Pass rate
70.6%
Below average — 3.2 pts behind the 73.8% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 632 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £57–£156
2000 Ford Cougar MOT pass rate
- 2000
- typical 85,457 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
27.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2001 71.3% pass
- Avoid 2000 70.6% pass · this year
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 0.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 62.7%
- Typical mileage
- 85k mi
The 2000 Ford Cougar MOT pass rate is 70.6% of its MOT tests — 3.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 27.1% of everything recorded on the 2000 Ford Cougar, against 20.9% nationally — 6.2 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.8%; this one manages 70.6% — 3.2 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 29% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
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 Cougar? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2000 Ford Cougar compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.8%, so this figure is 3.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 62.7%. The median 2000 Ford Cougar in this dataset had covered 85,457 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.0% of the time, April–September 67.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength", noted on 6.65% of tests.
- 632 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.6% overall pass rate, 62.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford Cougar, the average is 70.9% — best year 2001 (71.3%), worst 2000 (70.6%).
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
- 632
- Typical mileage (median)
- 85,457 mi
- Make and model
- Ford Cougar
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Corrosion Welding Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Cougar MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Cougar
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 138 | 68.1% |
| East of England | 120 | 71.7% |
| South West | 78 | 65.4% |
| West Midlands | 70 | 72.9% |
| East Midlands | 52 | 71.2% |
| North West | 50 | 74.0% |
| Yorkshire | 47 | 72.3% |
| Scotland | 33 | 54.5% |
| Wales | 18 | 83.3% |
| London | 17 | 94.1% |
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 2000 Cougar
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 2000 Cougar
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 corrosion 6.7% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the lights 6.2% of tests
“position 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 2.9% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush 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.
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 2000 Cougar through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £57–£156 — and 29% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £57–£156
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 29%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 632 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 Cougar, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2000 to 2001. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.6% to 71.3% — a spread of 0.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 70.6%component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 71.3% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
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 2000 Ford Cougar 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 2000 cars with a similar record
- Honda Accord 69.8%
- Toyota YARIS 71.7%
- Vauxhall Astra 71.7%
- Nissan Micra 69.4%
- Volkswagen Polo 71.8%
- Vauxhall Corsa 71.9%
Closest pass rates among 2000 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 2000 Ford Cougar 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 1,952 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 535 | 27.10% | 20.89% | +6.21 |
| Suspension | 530 | 26.90% | 20.98% | +5.92 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 235 | 11.90% | 12.21% | −0.31 |
| Tyres | 178 | 9.00% | 19.76% | −10.76 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 171 | 8.70% | 5.57% | +3.13 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 136 | 6.90% | 5.52% | +1.38 |
| Visibility | 52 | 2.60% | 4.97% | −2.37 |
| Steering | 44 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 41 | 2.10% | 4.18% | −2.08 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 30 | 1.50% | 1.76% | −0.26 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 6.7% | £180–450 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 6.2% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 6.2% | £45–110 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.9% | £80–250 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.0% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £40–150 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.9% | £5–20 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £60–150 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.4% | £18–45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 29.9% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 16.5% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.0% | £45–110 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 14.7% | £180–450 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 13.3% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.9% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 14 | 78.6% | 23,176 mi |
| 30-60k | 117 | 82.1% | 47,059 mi |
| 60-90k | 219 | 66.2% | 75,954 mi |
| 90-120k | 183 | 67.8% | 102,985 mi |
| 120k+ | 98 | 70.4% | 143,279 mi |
Source: 632 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.
2000 Cougar MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2000 Ford Cougar?
70.6% of the 632 2000 Ford Cougar tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.8% for cars first used in 2000. First-attempt pass rate: 62.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2000 Ford Cougar?
The three most recorded items are component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (6.65%), position lamp not working (6.17%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (6.17%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2000 Ford Cougar MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 78.6% of the time, falling to 70.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2000 Ford Cougar in this dataset had covered 85,457 mi.
Does the season affect the 2000 Ford Cougar MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 67.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.