2005 Jeep Wrangler MOT pass rate

Pass rate

84.9%

Around average — 12.5 pts ahead of the 72.4% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 218 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £20–£51

Which year to buy

  • Best 2020 94.1% pass
  • Avoid 2008 70.7% pass

Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 23.4 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
82.8%
Typical mileage
70k mi

The 2005 Jeep Wrangler MOT pass rate is 84.9% of its MOT tests — 12.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.6% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2005 Jeep Wrangler on the real record

84.9% of 2005 Jeep Wrangler MOTs passed — 218 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

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

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Jeep Wrangler does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Lamps & electrics: 1.7× the national share

Lamps & electrics make up 21.1% of everything recorded on the 2005 Jeep Wrangler, against 12.2% nationally — 8.9 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 26.6%, but at 21.0% 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.

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 Jeep Wrangler? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2005 Jeep Wrangler compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 72.4%, so this figure is 12.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 82.8%. The median 2005 Jeep Wrangler in this dataset had covered 70,141 mi.

Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 87.0% of the time, April–September 83.1%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 2.75% of tests.

  • 218 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 84.9% overall pass rate, 82.8% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Jeep Wrangler, the average is 84.6% — best year 2020 (94.1%), worst 2008 (70.7%).

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
218
Typical mileage (median)
70,141 mi
Make and model
Jeep Wrangler
Updated
2026-11-05

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 Wrangler MOT pass rate?

0-30k 88.9%
30-60k 86.2%
60-90k 85.3%
90-120k 81.0%
120k+ 85.7%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 73% so small gaps stay visible.

Regional pass rates for the Wrangler

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 59 84.7%
East of England 47 87.2%
South West 24 83.3%
East Midlands 20 80.0%
West Midlands 19 89.5%
North West 15 80.0%

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 2005 Wrangler

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.

Suspension 26.6%
+5.6 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Lamps & electrics 21.1%
+8.9 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Brakes 16.3%
−4.6 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Emissions & leaks 9.7%
+4.2 pts vs national national 5.5% Price emissions & leaks parts
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Tyres 8.6%
  • Body & chassis 4.9%
  • Advisories 4.6%
  • Steering 4.0%
  • Visibility 3.7%
  • Identification 0.3%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2005 Jeep Wrangler 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 2005 Wrangler

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 2.8% of tests

    “linkage ball joint dust cover 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.

  2. Check the lights 2.8% 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.

  3. Check the battery 2.3% 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 2005 Wrangler through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £20–£51 — and 51% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£20–£51
Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
£3–£12
Dearest common item: battery(ies) insecure
£60–£140
Common items a careful owner can do at home
90%
Repairs that still cost under £30
51%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 218 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 Wrangler, side by side

23 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.7% to 94.1% — a spread of 23.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2000 77.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
  2. 2001 72.7% service brake imbalance across an…
  3. 2002 75.8% service brake imbalance across an…
  4. 2003 79.0% rear fog lamp not working
  5. 2004 79.8% rear fog lamp not working
  6. 2005 84.9%
    linkage ball joint dust cover…
  7. 2006 81.4% headlamp aim projected beam image…
  8. 2007 77.6% position lamp not working
  9. 2008 70.7% headlamp aim projected beam image…
  10. 2009 73.2% side repeaters not working
  11. 2010 78.2% position lamp not working
  12. 2011 83.3% rear fog lamp not working
  13. 2012 81.6% anti-lock braking system warning…
  14. 2013 77.2% position lamp not working
  15. 2014 80.2% position lamp not working
  16. 2015 82.0% windscreen damaged but not…
  17. 2016 82.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
  18. 2017 83.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
  19. 2018 86.8% windscreen damaged but not…
  20. 2019 91.6% windscreen damaged but not…
  21. 2020 94.1% windscreen damaged but not…
  22. 2021 92.9% windscreen damaged but not…
  23. 2022 90.6% shock absorbers has a serious…

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 2005 Jeep Wrangler 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 2005 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2005 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2005 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 2005 Jeep Wrangler 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 349 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 93 26.60% 20.98% +5.62
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 74 21.10% 12.21% +8.89
Brakes 57 16.30% 20.89% −4.59
Noise, emissions and leaks 34 9.70% 5.52% +4.18
Tyres 30 8.60% 19.76% −11.16
Body, chassis, structure 17 4.90% 5.57% −0.67
Non-component advisories 16 4.60% 4.18% +0.42
Steering 14 4.00% 2.57% +1.43
Visibility 13 3.70% 4.97% −1.27
Identification of the vehicle 1 0.30% 1.76% −1.46

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 218 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension Minor 2.8% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 2.8% £3–15 Bulb →
Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 2.3% £60–140 Battery →
Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 2.3% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 2.3% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 1.8% £3–12 Stop Light Bulb →
Wipers blade defective Visibility Minor 1.8% £8–22 Wiper Blade →
Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes Major 1.4% £45–110 Brake Discs and Pads Set →
Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility Rectified 1.4% £8–22 Wiper Blade →
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Major 0.92% £18–45 Ball Joint →

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
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 10.1% £200–700
Linkage pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 8.7% £40–150
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 8.3% £40–150
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 7.8% £45–95
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 6.4% £18–45
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Advisory 5.0% £18–45

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 9 88.9% 18,845 mi
30-60k 58 86.2% 46,021 mi
60-90k 95 85.3% 72,926 mi
90-120k 42 81.0% 97,660 mi
120k+ 14 85.7% 142,375 mi

Source: 218 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.

2005 Wrangler MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2005 Jeep Wrangler?

84.9% of the 218 2005 Jeep Wrangler tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.4% for cars first used in 2005. First-attempt pass rate: 82.8%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2005 Jeep Wrangler?

The three most recorded items are linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (2.75%), rear fog lamp not working (2.75%), battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (2.29%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2005 Jeep Wrangler MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.9% of the time, falling to 85.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2005 Jeep Wrangler in this dataset had covered 70,141 mi.

Does the season affect the 2005 Jeep Wrangler MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 87.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 83.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.