Pass rate
91.1%
Above average — 3.2 pts ahead of the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,104 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £32–£78
2018 Subaru Outback MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 50,100 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
33.7% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
5.3 pts down across model years — 9.5% in 2005, 4.2% in 2021.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 93.2% pass
- Avoid 2004 71.2% pass
Across the 20 years on record, a spread of 22 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 90.3%
- Typical mileage
- 50k mi
The 2018 Subaru Outback MOT pass rate is 91.1% of its MOT tests — 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 33.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.7× the national share
Tyres make up 33.7% of everything recorded on the 2018 Subaru Outback, against 19.8% nationally — 13.9 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.
- 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 87.9% and this one manages 91.1% — 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 Outback? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 Subaru Outback compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, 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 90.3%. The median 2018 Subaru Outback in this dataset had covered 50,100 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 76% of tests, with a 91.0% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 92.2% of the time, April–September 90.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 1.95% of tests.
- 2,104 recorded tests behind this page.
- 91.1% overall pass rate, 90.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Subaru Outback, the average is 82.4% — best year 2021 (93.2%), worst 2004 (71.2%).
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
- 2,104
- Typical mileage (median)
- 50,100 mi
- Make and model
- Subaru Outback
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Outback MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 69% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (76% of tests).
Where the Subaru Outback is most common
Across all Outback model years on record (2003–2022): 10,839 Subaru Outback cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 25,425 tests. Guildford (GU) has the most, with 370 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) | 370 | 81.2% |
| 2 | Ashford (TN) | 265 | 85.6% |
| 3 | Reading (RG) | 251 | 83.6% |
| 4 | Edinburgh (EH) | 231 | 83.2% |
| 5 | Swindon (SN) | 230 | 87.4% |
| 6 | Gloucester (GL) | 224 | 79.4% |
| 7 | Ipswich (IP) | 224 | 81.6% |
| 8 | Coventry (CV) | 222 | 85.4% |
| 9 | Sheffield (S) | 212 | 84.9% |
| 10 | Aberdeen (AB) | 200 | 73.6% |
| 11 | Oxford (OX) | 191 | 82.1% |
| 12 | Northampton (NN) | 188 | 85.3% |
| 13 | Birmingham (B) | 184 | 87.7% |
| 14 | Inverness (IV) | 180 | 85.5% |
| 15 | Exeter (EX) | 174 | 79.7% |
| 16 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 174 | 86.2% |
| 17 | Taunton (TA) | 165 | 81.8% |
| 18 | Peterborough (PE) | 163 | 81.9% |
| 19 | Leeds (LS) | 163 | 84.9% |
| 20 | Derby (DE) | 158 | 84.5% |
The twenty areas with the most Subaru Outback 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 Outback
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 445 | 89.7% |
| South East | 350 | 89.7% |
| South West | 287 | 91.3% |
| Yorkshire | 191 | 93.2% |
| North West | 188 | 91.5% |
| East of England | 183 | 92.9% |
| West Midlands | 161 | 91.3% |
| East Midlands | 111 | 92.8% |
| Wales | 93 | 92.5% |
| North East | 65 | 89.2% |
| London | 30 | 90.0% |
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 Outback
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 Outback
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 windscreen 1.9% 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 brakes 1.3% 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.
-
Check the lights 1.2% 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.
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 Outback through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £32–£78 — and 36% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £32–£78
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 36%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,104 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 Outback, side by side
20 model years on record, from 2003 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.2% to 93.2% — a spread of 22 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 75.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 71.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 71.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 71.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 72.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 72.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 75.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 76.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 78.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 77.1% position lamp not working
- 2013 81.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 84.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 84.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 88.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2017 90.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 91.1%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 91.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 92.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 93.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 92.0% has ply or cords exposed
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 Outback 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
- Toyota Aygo 91.1%
- Porsche Cayenne 91.1%
- MINI Countryman 91.0%
- Skoda Kodiaq 91.0%
- Kia Niro 91.0%
- Vauxhall Viva 91.0%
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 Outback 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 1,677 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 | 570 | 33.70% | 19.76% | +13.94 |
| Brakes | 479 | 28.40% | 20.89% | +7.51 |
| Suspension | 277 | 16.40% | 20.98% | −4.58 |
| Visibility | 117 | 6.90% | 4.97% | +1.93 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 90 | 5.30% | 12.21% | −6.91 |
| Non-component advisories | 54 | 3.20% | 4.18% | −0.98 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 48 | 2.80% | 1.76% | +1.04 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 26 | 1.50% | 5.52% | −4.02 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 8 | 0.50% | 5.57% | −5.07 |
| Steering | 8 | 0.50% | 2.57% | −2.07 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.9% | £80–200 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.2% | £5–20 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.2% | £8–22 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 0.71% | £8–22 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 0.67% | £25–65 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.62% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 0.52% | £18–45 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 0.48% | £5–15 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 11.8% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 5.1% | £45–110 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 4.6% | £30–75 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.7% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 363 | 94.5% | 22,057 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,045 | 91.5% | 45,542 mi |
| 60-90k | 550 | 90.2% | 71,658 mi |
| 90-120k | 119 | 84.0% | 101,311 mi |
| 120k+ | 27 | 77.8% | 147,531 mi |
Source: 2,104 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 Outback MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Subaru Outback?
91.1% of the 2,104 2018 Subaru Outback tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 90.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Subaru Outback?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.95%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.38%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (1.28%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Subaru Outback MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 94.5% of the time, falling to 77.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Subaru Outback in this dataset had covered 50,100 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 Subaru Outback?
Petrol: 91.0% pass rate across 1,592 tests. Diesel: 91.2% pass rate across 512 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2018 Subaru Outback MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 92.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 90.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.