70.8%
Subaru Forester pass rate
Used Subaru Forester buying guide
In 2025, Subaru Forester cars passed 70.8% of 15,623 initial MOT tests, 1.6 points below the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Forester? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Subaru Forester MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
−1.6
percentage points below average
Ranked on pass rate the Forester sits 340th of 575 models in the data. Subaru as a brand averaged 74.5%, so this model runs 3.7 points behind its own brand. Subaru Forester cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 89.7% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 62.3%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Subaru Forester MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Forester compares with similar cars.
Forester fuel types
Petrol was the most common fuel among Subaru Forester cars tested in 2025. Diesel still made up 26.9% of tests.
Where the Forester fails its MOT
Where Subaru Forester 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 pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (6.9%), position lamp not working (5.2%) and ball joint excessively worn (4.6%). See every common Forester MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Subaru Forester that failed, not a claim that every Forester has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Forester?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 31.2% of Forester failure items.
2
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. 24.7% of Forester 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. 11.6% of Forester failure items.
4
Noise, emissions and leaks
Listen for a blowing exhaust, watch for smoke on start-up and look under the car for oil or fluid leaks. 8.5% of Forester 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. 7.3% of Forester 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.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Subaru Forester failures cluster around suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 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 Forester you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Subaru history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Subaru models
The most-tested Subaru models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Forester.
Used Subaru Forester FAQs
Is the Subaru Forester 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 70.8% first-time pass rate for the Subaru Forester across 15,623 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Subaru Forester cars fail their MOT more often?
Subaru Forester cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 89.7% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 62.3%. 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 Subaru Forester?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: suspension, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and brakes. 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 Subaru Forester'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.