Volvo XC90 years to avoid: the later ones

Based on 60,250 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 20% more often than other cars of the same age. The 2011 is the strongest, failing 16% less often than average.

Found a Volvo XC90 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 XC90 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 XC90
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2004	2,724	37.5%	about average
2005	3,582	38.3%	about average
2006	2,847	35.5%	about average
2007	2,838	34.2%	about average
2008	1,745	32.8%	about average
2009	3,492	30.8%	about average
2010	6,119	28.6%	about average
2011	4,327	25.4%	16% better
2012	2,974	24.5%	about average
2013	2,427	23.0%	about average
2014	2,317	21.3%	about average
2015	2,726	19.3%	about average
2016	5,230	18.1%	about average
2017	5,506	14.4%	about average
2018	6,294	12.3%	about average
2019 Worst	5,102	12.3%	20% worse

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Volvo XC90, 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.