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2013 Ford Transit Custom MOT pass rate

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Pass rate

72.7%

Below average — 5.9 pts behind the 78.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 187 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £36–£113

Which year to buy

  • Best 2024 100.0% pass
  • Avoid 2012 72.4% pass

Across the 13 years on record, a spread of 27.6 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
64.1%
Typical mileage
127k mi

The 2013 Ford Transit Custom MOT pass rate is 72.7% of its MOT tests — 5.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.5% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2013 Ford Transit Custom on the real record

72.7% of 2013 Ford Transit Custom MOTs passed — 187 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Expert verdict

Fewer problems with tyres

Tyres are 10.9% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a van 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 Transit Custom? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2013 Ford Transit Custom compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 78.6%, so this figure is 5.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 64.1%. The median 2013 Ford Transit Custom in this dataset had covered 126,562 mi.

Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 74.1% of the time, April–September 70.7%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 5.88% of tests.

  • 187 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 72.7% overall pass rate, 64.1% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Ford Transit Custom, the average is 86.2% — best year 2024 (100.0%), worst 2012 (72.4%).

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
187
Typical mileage (median)
126,562 mi
Make and model
Ford Transit Custom
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 Transit Custom MOT pass rate?

30-60k 69.2%
60-90k 76.9%
90-120k 72.5%
120k+ 72.2%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.

Where the Ford Transit Custom is most common

Across all Transit Custom model years on record (2012–2024): 263,836 Ford Transit Custom cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 485,964 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 6,629 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 Share of all Tests Pass rate
1 Birmingham (B) 6,629 2.5% 11,883 86.7%
2 Sheffield (S) 6,352 2.4% 11,514 87.4%
3 Bristol (BS) 5,920 2.2% 11,449 84.6%
4 Glasgow (G) 4,741 1.8% 9,017 84.4%
5 Nottingham (NG) 4,605 1.7% 8,760 85.8%
6 Leicester (LE) 4,585 1.7% 8,343 87.8%
7 Chelmsford (CM) 4,571 1.7% 7,859 87.6%
8 Cardiff (CF) 4,559 1.7% 9,091 85.4%
9 Peterborough (PE) 4,199 1.6% 7,915 86.2%
10 Reading (RG) 4,019 1.5% 7,218 88.2%
11 Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) 3,958 1.5% 7,272 88.0%
12 Manchester (M) 3,788 1.4% 6,298 87.0%
13 Maidstone (ME) 3,602 1.4% 6,621 86.3%
14 Chester (CH) 3,596 1.4% 6,332 84.5%
15 Dartford (DA) 3,502 1.3% 6,093 88.9%
16 Portsmouth (PO) 3,488 1.3% 7,110 83.1%
17 Derby (DE) 3,488 1.3% 6,183 87.7%
18 Southampton (SO) 3,421 1.3% 6,416 85.6%
19 Ashford (TN) 3,392 1.3% 6,400 85.6%
20 Doncaster (DN) 3,376 1.3% 6,227 86.4%

The twenty areas with the most Ford Transit Custom 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 Transit Custom

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 45 71.1%
North West 36 75.0%
West Midlands 21 71.4%
Yorkshire 15 60.0%
East Midlands 15 66.7%

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 2013 Transit Custom

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.

Brakes 23.5%
+2.6 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Suspension 21.3%
in line with the national share national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Lamps & electrics 14.7%
+2.5 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Tyres 10.9%
−8.9 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Body & chassis 8.5%
  • Emissions & leaks 6.4%
  • Visibility 4.2%
  • Advisories 3.5%
  • Steering 3.5%
  • Seat belts 3.5%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2013 Ford Transit Custom tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2013 Transit Custom

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.

  1. Check the suspension joints 4.8% 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.

  2. Check the windscreen 4.8% 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.

  3. Check the lights 4.3% of tests

    “stop 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.

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 2013 Transit Custom through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £36–£113 — and 52% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£36–£113
Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
£3–£12
Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
£80–£250
Common items a careful owner can do at home
60%
Repairs that still cost under £30
52%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 187 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 Transit Custom, side by side

13 model years on record, from 2012 to 2024. Across them the pass rate runs from 72.4% to 100.0% — a spread of 27.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2012 72.4% windscreen damaged but not…
  2. 2013 72.7%
    joints constant velocity boot…
  3. 2014 73.2% windscreen damaged but not…
  4. 2015 75.0% joints constant velocity boot…
  5. 2016 81.0% windscreen damaged but not…
  6. 2017 81.4% windscreen damaged but not…
  7. 2018 85.4% windscreen damaged but not…
  8. 2019 86.6% windscreen damaged but not…
  9. 2020 86.5% windscreen damaged but not…
  10. 2021 86.3% windscreen damaged but not…
  11. 2022 86.1% windscreen damaged but not…
  12. 2023 90.4% windscreen damaged but not…
  13. 2024 100.0% 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 2013 Ford Transit Custom 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.

Compare 2013 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2013 vans with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2013 vans with at least 1,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. Full rankings: best vans and worst vans for MOT pass rates.

The full DVSA record for the 2013 Ford Transit Custom 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 549 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 129 23.50% 20.89% +2.61
Suspension 117 21.30% 20.98% +0.32
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 81 14.70% 12.21% +2.49
Tyres 60 10.90% 19.76% −8.86
Body, chassis, structure 47 8.50% 5.57% +2.93
Noise, emissions and leaks 35 6.40% 5.52% +0.88
Visibility 23 4.20% 4.97% −0.77
Non-component advisories 19 3.50% 4.18% −0.68
Steering 19 3.50% 2.57% +0.93
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems 19 3.50% 0.82% +2.68

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 187 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure Minor 5.9% £80–250 Body Panel Repair →
Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure Major 5.3% £80–250 Body Panel Repair →
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Major 4.8% £40–150 Suspension Component →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 4.8% £80–200 Windscreen →
Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 4.3% £3–12 Stop Light Bulb →
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes Major 3.7% £3–15 Bulb →
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 3.7% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 3.7% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems Major 3.7% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 3.2% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 24.6% £40–150
Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes Advisory 20.9% £80–180
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 17.1% £45–110
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 11.8% £200–700
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 11.8% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 7.5% £45–95

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
30-60k 13 69.2% 42,510 mi
60-90k 26 76.9% 77,944 mi
90-120k 40 72.5% 107,721 mi
120k+ 108 72.2% 151,052 mi

Source: 187 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.

2013 Transit Custom MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2013 Ford Transit Custom?

72.7% of the 187 2013 Ford Transit Custom tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 78.6% for cars first used in 2013. First-attempt pass rate: 64.1%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2013 Ford Transit Custom?

The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (5.88%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.35%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (4.81%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2013 Ford Transit Custom MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 69.2% of the time, falling to 72.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2013 Ford Transit Custom in this dataset had covered 126,562 mi.

Does the season affect the 2013 Ford Transit Custom MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 74.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 70.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.