Pass rate
89.7%
Above average — 3.7 pts ahead of the 86.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 121,138 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £39–£92
2017 MINI COOPER MOT pass rate
- 2017
- typical 42,530 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
47.6% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
2.7 pts down across model years — 4.7% in 2002, 2.0% in 2023.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 96.9% pass
- Avoid 2001 68.1% pass
Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 28.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.6%
- Typical mileage
- 43k mi
The 2017 MINI COOPER MOT pass rate is 89.7% of its MOT tests — 3.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 47.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how MINI COOPER does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.4× the national share
Tyres make up 47.6% of everything recorded on the 2017 MINI Cooper, against 19.8% nationally — 27.8 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- 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 86.0% and this one manages 89.7% — 3.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 35% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
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 MINI COOPER? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2017 MINI COOPER compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 86.0%, so this figure is 3.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.6%. The median 2017 MINI COOPER in this dataset had covered 42,530 mi.
84% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 90.1% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 89.9% of the time, April–September 89.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 3.14% of tests.
- 121,138 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.7% overall pass rate, 88.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the MINI COOPER, the average is 89.6% — best year 2023 (96.9%), worst 2001 (68.1%).
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
- 121,138
- Typical mileage (median)
- 42,530 mi
- Make and model
- MINI COOPER
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the COOPER MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 73% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (84% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the COOPER
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 25,750 | 90.0% |
| North West | 14,399 | 89.8% |
| East of England | 12,900 | 90.2% |
| Scotland | 12,228 | 86.2% |
| South West | 11,625 | 89.8% |
| West Midlands | 11,440 | 90.9% |
| Yorkshire | 10,411 | 90.2% |
| East Midlands | 8,103 | 89.8% |
| North East | 5,011 | 90.4% |
| London | 4,942 | 89.8% |
| Wales | 4,320 | 90.1% |
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 2017 COOPER
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 2017 COOPER
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 windscreen 3.1% 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 wipers and washers 1.7% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
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.
-
Check the tyre tread 1.0% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
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 2017 COOPER through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £39–£92 — and 35% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £39–£92
- Cheapest common item: wipers does not clear the windscreen…
- £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
- 35%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 121,138 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 COOPER, side by side
23 model years on record, from 2001 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.1% to 96.9% — a spread of 28.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 68.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2002 68.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 71.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 70.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 70.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 72.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 73.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 73.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 76.0% position lamp not working
- 2010 80.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 82.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 84.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 84.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 86.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 88.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 89.7%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 90.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 92.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 92.3% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 92.1% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 92.9% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2023 96.9% 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 2017 MINI COOPER 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 2017 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen Golf 89.7%
- BMW X5 89.7%
- BMW I3 89.7%
- Fiat 124 89.7%
- Volkswagen Tiguan 89.8%
- Toyota Aygo 89.8%
Closest pass rates among 2017 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 2017 MINI COOPER 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 92,998 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 44,497 | 47.60% | 19.76% | +27.84 |
| Brakes | 19,176 | 20.50% | 20.89% | −0.39 |
| Visibility | 10,772 | 11.50% | 4.97% | +6.53 |
| Non-component advisories | 5,136 | 5.50% | 4.18% | +1.32 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3,911 | 4.20% | 12.21% | −8.01 |
| Suspension | 3,509 | 3.80% | 20.98% | −17.18 |
| Road Wheels | 2,738 | 2.90% | 0.75% | +2.15 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,533 | 1.60% | 5.52% | −3.92 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1,258 | 1.30% | 1.76% | −0.46 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 468 | 0.50% | 5.57% | −5.07 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £80–200 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.7% | £8–22 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.5% | £8–22 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 1.2% | £8–22 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.97% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.71% | £18–45 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 0.63% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.57% | £30–80 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.56% | £45–95 |
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 | 13.4% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 4.5% | £45–110 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 2.7% | £45–95 |
| Badly distorted Road Wheels | Advisory | 2.0% | £20–55 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 29,849 | 92.3% | 21,666 mi |
| 30-60k | 65,779 | 89.7% | 43,867 mi |
| 60-90k | 21,495 | 87.0% | 70,991 mi |
| 90-120k | 3,400 | 83.6% | 100,051 mi |
| 120k+ | 604 | 81.5% | 140,390 mi |
Source: 121,138 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.
2017 COOPER MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2017 MINI COOPER?
89.7% of the 121,138 2017 MINI COOPER tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 86.0% for cars first used in 2017. First-attempt pass rate: 88.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2017 MINI COOPER?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.14%), wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (1.68%), wipers blade defective (1.50%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2017 MINI COOPER MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.3% of the time, falling to 81.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2017 MINI COOPER in this dataset had covered 42,530 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2017 MINI COOPER?
Petrol: 90.1% pass rate across 101,455 tests. Diesel: 87.7% pass rate across 19,680 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2017 MINI COOPER MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 89.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 89.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.