Pass rate
85.8%
Above average — 1.8 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,468 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £25–£76
2016 Subaru Xv MOT pass rate
- 2016
- typical 57,215 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
27.7% 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 2020 93.5% pass
- Avoid 2012 76.7% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 16.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 83.7%
- Typical mileage
- 57k mi
The 2016 Subaru Xv MOT pass rate is 85.8% of its MOT tests — 1.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 27.7% of everything recorded on the 2016 Subaru Xv, against 21.0% nationally — 6.7 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 Xv? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2016 Subaru Xv compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 1.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 83.7%. The median 2016 Subaru Xv in this dataset had covered 57,215 mi.
61% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 86.9% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 86.1% of the time, April–September 85.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 2.27% of tests.
- 2,468 recorded tests behind this page.
- 85.8% overall pass rate, 83.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Subaru Xv, the average is 85.9% — best year 2020 (93.5%), worst 2012 (76.7%).
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
- 2,468
- Typical mileage (median)
- 57,215 mi
- Make and model
- Subaru Xv
- 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 Xv MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 65% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (61% of tests).
Where the Subaru Xv is most common
Across all Xv model years on record (2012–2021): 8,119 Subaru Xv cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 19,370 tests. Edinburgh (EH) has the most, with 226 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 | Edinburgh (EH) | 226 | 85.0% |
| 2 | Guildford (GU) | 216 | 86.4% |
| 3 | Aberdeen (AB) | 213 | 79.8% |
| 4 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 208 | 86.7% |
| 5 | Glasgow (G) | 181 | 84.5% |
| 6 | Swindon (SN) | 180 | 85.7% |
| 7 | Inverness (IV) | 172 | 88.4% |
| 8 | Northampton (NN) | 171 | 90.1% |
| 9 | Ayr (KA) | 162 | 88.7% |
| 10 | Newport (NP) | 161 | 84.9% |
| 11 | Newton Abbot (TQ) | 154 | 85.8% |
| 12 | Gloucester (GL) | 152 | 85.4% |
| 13 | Coventry (CV) | 147 | 89.1% |
| 14 | Sheffield (S) | 143 | 89.1% |
| 15 | Taunton (TA) | 142 | 85.8% |
| 16 | Reading (RG) | 139 | 86.6% |
| 17 | Leeds (LS) | 139 | 90.7% |
| 18 | Exeter (EX) | 133 | 84.0% |
| 19 | Birmingham (B) | 132 | 88.5% |
| 20 | Ashford (TN) | 126 | 89.8% |
The twenty areas with the most Subaru Xv 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 Xv
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 623 | 82.5% |
| South West | 355 | 87.6% |
| South East | 340 | 85.9% |
| West Midlands | 219 | 88.6% |
| East of England | 184 | 89.1% |
| North West | 173 | 86.7% |
| Yorkshire | 149 | 85.9% |
| North East | 148 | 85.8% |
| East Midlands | 131 | 91.6% |
| Wales | 108 | 79.6% |
| London | 38 | 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 2016 Xv
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 2016 Xv
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 2.3% 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 lights 2.2% of tests
“stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning”
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 1.8% 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.
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 2016 Xv through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £25–£76 — and 52% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £25–£76
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp with a multiple light source up to…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- 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 2,468 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 Xv, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2012 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 76.7% to 93.5% — a spread of 16.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2012 76.7% ball joint excessively worn
- 2013 80.0% ball joint excessively worn
- 2014 81.1% ball joint excessively worn
- 2015 84.5% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2016 85.8%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 87.4% stop lamp not working
- 2018 91.5% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2019 92.5% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2020 93.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 92.7% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
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 2016 Subaru Xv 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 2016 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen Passat 85.8%
- Mitsubishi Outlander 85.8%
- Ford B-Max 85.8%
- Volkswagen Sharan 85.8%
- Land Rover Range Rover 85.7%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo 85.7%
Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 Subaru Xv 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 2,906 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 | 809 | 27.70% | 20.98% | +6.72 |
| Brakes | 731 | 25.00% | 20.89% | +4.11 |
| Tyres | 576 | 19.70% | 19.76% | −0.06 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 330 | 11.30% | 12.21% | −0.91 |
| Visibility | 130 | 4.50% | 4.97% | −0.47 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 108 | 3.70% | 5.57% | −1.87 |
| Non-component advisories | 104 | 3.60% | 4.18% | −0.58 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 51 | 1.70% | 5.52% | −3.82 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 47 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
| Steering | 20 | 0.70% | 2.57% | −1.87 |
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 | 2.3% | £80–200 |
| Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.2% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.2% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.8% | £40–150 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.7% | £18–45 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.5% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £5–25 |
| 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 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 1.0% | £80–250 |
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 | 20.0% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 10.5% | £45–95 |
| 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 | 9.0% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.5% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 2.3% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 309 | 90.0% | 22,348 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,016 | 88.0% | 46,236 mi |
| 60-90k | 830 | 84.3% | 72,929 mi |
| 90-120k | 246 | 80.1% | 100,988 mi |
| 120k+ | 67 | 73.1% | 137,304 mi |
Source: 2,468 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.
2016 Xv MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Subaru Xv?
85.8% of the 2,468 2016 Subaru Xv tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 83.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Subaru Xv?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.27%), stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning (2.23%), position lamp not working (2.19%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 Subaru Xv MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.0% of the time, falling to 73.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Subaru Xv in this dataset had covered 57,215 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 Subaru Xv?
Petrol: 86.9% pass rate across 1,504 tests. Diesel: 84.1% pass rate across 964 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2016 Subaru Xv MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 86.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.