67.4%
Mitsubishi Lancer
Mitsubishi Lancer MOT pass rate and common problems
The Mitsubishi Lancer passed 67.4% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 4.9 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was position lamp not working.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Lancer compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
71.3%
Mitsubishi average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Lancer runs 3.9 points behind the Mitsubishi average. It is 8th of the 9 Mitsubishi models in the data. The average Lancer arrived at its test 17.5 years old with 92,913 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.
Lancer MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Mitsubishi Lancer cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 90.6% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 66.7%, a drop of 23.9 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years (small sample) | 54 | 88.9% | 16.6 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 202 | 90.6% | 18.3 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 8,492 | 66.7% | 5.6 pts below |
That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Lancer failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Mitsubishi Lancer cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 49.4% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Lancer MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Mitsubishi Lancer cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 37% of everything testers recorded against failed Mitsubishi Lancer cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Lancer
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working, stop lamp not working and headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect. 13.3% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: ball joint excessively worn, pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn and component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength. 9.3% of failure items.
3
Steering
Recorded most often: track rod end ball joint has excessive play. 5.3% of failure items.
4
Brakes
Recorded most often: rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. 3.7% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Lancer has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Mitsubishi Lancer buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Mitsubishi Lancer MOT FAQs
What is the Mitsubishi Lancer MOT pass rate?
67.4% of Mitsubishi Lancer cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 8,751 tests. That is 4.9 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 397th of 575 models.
What does a Mitsubishi Lancer most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Mitsubishi Lancer cars failing their 2025 MOT was position lamp not working, on 6.9% of failure items. Next were track rod end ball joint has excessive play (5.3%) and ball joint excessively worn (3.9%).
Which area causes the most Mitsubishi Lancer MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 26.1%, followed by suspension at 23.3%.
Do older Mitsubishi Lancer cars fail their MOT more often?
Mitsubishi Lancer cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 90.6% of MOT tests in 2025, against 66.7% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Mitsubishi Lancer has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Mitsubishi Lancer 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 Mitsubishi Lancer'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.