Land Rover Discovery MOT Pass Rate & Official DVSA Failure Statistics

Land Rover Discovery MOT History and Failure Rates vs UK National Average

The Land Rover Discovery passed on its first attempt in 80.8%, and its overall record sits +2.5 percentage points above the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the Land Rover Discovery in the 2023–2025 data: 816,484 tests across 24 model years (2000–2023). A test still carries exactly one pass or fail verdict.

Figures are computed from every recorded DVSA test for this model in the 2023–2025 data.

Most Common Land Rover Discovery MOT Problems by Failure Category

Every MOT failure a tester records belongs to one inspection section of the DVSA manual. For the Land Rover Discovery, the Visibility section leads the record — the breakdown below shows where the recorded failures cluster, then the exact strings behind the three biggest sections.

Shares are over the Land Rover Discovery's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.

Top Recorded Land Rover Discovery DVSA MOT Test Statistics & Defect Descriptions

The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the Land Rover Discovery, each with how many of the model's 816,484 tests it was noted on.

• "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (Minor) — noted on about 28,231 Land Rover Discovery tests, 3.5% of the model's MOT record.
• "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources" (Minor) — noted on about 25,855 Land Rover Discovery tests, 3.2% of the model's MOT record.
• "Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn" (Major) — noted on about 14,346 Land Rover Discovery tests, 1.8% of the model's MOT record.
• "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated" (Minor) — noted on about 12,920 Land Rover Discovery tests, 1.6% of the model's MOT record.
• "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated" (Minor) — noted on about 12,266 Land Rover Discovery tests, 1.5% of the model's MOT record.
• "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords" (Major) — noted on about 11,481 Land Rover Discovery tests, 1.4% of the model's MOT record.

Best and Worst Land Rover Discovery Model Years by Pass Rate

The strongest Land Rover Discovery model year on record is 2023 (92.9% across 70 tests), and the weakest is 2001 (74.8%). The gap between them is 18.1 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.

Land Rover Discovery reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 0.8 points a year across the most recent model years shown above.

Newest model year first. Only years with at least 50 recorded tests are listed.

Pre-MOT Inspection Checklist for Land Rover Discovery Owners

These checks follow this Land Rover Discovery's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a Land Rover Discovery.

• the windscreen — “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.

• the lights — “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.

• the suspension joints — “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.

Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the Land Rover Discovery. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.

Where the Land Rover Discovery is most common

Across every Discovery model year on record (2000–2023): 378,162 Land Rover Discovery cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 816,420 tests. Peterborough (PE) has the most, with 8,580 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.

The twenty areas with the most Land Rover Discovery 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 →

Frequently Asked Questions: Land Rover Discovery MOT & Reliability