Pass rate
74.3%
Below average — 2.1 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,840 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£75
2004 Volvo C70 MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 91,014 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
21.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2000 79.1% pass
- Avoid 2006 70.9% pass
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 8.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.2%
- Typical mileage
- 91k mi
The 2004 Volvo C70 MOT pass rate is 74.3% of its MOT tests — 2.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 13.7% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 19% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
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 Volvo C70? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Volvo C70 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 2.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.2%. The median 2004 Volvo C70 in this dataset had covered 91,014 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.9% of the time, April–September 74.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 8.42% of tests.
- 1,840 recorded tests behind this page.
- 74.3% overall pass rate, 67.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volvo C70, the average is 73.2% — best year 2000 (79.1%), worst 2006 (70.9%).
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
- 1,840
- Typical mileage (median)
- 91,014 mi
- Make and model
- Volvo C70
- 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 C70 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Volvo C70 is most common
Across all C70 model years on record (2000–2013): 11,622 Volvo C70 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 29,331 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 324 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) | 324 | 78.9% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 276 | 75.2% |
| 3 | Nottingham (NG) | 252 | 72.6% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 238 | 79.2% |
| 5 | Coventry (CV) | 214 | 77.2% |
| 6 | Ashford (TN) | 210 | 71.7% |
| 7 | Leicester (LE) | 204 | 72.4% |
| 8 | Reading (RG) | 203 | 72.4% |
| 9 | Portsmouth (PO) | 200 | 71.7% |
| 10 | Norwich (NR) | 194 | 71.5% |
| 11 | Bristol (BS) | 184 | 69.3% |
| 12 | Doncaster (DN) | 182 | 73.8% |
| 13 | Brighton (BN) | 174 | 68.1% |
| 14 | Ipswich (IP) | 173 | 74.5% |
| 15 | Exeter (EX) | 172 | 67.2% |
| 16 | Guildford (GU) | 171 | 74.5% |
| 17 | Oxford (OX) | 169 | 71.1% |
| 18 | Cardiff (CF) | 168 | 69.0% |
| 19 | Poole (BH) | 161 | 68.0% |
| 20 | Swansea (SA) | 159 | 71.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Volvo C70 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 C70
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 371 | 73.0% |
| East of England | 245 | 77.6% |
| South West | 233 | 73.4% |
| West Midlands | 184 | 81.5% |
| Yorkshire | 169 | 73.4% |
| North West | 168 | 73.2% |
| East Midlands | 142 | 72.5% |
| Scotland | 104 | 68.3% |
| Wales | 90 | 71.1% |
| London | 74 | 74.3% |
| North East | 60 | 75.0% |
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 2004 C70
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 C70
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 8.4% 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 battery 6.0% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure”
Check the battery is secure and its terminals are clean and tight — a loose battery is a fail on its own, and a weak one shows up as slow cranking on a cold morning.
-
Check the lights 4.4% 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 2004 C70 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£75 — and 19% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£75
- 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
- 19%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,840 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 C70, side by side
14 model years on record, from 2000 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.9% to 79.1% — a spread of 8.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 79.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2001 76.0% battery(ies) insecure but not…
- 2002 74.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 77.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 74.3%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2005 74.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 70.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 71.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 72.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 71.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 72.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 74.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2012 78.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2013 78.0% coil spring fractured or broken
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 Volvo C70 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
- Volkswagen Passat 74.3%
- Audi A4 74.2%
- Mazda Mx-5 74.2%
- Toyota Corolla 74.1%
- BMW X5 74.5%
- Jaguar S-Type 74.1%
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 Volvo C70 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 5,030 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 | 1,104 | 21.50% | 20.89% | +0.61 |
| Suspension | 1,041 | 20.30% | 20.98% | −0.68 |
| Tyres | 701 | 13.70% | 19.76% | −6.06 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 691 | 13.50% | 12.21% | +1.29 |
| Non-component advisories | 376 | 7.30% | 4.18% | +3.12 |
| Steering | 320 | 6.20% | 2.57% | +3.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 260 | 5.10% | 5.52% | −0.42 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 249 | 4.90% | 5.57% | −0.67 |
| Visibility | 181 | 3.50% | 4.97% | −1.47 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 107 | 2.10% | 1.76% | +0.34 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 8.4% | £18–45 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.0% | £60–140 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.4% | £5–20 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.1% | £25–65 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.9% | £45–110 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.9% | £8–22 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.6% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.3% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 2.3% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 16.5% | £120–300 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.8% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.8% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.6% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.8% | £25–65 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.5% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 29 | 93.1% | 23,185 mi |
| 30-60k | 226 | 83.6% | 49,031 mi |
| 60-90k | 646 | 73.4% | 76,894 mi |
| 90-120k | 563 | 73.2% | 103,280 mi |
| 120k+ | 376 | 70.5% | 144,373 mi |
Source: 1,840 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 C70 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Volvo C70?
74.3% of the 1,840 2004 Volvo C70 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 67.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Volvo C70?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (8.42%), battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (5.98%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.40%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Volvo C70 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.1% of the time, falling to 70.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Volvo C70 in this dataset had covered 91,014 mi.
Does the season affect the 2004 Volvo C70 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 74.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.