Pass rate
93.4%
Above average — 16.2 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,258 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £21–£58
2012 Bentley Continental MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 43,050 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
38.8% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 97.2% pass
- Avoid 2004 89.2% pass
Across the 21 years on record, a spread of 8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 93.0%
- Typical mileage
- 43k mi
The 2012 Bentley Continental MOT pass rate is 93.4% of its MOT tests — 16.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 38.8% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.0× the national share
Tyres make up 38.8% of everything recorded on the 2012 Bentley Continental, against 19.8% nationally — 19.0 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 77.2% and this one manages 93.4% — 16.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 69% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Bentley Continental? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Bentley Continental compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 16.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 93.0%. The median 2012 Bentley Continental in this dataset had covered 43,050 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 93.5% of the time, April–September 93.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction", noted on 0.89% of tests.
- 2,258 recorded tests behind this page.
- 93.4% overall pass rate, 93.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Bentley Continental, the average is 93.1% — best year 2022 (97.2%), worst 2004 (89.2%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 2,258
- Typical mileage (median)
- 43,050 mi
- Make and model
- Bentley Continental
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Indicator Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Continental MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 80% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Bentley Continental is most common
Across all Continental model years on record (2000–2022): 23,629 Bentley Continental cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 42,935 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 898 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 898 | 94.5% |
| 2 | Warrington (WA) | 783 | 93.9% |
| 3 | Kingston upon Thames (KT) | 740 | 92.9% |
| 4 | Leicester (LE) | 696 | 94.5% |
| 5 | Chelmsford (CM) | 678 | 93.5% |
| 6 | London (SW) | 641 | 89.7% |
| 7 | Leeds (LS) | 577 | 97.5% |
| 8 | Crawley (RH) | 575 | 93.8% |
| 9 | Ashford (TN) | 525 | 93.4% |
| 10 | Enfield (EN) | 456 | 96.5% |
| 11 | High Wycombe (HP) | 430 | 94.7% |
| 12 | Southampton (SO) | 416 | 90.7% |
| 13 | Bristol (BS) | 416 | 93.2% |
| 14 | Reading (RG) | 410 | 94.7% |
| 15 | Peterborough (PE) | 392 | 94.8% |
| 16 | Gloucester (GL) | 384 | 93.9% |
| 17 | Derby (DE) | 382 | 93.6% |
| 18 | Sheffield (S) | 369 | 94.9% |
| 19 | St Albans (AL) | 362 | 94.0% |
| 20 | London (NW) | 322 | 92.6% |
The twenty areas with the most Bentley Continental cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Continental
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 630 | 93.7% |
| East of England | 281 | 92.9% |
| London | 235 | 90.2% |
| North West | 229 | 93.0% |
| East Midlands | 176 | 93.8% |
| Yorkshire | 169 | 94.7% |
| West Midlands | 166 | 95.8% |
| South West | 153 | 96.1% |
| Scotland | 106 | 93.4% |
| Wales | 74 | 87.8% |
| North East | 39 | 97.4% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2012 Continental
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2012 Continental
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the lights 0.9% of tests
“malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the wipers and washers 0.8% of tests
“washers provides insufficient washer liquid”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the windscreen 0.8% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2012 Continental through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £21–£58 — and 69% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £21–£58
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 69%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,258 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the Continental, side by side
21 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 89.2% to 97.2% — a spread of 8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 91.5% battery(ies) insecure but not…
- 2001 96.1% headlamp not working on dipped…
- 2004 89.2% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2005 90.2% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2006 90.1% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2007 92.1% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2008 91.4% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2009 93.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 91.6% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2011 92.1% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2012 93.4%malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2013 93.9% reversing lamps inoperative
- 2014 94.9% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2015 95.6% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2016 95.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 96.0% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2018 96.1% has a bulge, caused by separation…
- 2019 96.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 96.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 95.5% has a bulge, caused by separation…
- 2022 97.2% windscreen damaged but not…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2012 Bentley Continental with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2012 cars with a similar record
- Porsche 911 93.4%
- Porsche Boxster 91.6%
- Audi A8 90.2%
- Honda Fit 89.3%
- Toyota Estima 88.3%
- Lexus Rx 88.3%
Closest pass rates among 2012 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2012 Bentley Continental 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 900 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 352 | 38.80% | 19.76% | +19.04 |
| Brakes | 186 | 20.50% | 20.89% | −0.39 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 114 | 12.60% | 12.21% | +0.39 |
| Suspension | 82 | 9.00% | 20.98% | −11.98 |
| Visibility | 66 | 7.30% | 4.97% | +2.33 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 36 | 4.00% | 5.52% | −1.52 |
| Non-component advisories | 26 | 2.90% | 4.18% | −1.28 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 16 | 1.80% | 5.57% | −3.77 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 11 | 1.20% | 1.76% | −0.56 |
| Road Wheels | 11 | 1.20% | 0.75% | +0.45 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.89% | £3–12 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 0.84% | £5–15 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 0.84% | £80–200 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.62% | £45–95 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 0.58% | £5–20 |
| Washers not working Visibility | Major | 0.58% | £5–15 |
| Reversing lamps inoperative Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.49% | £3–15 |
| Headlamp cleaning device for LED or HID headlamp inoperative Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.44% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 0.40% | £40–150 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.40% | £3–15 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 5.8% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 3.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 2.8% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 2.4% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 2.4% | £45–110 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 2.4% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 600 | 97.0% | 19,247 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,189 | 93.4% | 44,659 mi |
| 60-90k | 425 | 88.0% | 70,113 mi |
| 90-120k | 35 | 97.1% | 100,969 mi |
| 120k+ | 8 | 100.0% | 141,074 mi |
Source: 2,258 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2012 Continental MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Bentley Continental?
93.4% of the 2,258 2012 Bentley Continental tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 93.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Bentley Continental?
The three most recorded items are malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (0.89%), washers provides insufficient washer liquid (0.84%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (0.84%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Bentley Continental MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 97.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Bentley Continental in this dataset had covered 43,050 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 Bentley Continental MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 93.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 93.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.