Pass rate
81.3%
Around average — 9.4 pts behind the 90.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 160 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £52–£162
2020 Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate
- 2020
- typical 81,701 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
26.8% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
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
- 77.6%
- Typical mileage
- 82k mi
The 2020 Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate is 81.3% of its MOT tests — 9.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Subaru Legacy does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 26.8% of everything recorded on the 2020 Subaru Legacy, against 21.0% nationally — 5.8 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.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 90.7%; this one manages 81.3% — 9.4 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 27% 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 Legacy? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2020 Subaru Legacy compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 90.7%, so this figure is 9.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 77.6%. The median 2020 Subaru Legacy in this dataset had covered 81,701 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 80.6% of the time, April–September 81.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 6.25% of tests.
- 160 recorded tests behind this page.
- 81.3% overall pass rate, 77.6% 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
- 160
- Typical mileage (median)
- 81,701 mi
- Make and model
- Subaru Legacy
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Legacy MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 42% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Legacy
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 36 | 77.8% |
| Yorkshire | 24 | 75.0% |
| Scotland | 23 | 82.6% |
| South West | 18 | 77.8% |
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 2020 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 2020 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 3.1% 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 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 wipers and washers 2.5% of tests
“washers not working”
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 2020 Legacy through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £52–£162 — and 27% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £52–£162
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 27%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 160 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 2020 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 2020 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz Citan 81.6%
- Toyota Estima 81.6%
- Vauxhall Combo 83.1%
- Tesla Model 3 Performance 83.2%
- Mercedes-Benz Vito 83.3%
- Tesla Model X 84.6%
Closest pass rates among 2020 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 2020 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 271 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 | 73 | 26.80% | 20.98% | +5.82 |
| Tyres | 54 | 19.90% | 19.76% | +0.14 |
| Brakes | 37 | 13.60% | 20.89% | −7.29 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 32 | 11.80% | 12.21% | −0.41 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 20 | 7.40% | 5.52% | +1.88 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 19 | 7.00% | 5.57% | +1.43 |
| Visibility | 18 | 6.60% | 4.97% | +1.63 |
| Non-component advisories | 12 | 4.40% | 4.18% | +0.22 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4 | 1.50% | 1.76% | −0.26 |
| Road Wheels | 2 | 0.70% | 0.75% | −0.05 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 6.3% | £80–250 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.1% | £5–25 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.1% | £80–250 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £80–200 |
| Washers not working Visibility | Major | 2.5% | £5–15 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.9% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.9% | £60–250 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.9% | £45–120 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.9% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | 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 | 18.8% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 11.3% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.0% | £45–95 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 8.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 5.0% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 50.0% | 28,391 mi |
| 30-60k | 23 | 78.3% | 46,608 mi |
| 60-90k | 68 | 88.2% | 75,001 mi |
| 90-120k | 46 | 80.4% | 103,048 mi |
| 120k+ | 20 | 70.0% | 152,096 mi |
Source: 160 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.
2020 Legacy MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2020 Subaru Legacy?
81.3% of the 160 2020 Subaru Legacy tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 90.7% for cars first used in 2020. First-attempt pass rate: 77.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2020 Subaru Legacy?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (6.25%), headlamp lens slightly defective (3.13%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (3.13%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2020 Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 50.0% of the time, falling to 70.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2020 Subaru Legacy in this dataset had covered 81,701 mi.
Does the season affect the 2020 Subaru Legacy MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 80.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.