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2016 Jaguar Xj MOT pass rate

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Pass rate by postcode →

Pass rate

87.7%

Above average — 3.7 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 3,436 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £33–£84

Which year to buy

  • Best 2020 94.3% pass
  • Avoid 2004 77.7% pass

Across the 21 years on record, a spread of 16.6 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
86.3%
Typical mileage
60k mi

The 2016 Jaguar Xj MOT pass rate is 87.7% of its MOT tests — 3.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 39.1% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2016 Jaguar Xj on the real record

87.7% of 2016 Jaguar Xj MOTs passed — 3,436 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

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

Expert verdict

Tyres: 2.0× the national share

Tyres make up 39.1% of everything recorded on the 2016 Jaguar Xj, against 19.8% nationally — 19.3 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.

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 Jaguar Xj? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2016 Jaguar Xj compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 3.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 86.3%. The median 2016 Jaguar Xj in this dataset had covered 59,809 mi.

97% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 87.5% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 87.5% of the time, April–September 87.9%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 2.50% of tests.

  • 3,436 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 87.7% overall pass rate, 86.3% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Jaguar Xj, the average is 82.3% — best year 2020 (94.3%), worst 2004 (77.7%).

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
3,436
Typical mileage (median)
59,809 mi
Make and model
Jaguar Xj
Updated
2026-11-07

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.

Top part to budget for

Number Plate Lamp

Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.

Does mileage affect the Xj MOT pass rate?

0-30k 93.6%
30-60k 89.5%
60-90k 84.7%
90-120k 85.1%
120k+ 86.1%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 76% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Diesel 87.5%
Petrol 91.8%

Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (97% of tests).

Where the Jaguar Xj is most common

Across all Xj model years on record (2000–2020): 30,481 Jaguar Xj cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 68,447 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 1,079 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) 1,079 3.5% 2,391 85.4%
2 Peterborough (PE) 736 2.4% 1,670 81.4%
3 Coventry (CV) 662 2.2% 1,537 83.6%
4 Sheffield (S) 645 2.1% 1,391 88.2%
5 Nottingham (NG) 554 1.8% 1,213 84.1%
6 Reading (RG) 537 1.8% 1,263 80.8%
7 Leicester (LE) 528 1.7% 1,249 82.8%
8 Chelmsford (CM) 498 1.6% 1,078 86.5%
9 Liverpool (L) 481 1.6% 1,118 84.3%
10 Derby (DE) 469 1.5% 934 85.9%
11 Northampton (NN) 462 1.5% 1,068 81.7%
12 Doncaster (DN) 459 1.5% 1,025 82.9%
13 Glasgow (G) 446 1.5% 1,038 81.5%
14 Guildford (GU) 429 1.4% 1,063 79.1%
15 Ashford (TN) 424 1.4% 1,015 81.9%
16 Manchester (M) 414 1.4% 818 88.4%
17 Portsmouth (PO) 413 1.4% 994 77.4%
18 Bristol (BS) 407 1.3% 950 78.3%
19 Milton Keynes (MK) 407 1.3% 834 84.2%
20 Cardiff (CF) 406 1.3% 1,021 78.4%

The twenty areas with the most Jaguar Xj 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 Xj

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 761 87.6%
North West 472 87.5%
East of England 420 88.1%
West Midlands 322 87.9%
Yorkshire 322 89.8%
Scotland 268 82.8%
South West 257 88.3%
East Midlands 227 87.7%
London 161 91.9%
North East 116 87.1%
Wales 110 84.5%

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 2016 Xj

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.

Tyres 39.1%
+19.3 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Brakes 23.2%
+2.3 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Suspension 12.9%
−8.1 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Lamps & electrics 6.4%
−5.8 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Emissions & leaks 5.7%
  • Visibility 4.5%
  • Advisories 3.0%
  • Road wheels 1.8%
  • Body & chassis 1.3%
  • Identification 1.1%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2016 Jaguar Xj 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 2016 Xj

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 lights 2.5% 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.

  2. Check the coil springs 2.4% of tests

    “coil spring fractured or broken”

    Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.

  3. Check the windscreen 1.7% 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 2016 Xj through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£84 — and 33% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£33–£84
Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
£3–£12
Dearest common item: on or after 01/01/2014 emissions exceed…
£60–£250
Common items a careful owner can do at home
70%
Repairs that still cost under £30
33%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,436 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 Xj, side by side

21 model years on record, from 2000 to 2020. Across them the pass rate runs from 77.7% to 94.3% — a spread of 16.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2000 78.3% component mounting prescribed…
  2. 2001 80.3% component mounting prescribed…
  3. 2002 78.1% component mounting prescribed…
  4. 2003 78.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
  5. 2004 77.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
  6. 2005 79.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
  7. 2006 79.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
  8. 2007 79.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
  9. 2008 81.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
  10. 2009 81.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
  11. 2010 81.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
  12. 2011 82.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
  13. 2012 84.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
  14. 2013 83.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
  15. 2014 84.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
  16. 2015 87.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  17. 2016 87.7%
    registration plate lamp(s)…
  18. 2017 90.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
  19. 2018 91.0% has a cut in excess of the…
  20. 2019 92.1% has a cut in excess of the…
  21. 2020 94.3% windscreen damaged but not…

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 2016 Jaguar Xj 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 2016 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2016 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 Jaguar Xj 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 2,823 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 1,114 39.10% 19.76% +19.34
Brakes 661 23.20% 20.89% +2.31
Suspension 368 12.90% 20.98% −8.08
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 182 6.40% 12.21% −5.81
Noise, emissions and leaks 162 5.70% 5.52% +0.18
Visibility 129 4.50% 4.97% −0.47
Non-component advisories 86 3.00% 4.18% −1.18
Road Wheels 52 1.80% 0.75% +1.05
Body, chassis, structure 38 1.30% 5.57% −4.27
Identification of the vehicle 31 1.10% 1.76% −0.66

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 3,436 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 2.5% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension Major 2.4% £25–65 Coil Spring →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 1.7% £80–200 Windscreen →
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Major 1.4% £45–95 Tyres →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks Major 0.99% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Has ply or cords exposed Tyres Major 0.87% £45–95 Tyres →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Major 0.84% £45–95 Tyres →
Washers not working Visibility Major 0.58% £5–15 Windscreen Washer →
Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 0.52% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
On or after 01/01/2014 emissions exceed default limit of 0.7m-1 Noise, emissions and leaks Major 0.52% £60–250 Emissions Repair →

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
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 17.1% £45–95
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 7.0% £45–110
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 6.2% £18–45
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 4.6% £40–150
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Advisory 3.7% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 2.8% £45–95

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 346 93.6% 21,666 mi
30-60k 1,377 89.5% 45,690 mi
60-90k 1,116 84.7% 73,450 mi
90-120k 417 85.1% 102,773 mi
120k+ 180 86.1% 151,594 mi

Source: 3,436 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.

2016 Xj MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Jaguar Xj?

87.7% of the 3,436 2016 Jaguar Xj tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 86.3%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Jaguar Xj?

The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (2.50%), coil spring fractured or broken (2.42%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.72%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2016 Jaguar Xj MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.6% of the time, falling to 86.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Jaguar Xj in this dataset had covered 59,809 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 Jaguar Xj?

Diesel: 87.5% pass rate across 3,326 tests. Petrol: 91.8% pass rate across 110 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2016 Jaguar Xj MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 87.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 87.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.