Pass rate
81.7%
Around average — 8.6 pts ahead of the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 605 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £20–£57
2008 Lexus Is MOT pass rate
- 2008
- 3 trims combined
- typical 116,213 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
24.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2014 90.8% pass
- Avoid 2006 78.7% pass
Across the 11 years on record, a spread of 12.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 78.3%
- Typical mileage
- 116k mi
The 2008 Lexus Is MOT pass rate is 81.7% of its MOT tests — 8.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.6× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 19.7% of everything recorded on the 2008 Lexus Is, against 12.2% nationally — 7.5 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 24.1%, 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.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 73.1% and this one manages 81.7% — 8.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 70% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 Lexus Is? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Lexus Is first registered in 2008 is combined here — 3 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2008 Lexus Is compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 8.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.3%. The median 2008 Lexus Is in this dataset had covered 116,213 mi.
58% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 84.1% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 81.2% of the time, April–September 82.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 4.79% of tests.
- 605 recorded tests behind this page.
- 81.7% overall pass rate, 78.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Lexus Is, the average is 86.0% — best year 2014 (90.8%), worst 2006 (78.7%).
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
- 605
- Typical mileage (median)
- 116,213 mi
- Make and model
- Lexus Is
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Is MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 69% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (58% of tests).
Where the Lexus Is is most common
Across all Is model years on record (2005–2017): 3,896 Lexus Is cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 8,659 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 153 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 | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 153 | 91.0% |
| 2 | London (NW) | 120 | 87.8% |
| 3 | London (E) | 109 | 93.1% |
| 4 | Leicester (LE) | 98 | 91.0% |
| 5 | London (SE) | 97 | 91.6% |
| 6 | Croydon (CR) | 84 | 92.1% |
| 7 | Romford (RM) | 82 | 87.2% |
| 8 | Ilford (IG) | 81 | 91.3% |
| 9 | Wembley (HA) | 79 | 89.2% |
| 10 | Hayes (UB) | 78 | 88.7% |
| 11 | Guildford (GU) | 72 | 84.7% |
| 12 | Bradford (BD) | 72 | 90.1% |
| 13 | Manchester (M) | 71 | 81.1% |
| 14 | Hounslow (TW) | 69 | 89.2% |
| 15 | Reading (RG) | 66 | 85.3% |
| 16 | Sheffield (S) | 65 | 87.2% |
| 17 | Coventry (CV) | 63 | 82.8% |
| 18 | London (N) | 60 | 87.6% |
| 19 | Slough (SL) | 59 | 89.7% |
| 20 | Dartford (DA) | 57 | 92.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Lexus Is 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 Is
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 212 | 80.7% |
| East of England | 95 | 77.9% |
| North West | 55 | 80.0% |
| London | 53 | 86.8% |
| Yorkshire | 41 | 90.2% |
| West Midlands | 41 | 82.9% |
| South West | 29 | 79.3% |
| Scotland | 27 | 70.4% |
| East Midlands | 26 | 96.2% |
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 2008 Is
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.
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 2008 Is
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.
-
Check the lights 4.8% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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.
-
Check the battery 2.6% 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.
-
Check the wipers and washers 2.6% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the 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 2008 Is through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £20–£57 — and 70% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £20–£57
- Cheapest common item: wipers blade defective
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 70%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 605 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 Is, side by side
11 model years on record, from 2005 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 78.7% to 90.8% — a spread of 12.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 85.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 78.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 80.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 81.7%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 84.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2010 85.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2011 83.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 87.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 88.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 90.8% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2017 87.7% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2008 Lexus Is 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.
Other 2008 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.5%
- Jaguar Xkr 81.4%
- Jaguar Xk 82.0%
- Audi Q7 81.2%
- BMW 530 82.4%
- Jaguar Xj 81.0%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Lexus Is 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 1,165 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 | 284 | 24.10% | 20.89% | +3.21 |
| Tyres | 233 | 19.80% | 19.76% | +0.04 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 232 | 19.70% | 12.21% | +7.49 |
| Suspension | 164 | 13.90% | 20.98% | −7.08 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 63 | 5.30% | 5.57% | −0.27 |
| Visibility | 60 | 5.10% | 4.97% | +0.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 47 | 4.00% | 4.18% | −0.18 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 44 | 3.70% | 1.76% | +1.94 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 28 | 2.40% | 5.52% | −3.12 |
| Steering | 10 | 0.80% | 2.57% | −1.77 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.8% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.1% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.1% | £5–25 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.6% | £60–140 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.6% | £5–25 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.6% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.5% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.5% | £80–200 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.1% | £8–22 |
| Rear reflectors defective or damaged by up to 50% of the reflecting surface Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.6% | £5–25 |
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.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 19.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.2% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 10.3% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.8% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Advisory | 7.8% | £5–25 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 6.6% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 35 | 80.0% | 51,435 mi |
| 60-90k | 86 | 88.4% | 76,586 mi |
| 90-120k | 195 | 84.6% | 104,290 mi |
| 120k+ | 286 | 77.6% | 148,112 mi |
Source: 605 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.
2008 Is MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Lexus Is?
81.7% of the 605 2008 Lexus Is tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 78.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Lexus Is?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (4.79%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (3.14%), position lamp not working (3.14%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Lexus Is MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 80.0% of the time, falling to 77.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Lexus Is in this dataset had covered 116,213 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 Lexus Is?
Petrol: 84.1% pass rate across 352 tests. Diesel: 78.3% pass rate across 253 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2008 Lexus Is MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 81.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 82.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.