Pass rate
86.2%
Above average — 9.0 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 312 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £30–£82
2012 Ford Mustang MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 57,247 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
18.7% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 92.9% pass
- Avoid 2000 79.4% pass
Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 13.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 84.8%
- Typical mileage
- 57k mi
The 2012 Ford Mustang MOT pass rate is 86.2% of its MOT tests — 9.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 18.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 18.2% of everything recorded on the 2012 Ford Mustang, against 12.2% nationally — 6.0 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 18.7%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 77.2% and this one manages 86.2% — 9.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 28% 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 Mustang? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Ford Mustang compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 9.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 84.8%. The median 2012 Ford Mustang in this dataset had covered 57,247 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 87.0% of the time, April–September 85.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 2.88% of tests.
- 312 recorded tests behind this page.
- 86.2% overall pass rate, 84.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford Mustang, the average is 87.0% — best year 2022 (92.9%), worst 2000 (79.4%).
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
- 312
- Typical mileage (median)
- 57,247 mi
- Make and model
- Ford Mustang
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Mustang MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 68% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Ford Mustang is most common
Across all Mustang model years on record (2000–2022): 19,247 Ford Mustang cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 38,097 tests. Peterborough (PE) has the most, with 462 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) | 462 | 86.6% |
| 2 | Derby (DE) | 455 | 89.9% |
| 3 | Birmingham (B) | 428 | 90.3% |
| 4 | Chelmsford (CM) | 411 | 88.3% |
| 5 | Sheffield (S) | 395 | 88.9% |
| 6 | Nottingham (NG) | 373 | 83.8% |
| 7 | Guildford (GU) | 363 | 85.7% |
| 8 | Southampton (SO) | 359 | 90.0% |
| 9 | Oxford (OX) | 353 | 80.8% |
| 10 | Leicester (LE) | 352 | 87.1% |
| 11 | Reading (RG) | 341 | 89.4% |
| 12 | Basildon (SS) | 322 | 89.4% |
| 13 | Coventry (CV) | 313 | 88.7% |
| 14 | Maidstone (ME) | 290 | 86.6% |
| 15 | Crawley (RH) | 286 | 88.8% |
| 16 | Colchester (CO) | 278 | 94.5% |
| 17 | Northampton (NN) | 271 | 86.2% |
| 18 | Ashford (TN) | 271 | 86.0% |
| 19 | High Wycombe (HP) | 263 | 88.4% |
| 20 | Doncaster (DN) | 261 | 85.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Ford Mustang 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 Mustang
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 106 | 89.6% |
| East of England | 58 | 81.0% |
| West Midlands | 29 | 89.7% |
| South West | 28 | 82.1% |
| North West | 25 | 84.0% |
| East Midlands | 17 | 82.4% |
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 2012 Mustang
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 Mustang
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 suspension joints 2.9% of tests
“track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or 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 lights 2.2% of tests
“rear fog 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 battery 1.3% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure”
Check the battery is secure and its terminals are clean and tight — a loose battery is a fail on its own, and a weak one shows up as slow cranking on a cold morning.
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 Mustang through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £30–£82 — and 28% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £30–£82
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 28%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 312 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 Mustang, side by side
23 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 79.4% to 92.9% — a spread of 13.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 79.4% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2001 83.2% ball joint dust cover no longer…
- 2002 85.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 86.8% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2004 82.0% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2005 85.7% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2006 85.7% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2007 86.9% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2008 88.2% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2009 87.7% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2010 88.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 82.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 86.2%track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2013 89.3% headlamp aim too high
- 2014 88.3% individual direction indicators…
- 2015 88.4% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2016 85.7% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2017 86.2% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2018 87.0% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2019 87.6% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2020 89.7% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 91.2% has ply or cords exposed
- 2022 92.9% has ply or cords exposed
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 Mustang 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
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 Mustang 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 355 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 | 68 | 18.70% | 20.89% | −2.19 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 66 | 18.20% | 12.21% | +5.99 |
| Suspension | 57 | 15.70% | 20.98% | −5.28 |
| Tyres | 53 | 14.60% | 19.76% | −5.16 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 30 | 8.30% | 5.52% | +2.78 |
| Non-component advisories | 26 | 7.20% | 4.18% | +3.02 |
| Steering | 23 | 6.30% | 2.57% | +3.73 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 15 | 4.10% | 5.57% | −1.47 |
| Visibility | 12 | 3.30% | 4.97% | −1.67 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 5 | 1.40% | 0.82% | +0.58 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.9% | £18–45 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.2% | £3–15 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £30–80 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £45–110 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.3% | £60–140 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £60–150 |
| Tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.96% | £60–250 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.96% | £3–12 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 0.96% | £5–20 |
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 | 7.7% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 6.7% | £120–300 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 6.1% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 4.2% | £200–700 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 4.2% | £45–95 |
| Linkage pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.9% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 78 | 88.5% | 17,546 mi |
| 30-60k | 83 | 83.1% | 46,008 mi |
| 60-90k | 100 | 90.0% | 76,229 mi |
| 90-120k | 26 | 84.6% | 101,654 mi |
| 120k+ | 25 | 76.0% | 138,373 mi |
Source: 312 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 Mustang MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Ford Mustang?
86.2% of the 312 2012 Ford Mustang tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 84.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Ford Mustang?
The three most recorded items are track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.88%), rear fog lamp not working (2.24%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (1.60%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Ford Mustang MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.5% of the time, falling to 76.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Ford Mustang in this dataset had covered 57,247 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 Ford Mustang MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 87.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.