Pass rate
72.7%
Below average — 0.5 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 15,811 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £26–£67
2004 Ford Fusion MOT pass rate
- 2004
- 2 trims combined
- typical 96,450 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
23.4% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
3.5 pts down across model years — 4.0% in 2002, 0.5% in 2012.
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 83.3% pass
- Avoid 2003 71.9% pass
Across the 11 years on record, a spread of 11.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 64.4%
- Typical mileage
- 96k mi
The 2004 Ford Fusion MOT pass rate is 72.7% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.4% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Ford Fusion does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 12.5% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% 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 Fusion? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Ford Fusion first registered in 2004 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2004 Ford Fusion compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 0.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 64.4%. The median 2004 Ford Fusion in this dataset had covered 96,450 mi.
78% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 73.0% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.7% of the time, April–September 72.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 7.63% of tests.
- 15,811 recorded tests behind this page.
- 72.7% overall pass rate, 64.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford Fusion, the average is 75.5% — best year 2012 (83.3%), worst 2003 (71.9%).
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
- 15,811
- Typical mileage (median)
- 96,450 mi
- Make and model
- Ford Fusion
- 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 Fusion MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 59% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (78% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Fusion
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 3,326 | 75.3% |
| East of England | 2,515 | 75.0% |
| South West | 2,312 | 67.3% |
| West Midlands | 1,644 | 72.8% |
| North West | 1,380 | 72.6% |
| Yorkshire | 1,233 | 71.8% |
| East Midlands | 1,199 | 72.4% |
| Wales | 707 | 69.3% |
| London | 584 | 82.0% |
| Scotland | 483 | 66.7% |
| North East | 428 | 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 2004 Fusion
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 2004 Fusion
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 7.6% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 7.3% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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 brake pipes 5.1% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
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 2004 Fusion through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £26–£67 — and 42% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £26–£67
- 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
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 42%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 15,811 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 Fusion, side by side
11 model years on record, from 2002 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.9% to 83.3% — a spread of 11.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 72.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 71.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 72.7%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 73.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 72.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2007 75.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2008 76.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2009 77.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2010 78.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 81.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 83.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
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 2004 Ford Fusion 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Toyota YARIS 72.7%
- Suzuki Jimny 72.7%
- SEAT Arosa 72.8%
- Mitsubishi Shogun 72.6%
- Honda Accord 72.6%
- Suzuki Ignis 72.6%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Ford Fusion 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 49,145 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 | 11,655 | 23.40% | 20.98% | +2.42 |
| Brakes | 10,176 | 20.50% | 20.89% | −0.39 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8,505 | 17.10% | 12.21% | +4.89 |
| Tyres | 6,191 | 12.50% | 19.76% | −7.26 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3,812 | 7.70% | 5.52% | +2.18 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 3,306 | 6.60% | 5.57% | +1.03 |
| Visibility | 1,909 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,653 | 3.30% | 4.18% | −0.88 |
| Steering | 1,002 | 2.00% | 2.57% | −0.57 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 936 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.6% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 7.3% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 5.1% | £80–180 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.0% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.0% | £30–80 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.8% | £3–12 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.0% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.8% | £5–25 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £30–75 |
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 | 30.5% | £80–180 |
| 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 | 15.0% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 14.3% | £25–65 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 11.7% | £200–700 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 8.0% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 176 | 86.4% | 23,002 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,947 | 81.1% | 48,798 mi |
| 60-90k | 4,589 | 75.0% | 76,410 mi |
| 90-120k | 4,981 | 70.8% | 104,112 mi |
| 120k+ | 4,092 | 67.9% | 146,636 mi |
Source: 15,811 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.
2004 Fusion MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Ford Fusion?
72.7% of the 15,811 2004 Ford Fusion tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 64.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Ford Fusion?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (7.63%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (7.29%), rigid brake pipes excessively corroded (5.14%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Ford Fusion MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 86.4% of the time, falling to 67.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Ford Fusion in this dataset had covered 96,450 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 Ford Fusion?
Petrol: 73.0% pass rate across 12,341 tests. Diesel: 71.6% pass rate across 3,465 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2004 Ford Fusion MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.7% 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.