75.7%
Subaru Outback
Subaru Outback MOT pass rate and common problems
The Subaru Outback passed 75.7% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 3.4 percentage points above 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 Outback 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 Outback runs 1.2 points ahead of the Subaru average. It is 3rd of the 6 Subaru models in the data. The average Outback arrived at its test 10.3 years old with 84,514 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.
Outback MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Subaru Outback cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 88.2% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 60.8%, a drop of 27.4 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 1,443 | 88.2% | 15.9 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 2,909 | 81.8% | 9.5 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 2,921 | 60.8% | 11.5 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 Outback failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Subaru Outback cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 51.1% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Outback MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Subaru Outback cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 40.8% of everything testers recorded against failed Subaru Outback cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Outback
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 registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps. 12.6% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, ball joint excessively worn and coil spring fractured or broken. 12.2% of failure items.
3
Brakes
Recorded most often: brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick. 5.4% of failure items.
4
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively. 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 Outback has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Subaru Outback buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Subaru Outback MOT FAQs
What is the Subaru Outback MOT pass rate?
75.7% of Subaru Outback cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 7,761 tests. That is 3.4 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 259th of 575 models.
What does a Subaru Outback most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Subaru Outback cars failing their 2025 MOT was position lamp not working, on 6.7% of failure items. Next were brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (5.4%) and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (5.4%).
Which area causes the most Subaru Outback MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 26.7%, followed by suspension at 24.5%.
Do older Subaru Outback cars fail their MOT more often?
Subaru Outback cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 88.2% of MOT tests in 2025, against 60.8% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Subaru Outback has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Subaru Outback 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 Outback'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.