Pass rate
89.1%
Above average — 1.2 pts ahead of the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 3,083 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £38–£110
2018 Subaru Forester MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 43,396 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
28.1% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 91.6% pass
- Avoid 2000 72.0% pass
Across the 22 years on record, a spread of 19.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 87.9%
- Typical mileage
- 43k mi
The 2018 Subaru Forester MOT pass rate is 89.1% of its MOT tests — 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.4× the national share
Tyres make up 28.1% of everything recorded on the 2018 Subaru Forester, against 19.8% nationally — 8.3 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.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 24% 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 Subaru Forester? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 Subaru Forester compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 87.9%. The median 2018 Subaru Forester in this dataset had covered 43,396 mi.
84% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 89.2% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 88.9% of the time, April–September 89.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn", noted on 3.83% of tests.
- 3,083 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.1% overall pass rate, 87.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Subaru Forester, the average is 78.9% — best year 2019 (91.6%), worst 2000 (72.0%).
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
- 3,083
- Typical mileage (median)
- 43,396 mi
- Make and model
- Subaru Forester
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Suspension Component
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Forester MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (84% of tests).
Where the Subaru Forester is most common
Across all Forester model years on record (2000–2021): 20,436 Subaru Forester cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 50,488 tests. Guildford (GU) has the most, with 568 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 | Guildford (GU) | 568 | 79.6% |
| 2 | Ashford (TN) | 550 | 81.9% |
| 3 | Sheffield (S) | 451 | 81.1% |
| 4 | Gloucester (GL) | 421 | 75.3% |
| 5 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 417 | 82.3% |
| 6 | Newton Abbot (TQ) | 411 | 78.7% |
| 7 | Exeter (EX) | 403 | 70.7% |
| 8 | Reading (RG) | 387 | 80.3% |
| 9 | Taunton (TA) | 369 | 78.2% |
| 10 | Birmingham (B) | 354 | 84.1% |
| 11 | Edinburgh (EH) | 353 | 77.4% |
| 12 | Oxford (OX) | 326 | 79.2% |
| 13 | Swindon (SN) | 316 | 78.7% |
| 14 | Coventry (CV) | 314 | 81.1% |
| 15 | High Wycombe (HP) | 311 | 84.3% |
| 16 | Ipswich (IP) | 308 | 76.7% |
| 17 | Leeds (LS) | 301 | 82.4% |
| 18 | Inverness (IV) | 300 | 78.9% |
| 19 | Crawley (RH) | 298 | 79.7% |
| 20 | Newport (NP) | 286 | 82.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Subaru Forester 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 Forester
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 604 | 87.1% |
| South West | 500 | 90.0% |
| South East | 439 | 90.0% |
| East of England | 344 | 89.5% |
| Yorkshire | 285 | 92.3% |
| North West | 197 | 91.9% |
| West Midlands | 194 | 90.7% |
| East Midlands | 176 | 85.2% |
| North East | 157 | 86.0% |
| Wales | 148 | 87.2% |
| London | 39 | 89.7% |
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 2018 Forester
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 2018 Forester
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 suspension joints 3.8% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check the windscreen 2.7% 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 1.1% 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.
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 2018 Forester through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £38–£110 — and 24% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £38–£110
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 24%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,083 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 Forester, side by side
22 model years on record, from 2000 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 72.0% to 91.6% — a spread of 19.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 72.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 72.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 74.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 73.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 75.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 74.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 73.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 75.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 76.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 73.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 73.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 77.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 78.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 78.3% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2014 79.9% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2015 81.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 83.0% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2017 87.1% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2018 89.1%pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2019 91.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 88.8% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2021 83.0% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2018 Subaru Forester 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Jaguar F-Pace 89.1%
- BMW X5 89.1%
- Mercedes-Benz B-Class 89.1%
- BMW 318 89.1%
- BMW 430 89.1%
- Toyota Verso 89.1%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 Subaru Forester 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 2,591 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 | 733 | 28.10% | 19.76% | +8.34 |
| Brakes | 648 | 24.90% | 20.89% | +4.01 |
| Suspension | 614 | 23.60% | 20.98% | +2.62 |
| Visibility | 191 | 7.30% | 4.97% | +2.33 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 122 | 4.70% | 12.21% | −7.51 |
| Non-component advisories | 112 | 4.30% | 4.18% | +0.12 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 58 | 2.20% | 1.76% | +0.44 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 48 | 1.80% | 5.57% | −3.77 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 34 | 1.30% | 5.52% | −4.22 |
| Steering | 31 | 1.20% | 2.57% | −1.37 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.8% | £40–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.7% | £80–200 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.1% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.1% | £8–22 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £18–45 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 0.84% | £8–22 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 0.65% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 0.52% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 0.52% | £8–22 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 0.42% | £45–110 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.9% | £40–150 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.1% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.1% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 9.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 5.8% | £45–110 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 1.9% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 748 | 94.7% | 21,992 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,531 | 89.2% | 43,405 mi |
| 60-90k | 594 | 84.7% | 72,091 mi |
| 90-120k | 163 | 83.4% | 100,803 mi |
| 120k+ | 47 | 74.5% | 144,776 mi |
Source: 3,083 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.
2018 Forester MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Subaru Forester?
89.1% of the 3,083 2018 Subaru Forester tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 87.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Subaru Forester?
The three most recorded items are pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (3.83%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.69%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.10%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Subaru Forester MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 94.7% of the time, falling to 74.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Subaru Forester in this dataset had covered 43,396 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 Subaru Forester?
Petrol: 89.2% pass rate across 2,575 tests. Diesel: 88.7% pass rate across 504 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2018 Subaru Forester MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 88.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 89.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.