Pass rate
79.0%
Around average — 6.8 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 62 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£93
2004 Toyota Rav MOT pass rate
- 2004
- 3 trims combined
- typical 110,403 mi
Only 62 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
27.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2004 79.0% pass · this year
- Avoid 2005 70.6% pass
Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 8.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 74.5%
- Typical mileage
- 110k mi
The 2004 Toyota Rav MOT pass rate is 79.0% of its MOT tests — 6.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 27.5% of everything recorded on the 2004 Toyota Rav, against 20.9% nationally — 6.6 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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 72.2% and this one manages 79.0% — 6.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 62 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 Rav? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Toyota Rav first registered in 2004 is combined here — 3 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2004 Toyota Rav compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 6.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 74.5%. The median 2004 Toyota Rav in this dataset had covered 110,403 mi.
74% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 78.3% of the time.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 9.68% of tests.
- 62 recorded tests behind this page.
- 79.0% overall pass rate, 74.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Toyota Rav, the average is 75.6% — best year 2004 (79.0%), worst 2005 (70.6%).
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
- 62
- Typical mileage (median)
- 110,403 mi
- Make and model
- Toyota Rav
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Rav MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 52% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (74% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Rav
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 18 | 72.2% |
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 2004 Rav
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 2004 Rav
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 9.7% 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 exhaust and emissions 4.8% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.2% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover 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.
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 2004 Rav through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£93 — and 50% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£93
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 50%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 62 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 Rav, side by side
3 model years on record, from 2002 to 2005. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.6% to 79.0% — a spread of 8.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 76.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 79.0%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 70.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
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 2004 Toyota Rav 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 2004 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Toyota Rav 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 8 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 131 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 36 | 27.50% | 20.89% | +6.61 |
| Suspension | 25 | 19.10% | 20.98% | −1.88 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 24 | 18.30% | 12.21% | +6.09 |
| Tyres | 14 | 10.70% | 19.76% | −9.06 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 13 | 9.90% | 5.57% | +4.33 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 10 | 7.60% | 5.52% | +2.08 |
| Visibility | 5 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4 | 3.10% | 1.76% | +1.34 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 9.7% | £5–25 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.8% | £60–250 |
| Rear reflectors not facing the rear Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.8% | £5–25 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.2% | £45–120 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £80–180 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £60–150 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.2% | £3–12 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.2% | £3–12 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.2% | £80–200 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 17.7% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 12.9% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 11.3% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.1% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 6.5% | £25–65 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 6.5% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60-90k | 18 | 83.3% | 80,770 mi |
| 90-120k | 15 | 60.0% | 102,478 mi |
| 120k+ | 29 | 86.2% | 150,949 mi |
Source: 62 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.
2004 Rav MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Toyota Rav?
79.0% of the 62 2004 Toyota Rav tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 74.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Toyota Rav?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (9.68%), catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (4.84%), rear reflectors not facing the rear (4.84%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Toyota Rav MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 86.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Toyota Rav in this dataset had covered 110,403 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 Toyota Rav?
Petrol: 78.3% pass rate across 46 tests. Diesel: 81.3% pass rate across 16 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.