79.6%
Ford Escort
Ford Escort MOT pass rate and common problems
The Ford Escort passed 79.6% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 7.3 percentage points above the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Escort compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
68.8%
Ford average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Escort runs 10.7 points ahead of the Ford average. It is 7th of the 27 Ford models in the data. The average Escort arrived at its test 35.3 years old with 55,177 miles recorded.
A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.
Escort MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years (small sample) | 12 | 91.7% | 19.4 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years (small sample) | 45 | 88.9% | 16.6 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 9,517 | 79.5% | 7.2 pts above |
Too few tests fall into some age groups to compare them reliably. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Escort failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Ford Escort cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 42% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Escort MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Ford Escort cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 29.5% of everything testers recorded against failed Ford Escort cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Escort
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn. 9.4% of failure items.
2
Brakes
Recorded most often: service brake imbalance across an axle and rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. 5.7% of failure items.
3
Body, chassis, structure
Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt and integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced. 5% of failure items.
4
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working and headlamp aim too low. 4.3% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Escort has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Ford Escort buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Ford Escort MOT FAQs
What is the Ford Escort MOT pass rate?
79.6% of Ford Escort cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 9,576 tests. That is 7.3 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 204th of 575 models.
What does a Ford Escort most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Ford Escort cars failing their 2025 MOT was component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength, on 7.4% of failure items. Next were service brake imbalance across an axle (3.8%) and joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (3.1%).
Which area causes the most Ford Escort MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 22.4%, followed by suspension at 19.6%.
Does this mean every Ford Escort has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Ford Escort that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.
How do I see a specific Ford Escort's MOT history?
Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.