Pass rate
77.5%
Around average — 1.1 pts behind the 78.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 680 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £16–£51
2013 Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate
- 2013
- typical 87,799 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
25.5% 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 2018 86.5% pass
- Avoid 2000 71.4% pass
Across the 22 years on record, a spread of 15.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 72.3%
- Typical mileage
- 88k mi
The 2013 Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate is 77.5% of its MOT tests — 1.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 18.2% of everything recorded on the 2013 Subaru Legacy, against 12.2% nationally — 6.0 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 25.5%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 74% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 Legacy? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2013 Subaru Legacy compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 78.6%, so this figure is 1.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.3%. The median 2013 Subaru Legacy in this dataset had covered 87,799 mi.
60% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 79.5% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.2% of the time, April–September 76.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 5.88% of tests.
- 680 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.5% overall pass rate, 72.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Subaru Legacy, the average is 75.6% — best year 2018 (86.5%), worst 2000 (71.4%).
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
- 680
- Typical mileage (median)
- 87,799 mi
- Make and model
- Subaru Legacy
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Legacy 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 (60% of tests).
Where the Subaru Legacy is most common
Across all Legacy model years on record (2000–2021): 7,878 Subaru Legacy cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 18,453 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 206 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 | Birmingham (B) | 206 | 80.2% |
| 2 | Ashford (TN) | 187 | 78.8% |
| 3 | Sheffield (S) | 184 | 79.0% |
| 4 | Guildford (GU) | 181 | 75.7% |
| 5 | Reading (RG) | 173 | 76.9% |
| 6 | Gloucester (GL) | 153 | 71.4% |
| 7 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 148 | 73.4% |
| 8 | Coventry (CV) | 148 | 82.3% |
| 9 | Oxford (OX) | 132 | 75.0% |
| 10 | Crawley (RH) | 129 | 75.5% |
| 11 | Edinburgh (EH) | 125 | 73.1% |
| 12 | Brighton (BN) | 123 | 70.3% |
| 13 | Bristol (BS) | 123 | 70.0% |
| 14 | Southampton (SO) | 113 | 73.5% |
| 15 | Peterborough (PE) | 113 | 80.8% |
| 16 | Portsmouth (PO) | 111 | 73.5% |
| 17 | Glasgow (G) | 111 | 76.9% |
| 18 | Ipswich (IP) | 104 | 72.5% |
| 19 | Bradford (BD) | 104 | 75.6% |
| 20 | Exeter (EX) | 103 | 72.1% |
The twenty areas with the most Subaru Legacy 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 Legacy
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 151 | 79.5% |
| Scotland | 91 | 73.6% |
| South West | 84 | 77.4% |
| West Midlands | 59 | 83.1% |
| North West | 58 | 74.1% |
| East of England | 52 | 80.8% |
| Wales | 45 | 77.8% |
| Yorkshire | 41 | 78.0% |
| East Midlands | 40 | 77.5% |
| North East | 32 | 75.0% |
| London | 27 | 70.4% |
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 Legacy
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 Legacy
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 5.9% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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 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.
-
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.
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 Legacy through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £16–£51 — and 74% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £16–£51
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 74%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 680 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 Legacy, side by side
22 model years on record, from 2000 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.4% to 86.5% — a spread of 15.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 71.4% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 74.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2002 75.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 73.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 73.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 74.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 73.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 75.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 73.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 75.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 75.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 78.0% position lamp not working
- 2012 78.3% position lamp not working
- 2013 77.5%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 81.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 82.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 81.2% position lamp not working
- 2017 80.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2018 86.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2019 79.8% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2020 81.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2021 84.8% joints constant velocity boot…
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 Legacy 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
- Volkswagen Polo 77.5%
- Vauxhall Insignia 77.5%
- Hyundai I20 77.5%
- Ford Focus 77.4%
- Vauxhall Zafira 77.4%
- Ford Ranger 77.4%
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 Legacy 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 1,534 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 | 391 | 25.50% | 20.98% | +4.52 |
| Brakes | 319 | 20.80% | 20.89% | −0.09 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 279 | 18.20% | 12.21% | +5.99 |
| Tyres | 235 | 15.30% | 19.76% | −4.46 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 77 | 5.00% | 5.57% | −0.57 |
| Non-component advisories | 76 | 4.90% | 4.18% | +0.72 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 74 | 4.80% | 5.52% | −0.72 |
| Visibility | 51 | 3.30% | 4.97% | −1.67 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 22 | 1.40% | 1.76% | −0.36 |
| Steering | 10 | 0.70% | 2.57% | −1.87 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.9% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.4% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.2% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.4% | £40–150 |
| Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.2% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.8% | £5–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.1% | £3–12 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £3–12 |
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 | 25.9% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 19.3% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 10.0% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.6% | £45–110 |
| 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 | 7.2% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 12 | 91.7% | 24,100 mi |
| 30-60k | 86 | 79.1% | 49,289 mi |
| 60-90k | 254 | 80.3% | 75,621 mi |
| 90-120k | 197 | 74.1% | 105,290 mi |
| 120k+ | 129 | 75.2% | 143,515 mi |
Source: 680 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 Legacy MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2013 Subaru Legacy?
77.5% of the 680 2013 Subaru Legacy tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 78.6% for cars first used in 2013. First-attempt pass rate: 72.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2013 Subaru Legacy?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.88%), position lamp not working (5.44%), headlamp lens slightly defective (5.15%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2013 Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.7% of the time, falling to 75.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2013 Subaru Legacy in this dataset had covered 87,799 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2013 Subaru Legacy?
Petrol: 79.5% pass rate across 405 tests. Diesel: 74.5% pass rate across 275 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2013 Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.