Pass rate
89.6%
Above average — 1.7 pts ahead of the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 73,357 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £22–£57
2018 Ford Ecosport MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 33,790 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
42.6% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
3.0 pts down across model years — 5.8% in 2014, 2.8% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 90.8% pass
- Avoid 2014 78.3% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 12.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.4%
- Typical mileage
- 34k mi
The 2018 Ford Ecosport MOT pass rate is 89.6% of its MOT tests — 1.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 42.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Ford Ecosport does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.2× the national share
Tyres make up 42.6% of everything recorded on the 2018 Ford Ecosport, against 19.8% nationally — 22.8 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.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 59% 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 Ford Ecosport? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 Ford Ecosport compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 1.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.4%. The median 2018 Ford Ecosport in this dataset had covered 33,790 mi.
92% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 89.7% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 89.5% of the time, April–September 89.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp not working on dipped beam", noted on 1.69% of tests.
- 73,357 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.6% overall pass rate, 88.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford Ecosport, the average is 87.0% — best year 2019 (90.8%), worst 2014 (78.3%).
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
- 73,357
- Typical mileage (median)
- 33,790 mi
- Make and model
- Ford Ecosport
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Ecosport MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (92% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Ecosport
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 14,430 | 90.2% |
| East of England | 10,034 | 90.5% |
| North West | 7,774 | 90.2% |
| Scotland | 7,172 | 84.5% |
| South West | 6,495 | 89.9% |
| West Midlands | 6,196 | 90.6% |
| Yorkshire | 6,123 | 90.3% |
| East Midlands | 5,061 | 88.9% |
| Wales | 4,050 | 88.8% |
| London | 3,253 | 90.8% |
| North East | 2,768 | 90.4% |
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 2018 Ecosport
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 2018 Ecosport
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 1.7% of tests
“headlamp not working on dipped beam”
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 windscreen 0.9% 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.
-
Check the brakes 0.7% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
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 2018 Ecosport through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £22–£57 — and 59% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £22–£57
- 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
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 59%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 73,357 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 Ecosport, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2014 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 78.3% to 90.8% — a spread of 12.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2014 78.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2015 80.0% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2016 83.1% stop lamp not working
- 2017 84.5% stop lamp not working
- 2018 89.6%headlamp not working on dipped…
- 2019 90.8% headlamp not working on dipped…
- 2020 90.5% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 89.9% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 90.5% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2023 89.9% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
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 2018 Ford Ecosport 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Mitsubishi Outlander 89.6%
- BMW 220 89.6%
- Honda Civic 89.5%
- BMW 2 Series 89.5%
- BMW 330 89.5%
- BMW X6 89.5%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 Ford Ecosport 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 61,372 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 | 26,379 | 42.60% | 19.76% | +22.84 |
| Brakes | 11,788 | 19.00% | 20.89% | −1.89 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8,407 | 13.60% | 12.21% | +1.39 |
| Non-component advisories | 4,485 | 7.20% | 4.18% | +3.02 |
| Suspension | 3,143 | 5.10% | 20.98% | −15.88 |
| Visibility | 2,841 | 4.60% | 4.97% | −0.37 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,577 | 2.50% | 5.52% | −3.02 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1,543 | 2.50% | 5.57% | −3.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 731 | 1.20% | 1.76% | −0.56 |
| Road Wheels | 478 | 0.80% | 0.75% | +0.05 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.7% | £5–25 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.4% | £5–25 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.2% | £3–12 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 0.95% | £45–110 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 0.92% | £80–200 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.72% | £18–45 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 0.71% | £5–15 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.70% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 16.3% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 11.8% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.7% | £18–45 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.5% | £20–80 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 1.8% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 29,690 | 93.8% | 20,764 mi |
| 30-60k | 36,916 | 87.5% | 41,950 mi |
| 60-90k | 6,130 | 82.6% | 69,519 mi |
| 90-120k | 558 | 78.7% | 99,683 mi |
| 120k+ | 39 | 82.1% | 136,261 mi |
Source: 73,357 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.
2018 Ecosport MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Ford Ecosport?
89.6% of the 73,357 2018 Ford Ecosport tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 88.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Ford Ecosport?
The three most recorded items are headlamp not working on dipped beam (1.69%), stop lamp not working (1.46%), headlamp not working on dipped beam (1.44%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Ford Ecosport MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.8% of the time, falling to 82.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Ford Ecosport in this dataset had covered 33,790 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 Ford Ecosport?
Petrol: 89.7% pass rate across 67,484 tests. Diesel: 88.4% pass rate across 5,873 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2018 Ford Ecosport MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 89.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 89.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.