76.7%
Toyota Estima
Toyota Estima MOT pass rate and common problems
The Toyota Estima passed 76.7% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 4.4 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 Estima compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
75.1%
Toyota average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Estima runs 1.6 points ahead of the Toyota average. It is 16th of the 32 Toyota models in the data. The average Estima arrived at its test 12.8 years old with 102,117 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.
Estima MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Toyota Estima cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 72.7% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over it rose to 76.1%, 3.3 percentage points higher.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 1,273 | 72.7% | In line |
| 6 to 10 years | 4,814 | 79.4% | 7.1 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 12,831 | 76.1% | 3.8 pts above |
Older examples test at least as well as newer ones here, which usually says more about how the surviving cars have been kept than about age itself. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Estima failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Toyota Estima cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 60.8% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Estima MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Toyota Estima cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 45% of everything testers recorded against failed Toyota Estima cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Estima
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working, rear fog lamp not working, registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps, headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect and headlamp not working on dipped beam. 24.5% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt and ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 8.7% of failure items.
3
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively. 4.5% of failure items.
4
Brakes
Recorded most often: brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick. 4.2% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Estima has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Toyota Estima buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Toyota Estima MOT FAQs
What is the Toyota Estima MOT pass rate?
76.7% of Toyota Estima cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 18,978 tests. That is 4.4 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 243rd of 575 models.
What does a Toyota Estima most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Toyota Estima cars failing their 2025 MOT was position lamp not working, on 8.1% of failure items. Next were linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.7%) and rear fog lamp not working (5.2%).
Which area causes the most Toyota Estima MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 42.9%, followed by suspension at 17.9%.
Do older Toyota Estima cars fail their MOT more often?
Toyota Estima cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 72.7% of MOT tests in 2025, against 76.1% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Toyota Estima has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Toyota Estima 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 Toyota Estima'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.