Volvo V70: which years to avoid

Based on 42,814 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

No model year stands out as one to avoid. Every year sits within 15% of the failure rate for cars of the same age. The 2010 is the strongest, failing 32% less often than average.

Found a Volvo V70 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 V70 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 V70
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
1999	1,073	33.1%	about average
2000	1,525	35.1%	about average
2001	1,854	38.4%	about average
2002	2,703	37.3%	about average
2003	2,895	37.6%	about average
2004	3,325	36.8%	about average
2005	3,765	34.1%	about average
2006	2,905	34.3%	about average
2007	2,931	32.1%	about average
2008	3,606	25.4%	27% better
2009	3,879	28.2%	16% better
2010	2,926	22.1%	32% better
2011	2,132	21.0%	31% better
2012	1,591	21.0%	25% better
2013	1,717	20.1%	21% better
2014	1,970	17.7%	22% better
2015	2,017	13.6%	31% better

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Volvo V70, 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.