Pass rate
85.6%
Above average — 8.4 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 987 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £27–£71
2012 MINI John COOPER Works MOT pass rate
- 2012
- 4 trims combined
- typical 68,869 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
19.9% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 97.1% pass
- Avoid 2009 81.3% pass
Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 15.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 83.7%
- Typical mileage
- 69k mi
The 2012 MINI John COOPER Works MOT pass rate is 85.6% of its MOT tests — 8.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 19.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
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 77.2% and this one manages 85.6% — 8.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 55% 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 MINI John COOPER Works? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every MINI John COOPER Works first registered in 2012 is combined here — 4 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2012 MINI John COOPER Works compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 8.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 83.7%. The median 2012 MINI John COOPER Works in this dataset had covered 68,869 mi.
98% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 85.9% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 83.1% of the time, April–September 88.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 3.65% of tests.
- 987 recorded tests behind this page.
- 85.6% overall pass rate, 83.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the MINI John COOPER Works, the average is 89.5% — best year 2023 (97.1%), worst 2009 (81.3%).
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
- 987
- Typical mileage (median)
- 68,869 mi
- Make and model
- MINI John COOPER Works
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 John COOPER Works MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 74% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (98% of tests).
Where the MINI John COOPER Works is most common
Across all John COOPER Works model years on record (2008–2023): 33,971 MINI John COOPER Works cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 64,656 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 882 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) | 882 | 91.6% |
| 2 | Reading (RG) | 793 | 88.9% |
| 3 | Guildford (GU) | 739 | 87.9% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 713 | 89.6% |
| 5 | Peterborough (PE) | 702 | 91.1% |
| 6 | Leicester (LE) | 654 | 89.3% |
| 7 | Nottingham (NG) | 612 | 88.8% |
| 8 | Coventry (CV) | 592 | 90.1% |
| 9 | Ashford (TN) | 574 | 88.0% |
| 10 | Chelmsford (CM) | 556 | 88.6% |
| 11 | Oxford (OX) | 541 | 93.2% |
| 12 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 538 | 92.1% |
| 13 | Swindon (SN) | 523 | 89.2% |
| 14 | Derby (DE) | 519 | 89.5% |
| 15 | Northampton (NN) | 503 | 88.9% |
| 16 | Gloucester (GL) | 495 | 88.3% |
| 17 | High Wycombe (HP) | 486 | 88.4% |
| 18 | Crawley (RH) | 483 | 86.0% |
| 19 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 478 | 88.2% |
| 20 | Brighton (BN) | 475 | 87.0% |
The twenty areas with the most MINI John COOPER Works 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 John COOPER Works
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 234 | 85.9% |
| South West | 124 | 87.9% |
| East of England | 120 | 85.0% |
| North West | 94 | 85.1% |
| West Midlands | 89 | 89.9% |
| East Midlands | 88 | 86.4% |
| Yorkshire | 70 | 82.9% |
| London | 60 | 78.3% |
| Scotland | 48 | 77.1% |
| North East | 32 | 93.8% |
| Wales | 27 | 88.9% |
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 2012 John COOPER Works
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 2012 John COOPER Works
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 3.6% 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 lights 3.5% 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.
-
Check the shock absorbers 1.5% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
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 2012 John COOPER Works through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £27–£71 — and 55% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £27–£71
- 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
- 55%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 987 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 John COOPER Works, side by side
16 model years on record, from 2008 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 81.3% to 97.1% — a spread of 15.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2008 82.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 81.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 82.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 85.3% position lamp not working
- 2012 85.6%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 85.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 85.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 87.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 87.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 88.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 88.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 91.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 92.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 92.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 92.9% has a bulge, caused by separation…
- 2023 97.1% has a bulge, caused by separation…
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 2012 MINI John COOPER Works 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 2012 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 MINI John COOPER Works 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 1,300 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 260 | 19.90% | 20.98% | −1.08 |
| Tyres | 260 | 19.90% | 19.76% | +0.14 |
| Brakes | 246 | 18.80% | 20.89% | −2.09 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 215 | 16.40% | 12.21% | +4.19 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 114 | 8.70% | 5.52% | +3.18 |
| Visibility | 69 | 5.30% | 4.97% | +0.33 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 43 | 3.30% | 5.57% | −2.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 36 | 2.80% | 4.18% | −1.38 |
| Road Wheels | 36 | 2.80% | 0.75% | +2.05 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 21 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
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 | 3.6% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.5% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £5–25 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.5% | £30–75 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.3% | £3–12 |
| Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.3% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.1% | £30–80 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.0% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.0% | £30–80 |
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 | 13.6% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.3% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 6.5% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.8% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 5.6% | £200–700 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.0% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 39 | 92.3% | 19,184 mi |
| 30-60k | 309 | 87.1% | 48,709 mi |
| 60-90k | 454 | 84.4% | 73,839 mi |
| 90-120k | 144 | 85.4% | 103,146 mi |
| 120k+ | 41 | 82.9% | 129,724 mi |
Source: 987 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.
2012 John COOPER Works MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 MINI John COOPER Works?
85.6% of the 987 2012 MINI John COOPER Works tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 83.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 MINI John COOPER Works?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.65%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.55%), position lamp not working (2.43%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 MINI John COOPER Works MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.3% of the time, falling to 82.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 MINI John COOPER Works in this dataset had covered 68,869 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 MINI John COOPER Works?
Petrol: 85.9% pass rate across 966 tests. Diesel: 71.4% pass rate across 21 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 MINI John COOPER Works MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 83.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 88.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.