Pass rate
85.0%
Above average — 6.4 pts ahead of the 78.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 140 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £25–£71
2013 Subaru Forester X MOT pass rate
- 2013
- typical 73,739 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
30.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2013 85.0% pass · this year
- Avoid 2012 81.0% pass
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 82.8%
- Typical mileage
- 74k mi
The 2013 Subaru Forester X MOT pass rate is 85.0% of its MOT tests — 6.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Subaru Forester X does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.4× the national share
Suspension accounts for 30.2% of everything recorded on the 2013 Subaru Forester X, against 21.0% nationally — 9.2 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- 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 78.6% and this one manages 85.0% — 6.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 140 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 X? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2013 Subaru Forester X compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 78.6%, so this figure is 6.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 82.8%. The median 2013 Subaru Forester X in this dataset had covered 73,739 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 85.1% of the time, April–September 84.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 3.57% of tests.
- 140 recorded tests behind this page.
- 85.0% overall pass rate, 82.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Subaru Forester X, the average is 83.3% — best year 2013 (85.0%), worst 2012 (81.0%).
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
- 140
- Typical mileage (median)
- 73,739 mi
- Make and model
- Subaru Forester X
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Forester X MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 63% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Forester X
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 37 | 78.4% |
| South West | 29 | 89.7% |
| South East | 19 | 84.2% |
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 2013 Forester X
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 2013 Forester X
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 lights 3.6% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 wipers and washers 3.6% 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 suspension joints 2.1% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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.
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 2013 Forester X through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £25–£71 — and 52% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £25–£71
- 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
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 52%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 140 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 X, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2012 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 81.0% to 85.0% — a spread of 4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2012 81.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 85.0%headlamp lens slightly defective
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 2013 Subaru Forester X 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 2013 cars with a similar record
- Audi Q5 85.0%
- Volkswagen Up 85.1%
- MINI Mini 84.9%
- BMW Z4 85.1%
- Toyota Rav-4 85.1%
- MINI John COOPER Works 85.1%
Closest pass rates among 2013 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 2013 Subaru Forester X 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 254 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 | 77 | 30.20% | 20.98% | +9.22 |
| Brakes | 58 | 22.70% | 20.89% | +1.81 |
| Tyres | 43 | 16.90% | 19.76% | −2.86 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 34 | 13.30% | 12.21% | +1.09 |
| Visibility | 11 | 4.30% | 4.97% | −0.67 |
| Non-component advisories | 11 | 4.30% | 4.18% | +0.12 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 10 | 3.90% | 5.52% | −1.62 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 5 | 2.00% | 1.76% | +0.24 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 3 | 1.20% | 5.57% | −4.37 |
| Steering | 2 | 0.80% | 2.57% | −1.77 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 3.6% | £8–22 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.9% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.1% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £40–150 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.1% | £5–25 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 2.1% | £60–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.1% | £80–200 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 1.4% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.4% | £18–45 |
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 | 32.9% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 15.0% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 11.4% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.6% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 7.1% | £80–180 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 100.0% | 15,975 mi |
| 30-60k | 33 | 87.9% | 47,196 mi |
| 60-90k | 56 | 91.1% | 73,656 mi |
| 90-120k | 35 | 71.4% | 100,900 mi |
| 120k+ | 10 | 80.0% | 131,528 mi |
Source: 140 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.
2013 Forester X MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2013 Subaru Forester X?
85.0% of the 140 2013 Subaru Forester X tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 78.6% for cars first used in 2013. First-attempt pass rate: 82.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2013 Subaru Forester X?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (3.57%), wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (3.57%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (2.86%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2013 Subaru Forester X MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 80.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2013 Subaru Forester X in this dataset had covered 73,739 mi.
Does the season affect the 2013 Subaru Forester X MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 85.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 84.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.