Volvo V40: every year fails more than average

Based on 97,230 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 2003 and 2014 to 2019. The worst is the 2018, which fails its MOT 35% more often than other cars of the same age.

Found a Volvo V40 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 V40 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 Volvo V40
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2003	1,182	45.2%	26% worse
2012	2,383	29.7%	about average
2013	11,402	27.2%	about average
2014	16,293	27.0%	19% worse
2015	15,669	25.5%	31% worse
2016	15,422	22.2%	31% worse
2017	13,580	19.1%	34% worse
2018 Worst	12,979	16.2%	35% worse
2019	8,320	12.0%	17% worse

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Volvo V40, 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.