Pass rate
77.6%
Around average — 0.4 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 10,904 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £21–£56
2012 Ford B-Max MOT pass rate
- 2012
- 2 trims combined
- typical 68,522 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
23.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2016 85.8% pass
- Avoid 2012 77.6% pass · this year
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 8.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 71.5%
- Typical mileage
- 69k mi
The 2012 Ford B-Max MOT pass rate is 77.6% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with brakes
Brakes are 15.7% of this car’s recorded faults, against 20.9% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
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 Ford B-Max? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Ford B-Max first registered in 2012 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2012 Ford B-Max compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 0.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 71.5%. The median 2012 Ford B-Max in this dataset had covered 68,522 mi.
74% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 78.7% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.2% of the time, April–September 76.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 4.65% of tests.
- 10,904 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.6% overall pass rate, 71.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford B-Max, the average is 81.6% — best year 2016 (85.8%), worst 2012 (77.6%).
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
- 10,904
- Typical mileage (median)
- 68,522 mi
- Make and model
- Ford B-Max
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the B-Max MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (74% of tests).
Where the Ford B-Max is most common
Across all B-Max model years on record (2012–2018): 72,080 Ford B-Max cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 190,749 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 2,242 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) | 2,242 | 83.6% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 1,440 | 84.3% |
| 3 | Nottingham (NG) | 1,424 | 80.3% |
| 4 | Chelmsford (CM) | 1,423 | 83.2% |
| 5 | Romford (RM) | 1,363 | 88.9% |
| 6 | Norwich (NR) | 1,361 | 82.9% |
| 7 | Sheffield (S) | 1,353 | 83.2% |
| 8 | Leicester (LE) | 1,324 | 83.2% |
| 9 | Basildon (SS) | 1,287 | 84.9% |
| 10 | Bristol (BS) | 1,257 | 80.1% |
| 11 | Liverpool (L) | 1,252 | 82.7% |
| 12 | Portsmouth (PO) | 1,140 | 81.5% |
| 13 | Ipswich (IP) | 1,101 | 83.3% |
| 14 | Ashford (TN) | 1,078 | 83.1% |
| 15 | Cardiff (CF) | 1,075 | 77.4% |
| 16 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 1,048 | 78.0% |
| 17 | Derby (DE) | 1,027 | 82.2% |
| 18 | Brighton (BN) | 1,008 | 80.6% |
| 19 | Maidstone (ME) | 1,006 | 84.1% |
| 20 | Reading (RG) | 1,003 | 85.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Ford B-Max 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 B-Max
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,244 | 79.7% |
| East of England | 1,663 | 78.6% |
| North West | 1,199 | 77.6% |
| South West | 1,187 | 78.3% |
| West Midlands | 987 | 77.0% |
| Yorkshire | 883 | 74.6% |
| East Midlands | 802 | 77.6% |
| Scotland | 587 | 71.4% |
| Wales | 547 | 72.4% |
| London | 450 | 88.0% |
| North East | 355 | 71.5% |
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 B-Max
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 B-Max
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 coil springs 4.7% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the suspension joints 4.5% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check the lights 3.4% of tests
“stop lamp not working”
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.
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 B-Max through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £21–£56 — and 39% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £21–£56
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £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
- 39%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 10,904 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 B-Max, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2012 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 77.6% to 85.8% — a spread of 8.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2012 77.6%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 78.3% ball joint excessively worn
- 2014 81.3% stop lamp not working
- 2015 84.3% stop lamp not working
- 2016 85.8% stop lamp not working
- 2017 83.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 82.4% coil spring fractured or broken
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 Ford B-Max 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
- Volkswagen Scirocco 77.6%
- SEAT Altea 77.6%
- SEAT Exeo 77.6%
- Vauxhall Astra 77.7%
- Skoda Octavia 77.7%
- Vauxhall Agila 77.7%
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 Ford B-Max 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 18,016 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 4,283 | 23.20% | 20.98% | +2.22 |
| Tyres | 3,994 | 21.60% | 19.76% | +1.84 |
| Brakes | 2,902 | 15.70% | 20.89% | −5.19 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2,529 | 13.70% | 12.21% | +1.49 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,064 | 5.80% | 4.18% | +1.62 |
| Visibility | 952 | 5.20% | 4.97% | +0.23 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 819 | 4.40% | 5.52% | −1.12 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 656 | 3.60% | 5.57% | −1.97 |
| Steering | 453 | 2.50% | 2.57% | −0.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 364 | 2.00% | 1.76% | +0.24 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.7% | £25–65 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.5% | £18–45 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.4% | £3–12 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.7% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.4% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.2% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £30–80 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 1.4% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.3% | £8–22 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
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 | 17.0% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.6% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.7% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 7.8% | £25–65 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.7% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.0% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 550 | 89.8% | 23,425 mi |
| 30-60k | 3,532 | 81.5% | 46,990 mi |
| 60-90k | 4,155 | 75.6% | 74,044 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,973 | 72.5% | 101,919 mi |
| 120k+ | 588 | 74.8% | 138,863 mi |
Source: 10,904 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 B-Max MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Ford B-Max?
77.6% of the 10,904 2012 Ford B-Max tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 71.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Ford B-Max?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (4.65%), ball joint excessively worn (4.48%), stop lamp not working (3.44%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Ford B-Max MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.8% of the time, falling to 74.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Ford B-Max in this dataset had covered 68,522 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Ford B-Max?
Petrol: 78.7% pass rate across 8,063 tests. Diesel: 74.6% pass rate across 2,841 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Ford B-Max MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.