2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer MOT pass rate

Only 88 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.

Pass rate

81.8%

Around average — 3.2 pts ahead of the 78.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 88 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £19–£60

Which year to buy

  • Best 2013 81.8% pass · this year
  • Avoid 2011 75.5% pass

Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 6.3 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
78.1%
Typical mileage
98k mi

The 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer MOT pass rate is 81.8% of its MOT tests — 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 37.9% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer on the real record

81.8% of 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer MOTs passed — 88 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Subaru Forester Xc Boxer does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Suspension: 1.8× the national share

Suspension accounts for 37.9% of everything recorded on the 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer, against 21.0% nationally — 16.9 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.

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 Xc Boxer? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 78.6%, so this figure is 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.1%. The median 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer in this dataset had covered 98,317 mi.

The single most recorded failure item is "Position lamp not working", noted on 5.68% of tests.

  • 88 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 81.8% overall pass rate, 78.1% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Subaru Forester Xc Boxer, the average is 78.1% — best year 2013 (81.8%), worst 2011 (75.5%).

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
88
Typical mileage (median)
98,317 mi
Make and model
Subaru Forester Xc Boxer
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 Xc Boxer MOT pass rate?

30-60k 75.0%
60-90k 76.7%
90-120k 82.9%
120k+ 89.5%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.

Regional pass rates for the Forester Xc Boxer

Region Tests Pass rate
Scotland 27 70.4%
South West 23 87.0%
South East 15 86.7%

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 2013 Forester Xc Boxer

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.

Suspension 37.9%
+16.9 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Brakes 23.2%
+2.3 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Tyres 14.7%
−5.1 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Lamps & electrics 11.9%
in line with the national share national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Steering 4.0%
  • Emissions & leaks 2.8%
  • Identification 1.7%
  • Body & chassis 1.1%
  • Visibility 1.1%
  • Advisories 0.6%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 Xc Boxer

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.

  1. Check the lights 5.7% of tests

    “position lamp not working”

    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.

  2. Check the suspension joints 3.4% 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.

  3. Check the brakes 2.3% of tests

    “brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”

    Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.

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 Xc Boxer through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £19–£60 — and 38% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£19–£60
Cheapest common item: electronic stability control warning lamp…
£3–£15
Dearest common item: pins
£40–£150
Common items a careful owner can do at home
60%
Repairs that still cost under £30
38%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 88 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 Xc Boxer, side by side

3 model years on record, from 2011 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.5% to 81.8% — a spread of 6.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2011 75.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
  2. 2012 77.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
  3. 2013 81.8%
    position lamp not working

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 Xc Boxer 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.

Compare 2013 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2013 cars with a similar record

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 Xc Boxer 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 175 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 67 37.90% 20.98% +16.92
Brakes 41 23.20% 20.89% +2.31
Tyres 26 14.70% 19.76% −5.06
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 21 11.90% 12.21% −0.31
Steering 7 4.00% 2.57% +1.43
Noise, emissions and leaks 5 2.80% 5.52% −2.72
Identification of the vehicle 3 1.70% 1.76% −0.06
Body, chassis, structure 2 1.10% 5.57% −4.47
Visibility 2 1.10% 4.97% −3.87
Non-component advisories 1 0.60% 4.18% −3.58

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 88 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 5.7% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Major 3.4% £40–150 Suspension Component →
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Major 2.3% £18–45 Brake Pads Set →
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension Major 2.3% £25–65 Coil Spring →
Electronic stability control warning lamp indicates a fault Brakes Major 2.3% £3–15 Bulb →
Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 2.3% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 2.3% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 2.3% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Headlamp levelling device inoperative Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 2.3% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension Major 2.3% £18–45 Ball Joint →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 31.8% £40–150
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 17.1% £45–110
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 17.1% £45–95
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Advisory 15.9% £18–45
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 10.2% £45–95
Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes Advisory 9.1% £80–180

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
30-60k 4 75.0% 56,877 mi
60-90k 30 76.7% 77,553 mi
90-120k 35 82.9% 104,033 mi
120k+ 19 89.5% 135,847 mi

Source: 88 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 Xc Boxer MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer?

81.8% of the 88 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 78.6% for cars first used in 2013. First-attempt pass rate: 78.1%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer?

The three most recorded items are position lamp not working (5.68%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (3.41%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (2.27%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 75.0% of the time, falling to 89.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2013 Subaru Forester Xc Boxer in this dataset had covered 98,317 mi.