64.3%
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate and common problems
The Subaru Legacy passed 64.3% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 8 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 Legacy compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
74.5%
Subaru average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Legacy runs 10.2 points behind the Subaru average. It is 6th of the 6 Subaru models in the data. The average Legacy arrived at its test 17.7 years old with 112,772 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.
Legacy MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Subaru Legacy cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 80.4% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 63.6%, a drop of 16.8 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years (small sample) | 66 | 72.7% | In line |
| 6 to 10 years | 168 | 80.4% | 8.1 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 4,429 | 63.6% | 8.7 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 Legacy failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Subaru Legacy cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 49.9% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Legacy MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Subaru Legacy cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 37.3% of everything testers recorded against failed Subaru Legacy cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Legacy
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. 14.7% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn and ball joint excessively worn. 8.5% of failure items.
3
Noise, emissions and leaks
Recorded most often: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction and catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits. 6.3% of failure items.
4
Body, chassis, structure
Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt and exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases. 5.2% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Legacy has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Subaru Legacy buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Subaru Legacy MOT FAQs
What is the Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate?
64.3% of Subaru Legacy cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 4,666 tests. That is 8 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 444th of 575 models.
What does a Subaru Legacy most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Subaru Legacy cars failing their 2025 MOT was position lamp not working, on 7.4% of failure items. Next were pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (5.8%) and stop lamp not working (4.2%).
Which area causes the most Subaru Legacy MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 28.4%, followed by suspension at 21.4%.
Do older Subaru Legacy cars fail their MOT more often?
Subaru Legacy cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 80.4% of MOT tests in 2025, against 63.6% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Subaru Legacy has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Subaru Legacy 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 Subaru Legacy'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.