Used Toyota Yaris buying guide

In 2025, Toyota Yaris cars passed 72.4% of 460,778 initial MOT tests, in line with the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.

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

Toyota Yaris MOT record in brief

Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.

72.4%

Toyota Yaris pass rate

72.3%

UK average, all cars

+0.1

percentage points above average

Ranked on pass rate the Yaris sits 305th of 575 models in the data. Toyota as a brand averaged 75.1%, so this model runs 2.7 points behind its own brand. Toyota Yaris cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 89.2% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 61.1%.

A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Toyota Yaris MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Yaris compares with similar cars.

Yaris fuel types

Petrol was the most common fuel among Toyota Yaris cars tested in 2025. Diesel made up just 4.4% of tests.

Where the Yaris fails its MOT

Where Toyota Yaris cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment33%
  • Suspension20.6%
  • Brakes13.2%
  • Visibility10%
  • Tyres9.9%
  • Body, chassis, structure5.3%

The specific items testers recorded most often were position lamp not working (6.8%), coil spring fractured or broken (5.4%) and wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (5.2%). See every common Yaris MOT failure.

These are DVSA failure records across every Toyota Yaris that failed, not a claim that every Yaris has these problems.

What should you check when buying a used Yaris?

The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at 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% of Yaris failure items.

2

Suspension

Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 20.6% of Yaris 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. 13.2% of Yaris failure items.

4

Visibility

Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 10% of Yaris failure items.

5

Tyres

Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear. 9.9% of Yaris 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 Toyota Yaris failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension 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 Yaris you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Toyota history check.

  • Outstanding finance
  • Write-off records
  • Stolen markers
  • Mileage history
  • Previous keepers

Used Toyota Yaris FAQs

Is the Toyota Yaris 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 72.4% first-time pass rate for the Toyota Yaris across 460,778 tests in 2025, in line with the 72.3% average for all cars.

Do older Toyota Yaris cars fail their MOT more often?

Toyota Yaris cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 89.2% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 61.1%. 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 Toyota Yaris?

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