Pass rate
82.0%
Around average — 4.8 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 98,522 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £15–£43
2012 Toyota YARIS MOT pass rate
- 2012
- 2 trims combined
- typical 68,764 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
26.6% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 96.3% pass
- Avoid 2000 71.7% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 24.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 78.3%
- Typical mileage
- 69k mi
The 2012 Toyota YARIS MOT pass rate is 82.0% of its MOT tests — 4.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Toyota YARIS does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 26.6% of everything recorded on the 2012 Toyota Yaris, against 21.0% nationally — 5.6 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.
- 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 77.2% and this one manages 82.0% — 4.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 60% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 YARIS? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Toyota YARIS first registered in 2012 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2012 Toyota YARIS compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 4.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.3%. The median 2012 Toyota YARIS in this dataset had covered 68,764 mi.
85% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 82.2% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 82.0% of the time, April–September 82.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 5.05% of tests.
- 98,522 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.0% overall pass rate, 78.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Toyota YARIS, the average is 82.8% — best year 2023 (96.3%), worst 2000 (71.7%).
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
- 98,522
- Typical mileage (median)
- 68,764 mi
- Make and model
- Toyota YARIS
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the YARIS 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 (85% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the YARIS
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 22,310 | 84.4% |
| North West | 13,712 | 81.5% |
| Yorkshire | 10,062 | 81.1% |
| West Midlands | 9,287 | 84.1% |
| South West | 8,287 | 81.3% |
| East of England | 8,021 | 82.6% |
| East Midlands | 7,056 | 83.1% |
| London | 6,261 | 85.9% |
| Scotland | 6,254 | 71.8% |
| Wales | 4,144 | 79.2% |
| North East | 3,124 | 76.9% |
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 2012 YARIS
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 2012 YARIS
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 coil springs 5.0% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the lights 4.3% 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 1.6% 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 2012 YARIS through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £15–£43 — and 60% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £15–£43
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 60%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 98,522 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 YARIS, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.7% to 96.3% — a spread of 24.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 71.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2001 72.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2002 74.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 73.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 72.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 73.8% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 74.4% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 75.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 75.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 78.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 78.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 81.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 82.0%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 82.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 84.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 88.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 89.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2017 88.8% wheel bearings rough when rotated
- 2018 90.6% wheel bearings rough when rotated
- 2019 92.7% wipers does not clear the…
- 2020 94.1% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 95.3% wipers blade defective
- 2022 95.2% wipers blade defective
- 2023 96.3% shock absorbers has a serious…
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 2012 Toyota YARIS 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 81.9%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo 81.9%
- Audi A5 81.8%
- BMW 5 Series 81.7%
- SEAT Mii 81.6%
- MINI COOPER Sd 81.5%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Toyota YARIS 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 162,430 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 | 43,517 | 26.60% | 20.98% | +5.62 |
| Brakes | 34,623 | 21.20% | 20.89% | +0.31 |
| Tyres | 32,771 | 20.00% | 19.76% | +0.24 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 25,096 | 15.30% | 12.21% | +3.09 |
| Visibility | 9,106 | 5.60% | 4.97% | +0.63 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 5,682 | 3.50% | 5.57% | −2.07 |
| Non-component advisories | 5,066 | 3.10% | 4.18% | −1.08 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3,513 | 2.10% | 1.76% | +0.34 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2,243 | 1.40% | 5.52% | −4.12 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 813 | 0.50% | 0.82% | −0.32 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £25–65 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.3% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.7% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.6% | £5–25 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.7% | £3–12 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.6% | £18–45 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £3–12 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £80–200 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.3% | £8–22 |
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 | 14.2% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.0% | £40–150 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 9.9% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.2% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.1% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6,378 | 88.4% | 22,575 mi |
| 30-60k | 31,473 | 84.8% | 46,812 mi |
| 60-90k | 35,457 | 81.1% | 74,081 mi |
| 90-120k | 17,716 | 78.6% | 102,494 mi |
| 120k+ | 7,482 | 77.0% | 142,460 mi |
Source: 98,522 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.
2012 YARIS MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Toyota YARIS?
82.0% of the 98,522 2012 Toyota YARIS tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 78.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Toyota YARIS?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (5.05%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.27%), position lamp not working (2.66%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Toyota YARIS MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.4% of the time, falling to 77.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Toyota YARIS in this dataset had covered 68,764 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Toyota YARIS?
Petrol: 82.2% pass rate across 84,192 tests. Hybrid: 81.9% pass rate across 7,593 tests. Diesel: 79.1% pass rate across 5,235 tests. Other: 84.0% pass rate across 755 tests. Electric: 80.6% pass rate across 747 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Toyota YARIS MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 82.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 82.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.