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2016 Jeep Wrangler MOT pass rate

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Pass rate by postcode →

Pass rate

82.4%

Around average — 1.6 pts behind the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 1,022 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £18–£52

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
79.5%
Typical mileage
48k mi

The 2016 Jeep Wrangler MOT pass rate is 82.4% of its MOT tests — 1.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.2% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2016 Jeep Wrangler on the real record

82.4% of 2016 Jeep Wrangler MOTs passed — 1,022 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

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

Expert verdict

Lamps & electrics: 1.8× the national share

Lamps & electrics make up 21.9% of everything recorded on the 2016 Jeep Wrangler, against 12.2% nationally — 9.7 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 28.2%, 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.

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 2016 Jeep Wrangler compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 1.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 79.5%. The median 2016 Jeep Wrangler in this dataset had covered 47,797 mi.

59% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 81.3% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 83.5% of the time, April–September 81.1%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 2.74% of tests.

  • 1,022 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 82.4% overall pass rate, 79.5% 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
1,022
Typical mileage (median)
47,797 mi
Make and model
Jeep Wrangler
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 Wrangler MOT pass rate?

0-30k 84.6%
30-60k 83.6%
60-90k 82.7%
90-120k 67.2%
120k+ 69.2%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 59% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Diesel 81.3%
Petrol 84.0%

Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (59% of tests).

Where the Jeep Wrangler is most common

Across all Wrangler model years on record (2000–2022): 8,257 Jeep Wrangler cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 15,780 tests. Ashford (TN) has the most, with 223 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 Ashford (TN) 223 2.7% 486 83.3%
2 High Wycombe (HP) 198 2.4% 325 87.4%
3 Guildford (GU) 181 2.2% 363 79.9%
4 Slough (SL) 172 2.1% 307 87.3%
5 Chelmsford (CM) 164 2% 318 89.0%
6 Kingston upon Thames (KT) 161 1.9% 288 88.5%
7 Ipswich (IP) 159 1.9% 328 81.4%
8 Derby (DE) 155 1.9% 275 84.7%
9 Northampton (NN) 152 1.8% 284 88.7%
10 Crawley (RH) 144 1.7% 291 83.2%
11 Peterborough (PE) 136 1.6% 266 81.6%
12 Birmingham (B) 134 1.6% 263 84.4%
13 Reading (RG) 132 1.6% 242 87.2%
14 Exeter (EX) 130 1.6% 302 79.8%
15 Coventry (CV) 126 1.5% 238 87.8%
16 Sheffield (S) 124 1.5% 226 88.9%
17 Warrington (WA) 121 1.5% 223 86.1%
18 Bradford (BD) 120 1.5% 192 90.6%
19 Portsmouth (PO) 113 1.4% 237 83.1%
20 Norwich (NR) 111 1.3% 247 84.2%

The twenty areas with the most Jeep Wrangler 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 Wrangler

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 289 81.0%
East of England 144 84.0%
North West 101 87.1%
Yorkshire 91 80.2%
South West 89 77.5%
London 81 86.4%
East Midlands 71 87.3%
West Midlands 62 80.6%
Scotland 47 76.6%
Wales 28 82.1%
North East 19 84.2%

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 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.

Brakes 28.2%
+7.3 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Lamps & electrics 21.9%
+9.7 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Suspension 13.6%
−7.4 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Tyres 10.8%
−9.0 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Emissions & leaks 7.0%
  • Visibility 6.4%
  • Steering 3.4%
  • Advisories 3.3%
  • Identification 1.9%
  • Body & chassis 1.7%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2016 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 2016 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 lights 2.7% 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 windscreen 2.3% 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 brakes 1.7% of tests

    “brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”

    Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.

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 Wrangler through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £18–£52 — and 63% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£18–£52
Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
£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
63%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,022 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 2016 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 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 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 1,216 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 349 28.20% 20.89% +7.31
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 271 21.90% 12.21% +9.69
Suspension 168 13.60% 20.98% −7.38
Tyres 134 10.80% 19.76% −8.96
Noise, emissions and leaks 87 7.00% 5.52% +1.48
Visibility 79 6.40% 4.97% +1.43
Steering 42 3.40% 2.57% +0.83
Non-component advisories 41 3.30% 4.18% −0.88
Identification of the vehicle 24 1.90% 1.76% +0.14
Body, chassis, structure 21 1.70% 5.57% −3.87

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 1,022 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 2.7% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 2.5% £3–15 Bulb →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 2.3% £80–200 Windscreen →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks Major 2.0% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 1.9% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 1.8% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 1.8% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Major 1.7% £18–45 Brake Pads Set →
Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 1.6% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes Major 1.5% £3–15 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
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 11.3% £45–110
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 8.0% £18–45
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 5.6% £45–95
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 5.1% £45–95
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Advisory 4.6% £18–45
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 2.9% £200–700

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 214 84.6% 20,898 mi
30-60k 494 83.6% 45,182 mi
60-90k 237 82.7% 72,016 mi
90-120k 64 67.2% 103,212 mi
120k+ 13 69.2% 136,548 mi

Source: 1,022 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 Wrangler MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Jeep Wrangler?

82.4% of the 1,022 2016 Jeep Wrangler tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 79.5%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Jeep Wrangler?

The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (2.74%), rear fog lamp not working (2.54%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.25%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2016 Jeep Wrangler MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 84.6% of the time, falling to 69.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Jeep Wrangler in this dataset had covered 47,797 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 Jeep Wrangler?

Diesel: 81.3% pass rate across 603 tests. Petrol: 84.0% pass rate across 419 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2016 Jeep Wrangler MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 83.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.