68%
Ford Focus pass rate
Used Ford Focus buying guide
In 2025, Ford Focus cars passed 68% of 886,912 initial MOT tests, 4.3 points below the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Focus? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Ford Focus MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
−4.3
percentage points below average
Ranked on pass rate the Focus sits 385th of 575 models in the data. Ford as a brand averaged 68.8%, so this model runs 0.8 points behind its own brand. Ford Focus cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.6% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 58.4%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Ford Focus MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Focus compares with similar cars.
Focus fuel types
Petrol was the most common fuel among Ford Focus cars tested in 2025. Diesel still made up 31% of tests.
Where the Focus fails its MOT
Where Ford Focus cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were position lamp not working (5.9%), tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (4.9%) and headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.7%). See every common Focus MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Ford Focus that failed, not a claim that every Focus has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Focus?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at 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. 32% of Focus failure items.
2
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 19.9% of Focus 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. 14.4% of Focus failure items.
4
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 10.9% of Focus failure items.
5
Visibility
Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 6.5% of Focus failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
Focus vs similar cars
Head-to-head comparisons on the same 2025 DVSA data.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Ford Focus failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact Focus you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Ford history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Ford models
The most-tested Ford models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Focus.
Used Ford Focus FAQs
Is the Ford Focus 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 68% first-time pass rate for the Ford Focus across 886,912 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Ford Focus cars fail their MOT more often?
Ford Focus cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.6% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 58.4%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Ford Focus?
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 history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a Ford Focus'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.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.