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Rover 25, Buying guide, MOT record and UK numbers

1,885 Rover 25s are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 62.1% of initial MOT tests, 10.2 points below the 72.3% UK average.

Looking at a specific Rover 25? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.

Rover 25 at the MOT

62.1% of 2,453 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the Rover 25 470th of 575 models.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Rover 2562.1%
  • All Rover modelsThe Rover 25 is 5 pts behind67.1%
  • All cars72.3%

Where Rover 25s fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Rover 25 tests in 2025.

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment24.1%
  • Body, chassis, structure18.9%
  • Brakes16.2%
  • Suspension11.8%
  • Visibility9.2%

The items testers recorded most often were joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (10.6%), component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (7.5%) and wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (6.2%).

The MOT page lists every common Rover 25 MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.

Full Rover 25 MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The Rover 25'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.24.1% of Rover 25 failure items

  2. Body, chassis, structure

    Look underneath and along the sills for corrosion, and check for damaged or poorly repaired panels.18.9% of Rover 25 failure items

  3. 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.16.2% of Rover 25 failure items

Rover 25s in the UK

1,885 were licensed at the end of June 2026, the 3rd most of any Rover. The number licensed has fallen 97% since the end of 2014.

Change since 2014
−97%from 60,885 licensed
Typical year of first use
2003half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2003 or earlier
Declared off the road
6,62378% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Rover 25s since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 201460,885
End of 201546,101
End of 201633,858
End of 201723,594
End of 201816,495
End of 201911,684
End of 20208,409
End of 20216,061
End of 20224,713
End of 20233,605
End of 20242,772
End of 20252,159
End of June 20261,885

How old they are

Licensed Rover 25s by year of first use.

A further 9 were first used before 2000.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025
20075
200636
2005266
2004364
2003414
2002391
2001398
2000262

Rover 25 engines and fuel

1.4 litre engines made up 76% of Rover 25 MOT tests in 2025, followed by 1.6 litre at 15%. Petrol accounts for 93% of licensed Rover 25s and diesel for 6.7%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 2,452 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 1.4 litre75.8%
  • 1.6 litre14.9%
  • 2.0 litre6.2%
  • 1.8 litre2.3%

Fuel type, licensed Rover 25s

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol1,75793%
Diesel1267%
Gas20.1%

Other Rover models

The most-tested Rover models in 2025, against the Rover 25's 62.1% MOT pass rate.

All 5 Rover models

Rover 25 FAQs

How many Rover 25s are there in the UK?

1,885 Rover 25s were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 6,623 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Rover 25 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 62.1% first-time pass rate for the Rover 25 across 2,453 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

What should I check before buying a used Rover 25?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, body, chassis, structure and brakes. 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 Rover 25'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 Rover 25?

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 Rover history 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). 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.