Pass rate
89.7%
Above average — 5.7 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 97 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£105
2016 MINI Mini MOT pass rate
- 2016
- 4 trims combined
- typical 55,898 mi
Only 97 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Tyres
35.8% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2017 94.3% pass
- Avoid 2001 68.2% pass
Across the 18 years on record, a spread of 26.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.5%
- Typical mileage
- 56k mi
The 2016 MINI Mini MOT pass rate is 89.7% of its MOT tests — 5.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 35.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how MINI Mini does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.8× the national share
Tyres make up 35.8% of everything recorded on the 2016 MINI Mini, against 19.8% nationally — 16.0 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 84.0% and this one manages 89.7% — 5.7 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 Mini? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every MINI Mini first registered in 2016 is combined here — 4 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2016 MINI Mini compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 5.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.5%. The median 2016 MINI Mini in this dataset had covered 55,898 mi.
67% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 87.7% of the time.
The single most recorded failure item is "Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively", noted on 4.12% of tests.
- 97 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.7% overall pass rate, 88.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the MINI Mini, the average is 76.0% — best year 2017 (94.3%), worst 2001 (68.2%).
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
- 97
- Typical mileage (median)
- 55,898 mi
- Make and model
- MINI Mini
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Wiper Blade
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Mini MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 42% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (67% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Mini
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 21 | 85.7% |
| South East | 16 | 93.8% |
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 2016 Mini
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 2016 Mini
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 wipers and washers 4.1% 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 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 lights 2.1% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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.
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 2016 Mini through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£105 — and 35% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£105
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 35%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 97 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 Mini, side by side
18 model years on record, from 2001 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.2% to 94.3% — a spread of 26.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 68.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 69.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 70.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 70.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 70.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 71.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 72.0% position lamp not working
- 2008 73.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 74.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 79.6% position lamp not working
- 2011 81.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 83.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 84.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 86.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 91.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.7%wipers does not clear the…
- 2017 94.3% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2018 85.9% 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 2016 MINI Mini 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 2016 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 MINI Mini 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 8 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 81 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 | 29 | 35.80% | 19.76% | +16.04 |
| Brakes | 11 | 13.60% | 20.89% | −7.29 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 11 | 13.60% | 12.21% | +1.39 |
| Visibility | 11 | 13.60% | 4.97% | +8.63 |
| Suspension | 6 | 7.40% | 20.98% | −13.58 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5 | 6.20% | 5.52% | +0.68 |
| Road Wheels | 5 | 6.20% | 0.75% | +5.45 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 3.70% | 4.18% | −0.48 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 4.1% | £8–22 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.1% | £30–80 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.1% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.0% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.0% | £60–250 |
| Fixing missing Road Wheels | Major | 1.0% | £20–55 |
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 | 15.5% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.2% | £18–45 |
| Badly distorted Road Wheels | Advisory | 4.1% | £20–55 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 2.1% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 2.1% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 7 | 100.0% | 22,377 mi |
| 30-60k | 51 | 92.2% | 46,429 mi |
| 60-90k | 27 | 92.6% | 70,675 mi |
| 90-120k | 10 | 70.0% | 95,713 mi |
| 120k+ | 2 | 50.0% | 128,827 mi |
Source: 97 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.
2016 Mini MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 MINI Mini?
89.7% of the 97 2016 MINI Mini tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 88.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 MINI Mini?
The three most recorded items are wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (4.12%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.09%), headlamp aim too low (2.06%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 MINI Mini MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 50.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 MINI Mini in this dataset had covered 55,898 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 MINI Mini?
Petrol: 87.7% pass rate across 65 tests. Diesel: 93.8% pass rate across 32 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.