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Ford B-MAX, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls

51,391 Ford B-MAX cars are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 67.9% of initial MOT tests, 4.4 points below the 72.3% UK average.

Looking at a specific B-MAX? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.

Ford B-MAX at the MOT

67.9% of 53,638 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the B-MAX 387th of 575 models. Ford B-MAX cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 71% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 63.7%.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Ford B-MAX67.9%
  • All Ford modelsThe B-MAX is 0.9 pts behind68.8%
  • All cars72.3%

Pass rate by age at test

Ford B-MAX tests in 2025.

  • 6 to 10 years30,572 tests71%
  • 11 years and over23,066 tests63.7%

Where B-MAX cars fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Ford B-MAX tests in 2025.

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment35%
  • Suspension20.7%
  • Tyres15.2%
  • Visibility8.5%
  • Brakes7.6%

The items testers recorded most often were stop lamp not working (16.1%), coil spring fractured or broken (7.5%) and ball joint excessively worn (7.3%).

The MOT page lists every common B-MAX MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.

Full Ford B-MAX MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The B-MAX's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks in each.

  1. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

    Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting.35% of B-MAX failure items

  2. Suspension

    Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.20.7% of B-MAX failure items

  3. Tyres

    Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear.15.2% of B-MAX failure items

Ford B-MAX cars in the UK

51,391 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has grown 61% since the end of 2014, although it peaked at 54,768 at the end of 2019.

Change since 2014
+61%from 31,855 licensed
Typical year of first use
2014half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2014 or earlier
First registered in 2025
1against 10,210 in 2015
Declared off the road
9261.8% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Ford B-MAX cars since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 201431,855
End of 201541,120
End of 201648,492
End of 201754,057
End of 201854,384
End of 201954,768
End of 202053,998
End of 202154,740
End of 202254,305
End of 202353,700
End of 202452,966
End of 202552,130
End of June 202651,391

How old they are

Licensed Ford B-MAX cars by year of first use.

  • Licensed at the end of 2025
  • First registered that year
Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025First registered that year
2018671708
20175,6405,935
20167,0087,404
20159,54110,210
201412,487
201313,910
20122,773

9,541 B-MAX cars first used in 2015 were still licensed at the end of 2025, roughly 93% of the 10,210 first registered that year.

B-MAX engines and fuel

1.6 litre engines made up 44% of Ford B-MAX MOT tests in 2025, followed by 1.0 litre at 33%. Petrol accounts for 84% of licensed B-MAX cars and diesel for 16%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 53,637 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 1.6 litre44.1%
  • 1.0 litre32.9%
  • 1.4 litre14.8%
  • 1.5 litre8.1%

Fuel type, licensed B-MAX cars

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol43,30484%
Diesel8,08616%
Gas1<0.1%

Ford B-MAX recalls

1 DVSA safety recall launched from 1992 to October 2026 names the Ford B-MAX. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every B-MAX is affected.

  1. Dec 2024 R/2025/094

    X-Car Powertain Control Module (PCM) Software Update

    B-MAX cars built May 2015 to May 2018 · 213,392 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Affected vehicles may develop a crack in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF).
    Remedy
    Update software to prevent a cracked DPF. Test and replace DPFs that are already cracked.
How to check a specific B-MAX for recalls

Other Ford models

The most-tested Ford models in 2025, against the B-MAX's 67.9% MOT pass rate.

All 27 Ford models

Ford B-MAX FAQs

How many Ford B-MAX cars are there in the UK?

51,391 Ford B-MAX cars were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 926 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Ford B-MAX reliable?

MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 67.9% first-time pass rate for the Ford B-MAX across 53,638 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

Has the Ford B-MAX had any recalls?

1 DVSA safety recall launched from 1992 to October 2026 names the Ford B-MAX. The most recent was published in December 2024. A recall applies to vehicles built in a set period, so check a specific car on the GOV.UK vehicle recall checker.

What should I check before buying a used Ford B-MAX?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, suspension and tyres. Then check the individual car's own records. Outstanding finance, insurance write-offs and police stolen markers are not part of the MOT record, so they take a history check.

How do I check a Ford B-MAX's history?

Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.

Already found a B-MAX?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

Across the 1,548 vehicles of every make Carpeep has checked since November 2025, 19% had outstanding finance recorded and 13% an insurance write-off. More on the Ford history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Ford VIN check.

  • Outstanding finance
  • Write-off records
  • Stolen markers
  • Mileage history
  • Previous keepers

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), which also gives the engine sizes. Licensed, SORN, fuel and registration figures are from the Department for Transport vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0120, VEH0124, VEH0160). Recalls are from the DVSA vehicle recalls data, with recalls launched up to October 2026. Government data is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability. History-check findings are anonymous counts from reports bought on Carpeep, each vehicle counted once, and are published only where at least 100 vehicles returned an answer.