Pass rate
74.1%
Below average — 1.2 pts ahead of the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,058 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £81–£218
2002 Ford Escort MOT pass rate
- 2002
- 2 trims combined
- typical 104,432 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
23.1% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2002 74.1% pass · this year
- Avoid 2000 69.5% pass
Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 4.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 68.9%
- Typical mileage
- 104k mi
The 2002 Ford Escort MOT pass rate is 74.1% of its MOT tests — 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.6× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 14.7% of everything recorded on the 2002 Ford Escort, against 5.6% nationally — 9.1 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 23.1%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 12% 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 Escort? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Ford Escort first registered in 2002 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2002 Ford Escort compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 68.9%. The median 2002 Ford Escort in this dataset had covered 104,432 mi.
92% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 73.4% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.4% of the time, April–September 72.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 9.74% of tests.
- 1,058 recorded tests behind this page.
- 74.1% overall pass rate, 68.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford Escort, the average is 72.1% — best year 2002 (74.1%), worst 2000 (69.5%).
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
- 1,058
- Typical mileage (median)
- 104,432 mi
- Make and model
- Ford Escort
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Escort MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 65% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (92% of tests).
Where the Ford Escort is most common
Across all Escort model years on record (2000–2002): 1,787 Ford Escort cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 4,173 tests. Peterborough (PE) has the most, with 58 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 | Peterborough (PE) | 58 | 78.4% |
| 2 | Birmingham (B) | 57 | 69.8% |
| 3 | Ipswich (IP) | 41 | 66.3% |
| 4 | Portsmouth (PO) | 40 | 64.9% |
| 5 | Chelmsford (CM) | 40 | 65.7% |
| 6 | Coventry (CV) | 39 | 64.8% |
| 7 | Norwich (NR) | 39 | 66.3% |
| 8 | Colchester (CO) | 37 | 75.0% |
| 9 | Sheffield (S) | 37 | 74.7% |
| 10 | Bristol (BS) | 36 | 67.8% |
| 11 | Ashford (TN) | 35 | 75.0% |
| 12 | Basildon (SS) | 35 | 75.6% |
| 13 | Leicester (LE) | 34 | 69.0% |
| 14 | Romford (RM) | 32 | 82.0% |
| 15 | Poole (BH) | 31 | 66.3% |
| 16 | Manchester (M) | 30 | 72.2% |
| 17 | Exeter (EX) | 30 | 71.2% |
| 18 | Doncaster (DN) | 29 | 66.7% |
| 19 | Derby (DE) | 28 | 73.0% |
| 20 | Nottingham (NG) | 27 | 90.2% |
The twenty areas with the most Ford Escort 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 Escort
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 218 | 74.8% |
| South East | 204 | 77.0% |
| South West | 130 | 69.2% |
| North West | 114 | 71.9% |
| East Midlands | 89 | 73.0% |
| West Midlands | 81 | 67.9% |
| Yorkshire | 79 | 77.2% |
| London | 45 | 88.9% |
| Wales | 36 | 66.7% |
| Scotland | 33 | 81.8% |
| North East | 29 | 69.0% |
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 2002 Escort
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 2002 Escort
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 8.5% 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 5.6% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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 5.2% 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 2002 Escort through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £81–£218 — and 12% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £81–£218
- 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
- 30%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 12%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,058 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 Escort, side by side
3 model years on record, from 2000 to 2002. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.5% to 74.1% — a spread of 4.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 69.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 73.6% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 74.1%joints constant velocity boot…
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 2002 Ford Escort 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 2002 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Celica 74.1%
- Skoda Octavia 74.1%
- Toyota YARIS 74.0%
- Toyota MR2 74.2%
- Volkswagen Bora 74.2%
- Vauxhall Agila 74.2%
Closest pass rates among 2002 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 2002 Ford Escort 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 3,160 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 | 744 | 23.10% | 20.98% | +2.12 |
| Brakes | 689 | 21.40% | 20.89% | +0.51 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 475 | 14.70% | 5.57% | +9.13 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 353 | 11.00% | 12.21% | −1.21 |
| Tyres | 261 | 8.10% | 19.76% | −11.66 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 228 | 7.10% | 5.52% | +1.58 |
| Visibility | 151 | 4.70% | 4.97% | −0.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 110 | 3.40% | 4.18% | −0.78 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 78 | 2.40% | 0.82% | +1.58 |
| Steering | 71 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 9.7% | £80–250 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 8.5% | £180–450 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.6% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.2% | £80–200 |
| Prescribed areas prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 3.7% | £40–120 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 3.1% | £45–110 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.0% | £80–250 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 2.9% | £60–150 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.7% | £80–180 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.4% | £60–140 |
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 | 20.3% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 16.3% | £200–700 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 11.8% | £180–450 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 10.7% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 9.4% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.9% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 17 | 82.4% | 14,202 mi |
| 30-60k | 103 | 75.7% | 49,614 mi |
| 60-90k | 225 | 74.2% | 77,700 mi |
| 90-120k | 345 | 73.9% | 103,988 mi |
| 120k+ | 364 | 73.6% | 150,275 mi |
Source: 1,058 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.
2002 Escort MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 Ford Escort?
74.1% of the 1,058 2002 Ford Escort tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 68.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 Ford Escort?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (9.74%), component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (8.51%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.58%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 Ford Escort MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 82.4% of the time, falling to 73.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Ford Escort in this dataset had covered 104,432 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2002 Ford Escort?
Diesel: 73.4% pass rate across 971 tests. Petrol: 79.5% pass rate across 73 tests. LPG: 90.9% pass rate across 11 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2002 Ford Escort MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 72.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.