Pass rate
70.9%
Below average — 1.6 pts behind the 72.5% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 3,982 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £46–£134
2006 Volvo C70 MOT pass rate
- 2006
- typical 97,319 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
27.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
0.5 pts up across model years — 1.0% in 2003, 1.5% in 2013.
Which year to buy
- Best 2000 79.1% pass
- Avoid 2006 70.9% pass · this year
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 8.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 61.1%
- Typical mileage
- 97k mi
The 2006 Volvo C70 MOT pass rate is 70.9% of its MOT tests — 1.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 27.2% of everything recorded on the 2006 Volvo C70, against 21.0% nationally — 6.2 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.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 20% 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 2006 Volvo C70 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.5%, so this figure is 1.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 61.1%. The median 2006 Volvo C70 in this dataset had covered 97,319 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 87% of tests, with a 70.9% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.8% of the time, April–September 71.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 7.94% of tests.
- 3,982 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.9% overall pass rate, 61.1% 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
- 3,982
- Typical mileage (median)
- 97,319 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
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the C70 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 59% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (87% of tests).
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 | 1,089 | 72.8% |
| South West | 479 | 64.7% |
| East of England | 439 | 69.2% |
| North West | 364 | 72.8% |
| West Midlands | 357 | 70.3% |
| Yorkshire | 300 | 72.7% |
| London | 267 | 80.9% |
| East Midlands | 236 | 70.3% |
| Scotland | 209 | 67.0% |
| Wales | 165 | 64.2% |
| North East | 77 | 71.4% |
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 2006 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 2006 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 lights 5.4% 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.
-
Check the coil springs 5.3% 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 shock absorbers 3.4% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
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 2006 C70 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £46–£134 — and 20% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £46–£134
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 20%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,982 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 2006 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 2006 cars with a similar record
- Mitsubishi L200 70.9%
- Volkswagen Fox 70.9%
- Citroen C2 70.9%
- Toyota Aygo 71.0%
- Toyota Hilux 71.0%
- Skoda Fabia 71.1%
Closest pass rates among 2006 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 2006 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 9,554 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 | 2,655 | 27.20% | 20.98% | +6.22 |
| Brakes | 1,775 | 18.20% | 20.89% | −2.69 |
| Tyres | 1,661 | 17.00% | 19.76% | −2.76 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,306 | 13.40% | 12.21% | +1.19 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 838 | 8.60% | 5.57% | +3.03 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 414 | 4.20% | 5.52% | −1.32 |
| Visibility | 312 | 3.20% | 4.97% | −1.77 |
| Non-component advisories | 216 | 2.20% | 4.18% | −1.98 |
| Steering | 205 | 2.10% | 2.57% | −0.47 |
| Road Wheels | 172 | 1.80% | 0.75% | +1.05 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 7.9% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.4% | £5–20 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 5.3% | £25–65 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 5.2% | £80–250 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 5.1% | £45–110 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 3.4% | £30–75 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.1% | £3–12 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.9% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.3% | £40–150 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 2.0% | £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 | 20.7% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.8% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.6% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 7.5% | £25–65 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 7.4% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 6.9% | £30–75 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 56 | 83.9% | 24,223 mi |
| 30-60k | 414 | 76.6% | 48,734 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,160 | 72.8% | 76,126 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,279 | 69.8% | 103,906 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,071 | 67.4% | 142,767 mi |
Source: 3,982 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.
2006 C70 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2006 Volvo C70?
70.9% of the 3,982 2006 Volvo C70 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.5% for cars first used in 2006. First-attempt pass rate: 61.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2006 Volvo C70?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (7.94%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.37%), coil spring fractured or broken (5.32%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2006 Volvo C70 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.9% of the time, falling to 67.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2006 Volvo C70 in this dataset had covered 97,319 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2006 Volvo C70?
Petrol: 70.9% pass rate across 3,453 tests. Diesel: 71.0% pass rate across 527 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2006 Volvo C70 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.