Pass rate
80.4%
Around average — 6.4 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 3,390 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£78
2009 Lexus IS220 MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 120,734 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
27.3% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2009 80.4% pass · this year
- Avoid 2005 78.8% pass
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 1.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 76.5%
- Typical mileage
- 121k mi
The 2009 Lexus IS220 MOT pass rate is 80.4% of its MOT tests — 6.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.3% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 27.3% of everything recorded on the 2009 Lexus Is220, against 20.9% nationally — 6.4 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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 74.0% and this one manages 80.4% — 6.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 IS220? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Lexus IS220 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 6.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 76.5%. The median 2009 Lexus IS220 in this dataset had covered 120,734 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 99% of tests, with a 80.3% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 80.0% of the time, April–September 80.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 6.55% of tests.
- 3,390 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.4% overall pass rate, 76.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Lexus IS220, the average is 79.7% — best year 2009 (80.4%), worst 2005 (78.8%).
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
- 3,390
- Typical mileage (median)
- 120,734 mi
- Make and model
- Lexus IS220
- 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 IS220 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (99% of tests).
Where the Lexus IS220 is most common
Across all IS220 model years on record (2005–2011): 7,412 Lexus IS220 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 16,422 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 306 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) | 306 | 88.4% |
| 2 | Manchester (M) | 219 | 83.6% |
| 3 | Leicester (LE) | 200 | 84.5% |
| 4 | Peterborough (PE) | 200 | 82.7% |
| 5 | Nottingham (NG) | 183 | 78.9% |
| 6 | Sheffield (S) | 181 | 86.1% |
| 7 | Doncaster (DN) | 158 | 79.6% |
| 8 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 152 | 76.2% |
| 9 | Northampton (NN) | 151 | 82.8% |
| 10 | Coventry (CV) | 146 | 80.2% |
| 11 | Cardiff (CF) | 130 | 73.5% |
| 12 | Liverpool (L) | 128 | 81.5% |
| 13 | Glasgow (G) | 125 | 78.3% |
| 14 | Bristol (BS) | 116 | 72.5% |
| 15 | Ipswich (IP) | 112 | 77.9% |
| 16 | Derby (DE) | 103 | 80.1% |
| 17 | Bradford (BD) | 101 | 78.5% |
| 18 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 101 | 82.3% |
| 19 | Oldham (OL) | 98 | 81.0% |
| 20 | Norwich (NR) | 96 | 74.8% |
The twenty areas with the most Lexus IS220 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 IS220
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 499 | 81.8% |
| South East | 482 | 84.0% |
| East of England | 407 | 81.3% |
| Yorkshire | 407 | 76.9% |
| West Midlands | 326 | 83.4% |
| South West | 324 | 73.8% |
| East Midlands | 323 | 83.6% |
| Scotland | 239 | 72.0% |
| North East | 171 | 77.2% |
| Wales | 168 | 82.1% |
| London | 44 | 100.0% |
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 2009 IS220
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 2009 IS220
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 6.5% 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 windscreen 5.0% 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.
-
Check the battery 2.7% 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 2009 IS220 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£78 — and 52% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£78
- 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
- 52%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,390 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 IS220, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2005 to 2011. Across them the pass rate runs from 78.8% to 80.4% — a spread of 1.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 78.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 79.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 79.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 80.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 80.4%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2010 79.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2011 79.5% 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 2009 Lexus IS220 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 2009 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 Lexus IS220 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 7,262 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 | 1,992 | 27.30% | 20.89% | +6.41 |
| Tyres | 1,316 | 18.00% | 19.76% | −1.76 |
| Suspension | 1,219 | 16.70% | 20.98% | −4.28 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,205 | 16.50% | 12.21% | +4.29 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 444 | 6.10% | 5.57% | +0.53 |
| Visibility | 376 | 5.10% | 4.97% | +0.13 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 255 | 3.50% | 5.52% | −2.02 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 219 | 3.00% | 1.76% | +1.24 |
| Non-component advisories | 173 | 2.40% | 4.18% | −1.78 |
| Steering | 63 | 0.90% | 2.57% | −1.67 |
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 | 6.5% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.0% | £80–200 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.5% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.8% | £30–80 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.7% | £60–140 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.9% | £30–75 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.9% | £8–22 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.8% | £45–95 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.7% | £5–25 |
| 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 | 20.9% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 13.1% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.9% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 10.8% | £18–45 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 7.5% | £30–75 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 6.5% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 18 | 94.4% | 21,830 mi |
| 30-60k | 77 | 90.9% | 48,468 mi |
| 60-90k | 449 | 86.0% | 77,525 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,123 | 80.4% | 106,031 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,719 | 78.3% | 152,303 mi |
Source: 3,390 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.
2009 IS220 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Lexus IS220?
80.4% of the 3,390 2009 Lexus IS220 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 76.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Lexus IS220?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (6.55%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (4.99%), position lamp not working (3.48%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Lexus IS220 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 94.4% of the time, falling to 78.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Lexus IS220 in this dataset had covered 120,734 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2009 Lexus IS220?
Diesel: 80.3% pass rate across 3,362 tests. Petrol: 85.7% pass rate across 28 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2009 Lexus IS220 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 80.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.