Volvo XC60: which years to avoid

Based on 90,603 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 2009 is the strongest, failing 24% less often than average.

Found a Volvo XC60 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 XC60 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 XC60
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2009	3,115	25.3%	24% better
2010	4,344	25.9%	20% better
2011	4,590	24.1%	20% better
2012	4,950	24.5%	about average
2013	5,204	23.2%	about average
2014	8,928	22.7%	about average
2015	12,659	19.3%	about average
2016	14,736	17.1%	about average
2017	14,782	13.3%	about average
2018	10,824	9.5%	21% better
2019	6,471	9.4%	about average

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Volvo XC60, 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.