Pass rate
91.4%
Above average — 7.4 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 49,963 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £21–£53
2016 Toyota Prius MOT pass rate
- 2016
- 6 trims combined
- typical 125,640 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
28.4% 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 →
1.8 pts down across model years — 5.5% in 2004, 3.7% in 2023.
Which year to buy
- Best 2025 97.6% pass
- Avoid 2001 76.2% pass
Across the 25 years on record, a spread of 21.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 90.7%
- Typical mileage
- 126k mi
The 2016 Toyota Prius MOT pass rate is 91.4% of its MOT tests — 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.4% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.4× the national share
Tyres make up 28.4% of everything recorded on the 2016 Toyota Prius, against 19.8% nationally — 8.6 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 84.0% and this one manages 91.4% — 7.4 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 Toyota Prius? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Toyota Prius first registered in 2016 is combined here — 6 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2016 Toyota Prius compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 90.7%. The median 2016 Toyota Prius in this dataset had covered 125,640 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 91.6% of the time, April–September 91.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 1.56% of tests.
- 49,963 recorded tests behind this page.
- 91.4% overall pass rate, 90.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Toyota Prius, the average is 88.3% — best year 2025 (97.6%), worst 2001 (76.2%).
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
- 49,963
- Typical mileage (median)
- 125,640 mi
- Make and model
- Toyota Prius
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Prius MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 82% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Toyota Prius is most common
Across all Prius model years on record (2001–2025): 210,864 Toyota Prius cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 537,957 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 17,332 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) | 17,332 | 89.6% |
| 2 | London (E) | 17,063 | 91.3% |
| 3 | Wembley (HA) | 10,051 | 93.3% |
| 4 | London (NW) | 9,160 | 90.7% |
| 5 | Hayes (UB) | 8,705 | 92.1% |
| 6 | Romford (RM) | 7,008 | 91.7% |
| 7 | Bradford (BD) | 6,687 | 91.4% |
| 8 | London (N) | 6,349 | 89.6% |
| 9 | Ilford (IG) | 5,983 | 91.7% |
| 10 | Manchester (M) | 5,714 | 90.1% |
| 11 | Croydon (CR) | 5,389 | 92.9% |
| 12 | Bolton (BL) | 5,091 | 87.2% |
| 13 | London (SE) | 4,325 | 89.3% |
| 14 | London (SW) | 3,944 | 92.5% |
| 15 | Blackburn (BB) | 3,732 | 77.6% |
| 16 | Luton (LU) | 3,728 | 91.8% |
| 17 | Oldham (OL) | 3,670 | 86.4% |
| 18 | Hounslow (TW) | 3,627 | 88.2% |
| 19 | Leicester (LE) | 3,094 | 88.5% |
| 20 | High Wycombe (HP) | 2,743 | 90.2% |
The twenty areas with the most Toyota Prius 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 Prius
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| London | 16,035 | 92.5% |
| South East | 15,575 | 92.4% |
| West Midlands | 5,286 | 90.0% |
| North West | 3,761 | 91.1% |
| East of England | 2,694 | 91.1% |
| East Midlands | 2,098 | 85.8% |
| Yorkshire | 2,047 | 91.4% |
| South West | 1,042 | 83.9% |
| Scotland | 555 | 84.0% |
| Wales | 499 | 91.0% |
| North East | 367 | 88.8% |
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 2016 Prius
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 Prius
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 suspension joints 1.6% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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 wipers and washers 1.1% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
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.
-
Check the lights 1.0% 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 2016 Prius through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £21–£53 — and 48% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £21–£53
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 48%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 49,963 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 Prius, side by side
25 model years on record, from 2001 to 2025. Across them the pass rate runs from 76.2% to 97.6% — a spread of 21.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 76.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 80.1% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 78.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 78.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 79.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 78.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 79.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 80.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 80.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 82.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 83.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 85.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 87.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 89.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 90.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 91.4%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2017 92.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2018 93.3% wipers does not clear the…
- 2019 93.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2020 92.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2021 93.8% wipers blade defective
- 2022 94.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2023 95.0% linkage ball joint dust cover…
- 2024 95.9% has ply or cords exposed
- 2025 97.6% rear fog 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 2016 Toyota Prius 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
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 Toyota Prius 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 34,818 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 | 10,006 | 28.40% | 19.76% | +8.64 |
| Brakes | 6,523 | 18.50% | 20.89% | −2.39 |
| Suspension | 5,731 | 16.20% | 20.98% | −4.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 5,150 | 14.60% | 12.21% | +2.39 |
| Visibility | 2,681 | 7.60% | 4.97% | +2.63 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,788 | 5.10% | 4.18% | +0.92 |
| Steering | 1,068 | 3.00% | 2.57% | +0.43 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 774 | 2.20% | 1.76% | +0.44 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 683 | 1.90% | 5.57% | −3.67 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 414 | 1.20% | 5.52% | −4.32 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.6% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.2% | £18–45 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.1% | £8–22 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 1.1% | £8–22 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.0% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.0% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.98% | £5–20 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 0.96% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.91% | £8–22 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.84% | £45–95 |
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 | 9.8% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 3.6% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 3.4% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 2.2% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 1.9% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,820 | 94.1% | 21,612 mi |
| 30-60k | 7,648 | 92.9% | 46,077 mi |
| 60-90k | 7,621 | 91.2% | 74,566 mi |
| 90-120k | 6,447 | 91.7% | 104,780 mi |
| 120k+ | 25,911 | 90.8% | 193,360 mi |
Source: 49,963 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 Prius MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Toyota Prius?
91.4% of the 49,963 2016 Toyota Prius tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 90.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Toyota Prius?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (1.56%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (1.21%), wipers blade defective (1.09%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 Toyota Prius MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 94.1% of the time, falling to 90.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Toyota Prius in this dataset had covered 125,640 mi.
Does the season affect the 2016 Toyota Prius MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 91.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 91.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.