MINI John COOPER Works MOT Pass Rate & Official DVSA Failure Statistics

MINI John COOPER Works MOT History and Failure Rates vs UK National Average

The MINI John COOPER Works passed on its first attempt in 88.4%, and its overall record sits +8.5 percentage points above the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the MINI John COOPER Works in the 2023–2025 data: 64,665 tests across 16 model years (2008–2023). 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 MINI John COOPER Works MOT Problems by Failure Category

Every MOT failure a tester records belongs to one inspection section of the DVSA manual. For the MINI John COOPER Works, 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 MINI John COOPER Works's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.

Top Recorded MINI John COOPER Works DVSA MOT Test Statistics & Defect Descriptions

The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the MINI John COOPER Works, each with how many of the model's 64,665 tests it was noted on.

• "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (Minor) — noted on about 2,008 MINI John COOPER Works tests, 3.1% of the model's MOT record.
• "Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure" (Major) — noted on about 1,158 MINI John COOPER Works tests, 1.8% 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 1,019 MINI John COOPER Works tests, 1.6% of the model's MOT record.
• "Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively" (Rectified) — noted on about 922 MINI John COOPER Works tests, 1.4% of the model's MOT record.
• "Wipers blade defective" (Minor) — noted on about 692 MINI John COOPER Works tests, 1.1% of the model's MOT record.
• "Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm" (Major) — noted on about 375 MINI John COOPER Works tests, 0.6% of the model's MOT record.

Best and Worst MINI John COOPER Works Model Years by Pass Rate

The strongest MINI John COOPER Works model year on record is 2023 (97.1% across 140 tests), and the weakest is 2009 (81.3%). The gap between them is 15.8 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.

MINI John COOPER Works reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 1.3 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 MINI John COOPER Works Owners

These checks follow this MINI John COOPER Works's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a MINI John COOPER Works.

• 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 wipers and washers — “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.

• the tyre tread — “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.

Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the MINI John COOPER Works. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.

Where the MINI John COOPER Works is most common

Across every John COOPER Works model year 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.

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 →

Frequently Asked Questions: MINI John COOPER Works MOT & Reliability