avoid 2019. The worst is the 2019, which fails its MOT 15% more often than other cars of the same age. The 2015 is the strongest, failing 21% less often than average.

Found a BMW 420 you like?

Averages tell you what to expect. Its registration tells you what actually happened — every MOT, every advisory, and whether the mileage adds up.

Every 420 model year

Shaded rows are the years that differ most from other cars of the same age — worse, better.

MOT failure rate by registration year for the BMW 420
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2014	7,841	18.2%	20% better
2015	10,362	15.4%	21% better
2016	11,540	14.1%	17% better
2017	11,435	12.6%	about average
2018	10,447	11.9%	about average
2019 Worst	7,887	11.8%	15% worse
2020	3,324	9.1%	about average

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a BMW 420, grouped by the year the car was first registered. Retests are excluded, so a car that failed and was fixed still counts as a failure. Each year's rate is then divided by the rate for all cars first registered that year — so 120 means 20% more failures than its contemporaries, not 20% more than a brand new car.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.