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Toyota Avensis, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls

51,672 Toyota Avensises are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 65.5% of initial MOT tests, 6.8 points below the 72.3% UK average.

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

Toyota Avensis at the MOT

65.5% of 55,139 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the Avensis 424th of 575 models. Toyota Avensises aged 6 to 10 years passed 78.1% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 62.1%.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Toyota Avensis65.5%
  • All Toyota modelsThe Avensis is 9.6 pts behind75.1%
  • All cars72.3%

Pass rate by age at test

Toyota Avensis tests in 2025.

  • 6 to 10 years11,752 tests78.1%
  • 11 years and over43,387 tests62.1%

Where Avensises fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Toyota Avensis tests in 2025.

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment33.4%
  • Brakes17.9%
  • Suspension17.6%
  • Tyres9.5%
  • Visibility7.5%

The items testers recorded most often were position lamp not working (8.5%), coil spring fractured or broken (4.3%) and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (3.7%).

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

Full Toyota Avensis MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The Avensis'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.33.4% of Avensis failure items

  2. 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.17.9% of Avensis failure items

  3. Suspension

    Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.17.6% of Avensis failure items

Toyota Avensises in the UK

51,672 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has fallen 71% since the end of 2014.

Change since 2014
−71%from 178,910 licensed
Typical year of first use
2010half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2010 or earlier
First registered in 2025
11against 5,302 in 2015
Declared off the road
21,88530% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Toyota Avensises since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 2014178,910
End of 2015169,068
End of 2016157,683
End of 2017144,160
End of 2018129,508
End of 2019114,471
End of 2020101,300
End of 202189,614
End of 202280,852
End of 202371,944
End of 202463,215
End of 202555,533
End of June 202651,672

How old they are

Licensed Toyota Avensises by year of first use.

  • Licensed at the end of 2025
  • First registered that year

A further 429 were first used before 2000.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025First registered that year
20181,1601,777
20172,4963,489
20163,5835,174
20153,3895,302
20143,169
20133,122
20124,611
20114,028
20104,822
20094,517
20084,121
20073,909
20063,420
20052,576
20041,835
20031,356
2002606
2001413
2000322

3,389 Avensises first used in 2015 were still licensed at the end of 2025, roughly 64% of the 5,302 first registered that year.

Avensis engines and fuel

1.8 litre engines made up 42% of Toyota Avensis MOT tests in 2025, followed by 2.0 litre at 40%. Diesel accounts for 55% of licensed Avensises and petrol for 44%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 55,131 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 1.8 litre41.6%
  • 2.0 litre40%
  • 2.2 litre10.1%
  • 1.6 litre8.1%

Fuel type, licensed Avensises

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol22,59644%
Diesel28,66555%
Hybrid electric3<0.1%
Gas4080.8%

Toyota Avensis recalls

28 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Toyota Avensis. The 8 most recent are below. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every Avensis is affected.

  1. Jan 2023 R/2022/346

    Driver's air bag inflator may rupture upon deployment

    Avensises built Aug 2002 to Apr 2006 · 77,926 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    Replace the drivers air bag assembly.

  2. May 2021 R/2021/104

    There is a possibility that the exhaust gas recirculation cooler could develop an internal coolant leak

    Avensises built May 2015 to May 2018 · 24,241 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    A possibility that the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) cooler could develop an internal coolant leak
    Remedy
    Replace the EGR cooler in all involved vehicles and if necessary replace the inlet manifold.

  3. Feb 2019 R/2018/378

    Incorrect tightening torque was possibly applied during previous injector removal or replacement

    Avensises built May 2015 to Mar 2018 · 321 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    An incorrect tightening torque was applied at the moment of injector re-installation.
    Remedy
    Check the injector clamp bolt torque and replace the parts if necessary.

  4. Jan 2019 R/2018/340

    A potential crack could develop in the fuel evaporative emission control unit mounted in the fuel tank

    Avensises built Jan 2008 to Apr 2015 · 85,909 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Possible fuel leak from fuel tank.
    Remedy
    Replace the fuel tank emission control Canister.

  5. Dec 2018 R/2018/307

    Front passenger air bag inflators containing degraded propellant may result in an inflator rupture

    Avensises built May 2001 to Apr 2006 · 99,588 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Passenger air bag may cause injury if activated.
    Remedy
    Replace affected air bag assembly.

  6. Dec 2018 R/2018/306

    Air bag control module for the supplemental restraint system could be susceptible to internal shorting

    Avensises built Aug 2002 to Apr 2006 · 131,435 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Possible inadvertent air bag deployment.
    Remedy
    Replace the airbag sensor assembly.

  7. Jan 2018 R/2017/329

    Bolts on the exhaust side of the turbocharger assembly may be incorrectly tightened

    Avensises built Jun 2016 to Oct 2016 · 442 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Affected vehicles have a 2.0 litre turbocharged diesel engine. There is a possibility that the bolts on the exhaust-side of the turbocharger assembly may not have been correctly tightened during manufacture.
    Remedy
    On affected vehicles check bolts. Where necessary replace the turbocharger.

  8. Jun 2017 R/2017/010

    Airbag may not deploy

    Avensises built Aug 2016 to Dec 2016 · 243 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    The subject vehicles are equipped with right front seat side airbags which may not deploy in a collision as intended.
    Remedy
    Recall the vehicles that are likely to be affected and replace the right front seat side airbags.
How to check a specific Avensis for recalls

Other Toyota models

The most-tested Toyota models in 2025, against the Avensis's 65.5% MOT pass rate.

All 32 Toyota models

Toyota Avensis FAQs

How many Toyota Avensises are there in the UK?

51,672 Toyota Avensises were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 21,885 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Toyota Avensis 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 65.5% first-time pass rate for the Toyota Avensis across 55,139 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

Has the Toyota Avensis had any recalls?

28 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Toyota Avensis. The most recent was published in January 2023. A recall applies to vehicles built in a set period, so check a specific car on the GOV.UK vehicle recall checker.

What should I check before buying a used Toyota Avensis?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, brakes and suspension. 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 Toyota Avensis'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 an Avensis?

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 Toyota history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Toyota VIN 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). Recalls are from the DVSA vehicle recalls data, with recalls launched up to October 2026. 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.