2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 MOT pass rate

Pass rate

94.0%

Above average — 2.8 pts ahead of the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 216 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £45–£106

Which year to buy

  • Best 2021 94.0% pass · this year
  • Avoid 2022 91.0% pass

Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 3 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
93.6%
Typical mileage
31k mi

The 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 MOT pass rate is 94.0% of its MOT tests — 2.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 61.7% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 on the real record

94.0% of 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 MOTs passed — 216 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volvo S90 Inscription T8 does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Tyres: 3.1× the national share

Tyres make up 61.7% of everything recorded on the 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8, against 19.8% nationally — 41.9 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.

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 S90 Inscription T8? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 2.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 93.6%. The median 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 in this dataset had covered 30,986 mi.

Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 90.8% of the time, April–September 96.1%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Has ply or cords exposed", noted on 2.31% of tests.

  • 216 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 94.0% overall pass rate, 93.6% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Volvo S90 Inscription T8, the average is 92.6% — best year 2021 (94.0%), worst 2022 (91.0%).

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
216
Typical mileage (median)
30,986 mi
Make and model
Volvo S90 Inscription T8
Updated
2026-11-05

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.

Top part to budget for

Tyres

Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.

Does mileage affect the S90 Inscription T8 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 93.0%
30-60k 93.0%
60-90k 100.0%
90-120k 100.0%
120k+ 100.0%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 85% so small gaps stay visible.

Regional pass rates for the S90 Inscription T8

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 46 95.7%
North West 33 90.9%
East of England 21 90.5%
Scotland 20 100.0%
East Midlands 19 89.5%
South West 17 82.4%
West Midlands 17 94.1%
London 17 100.0%

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 2021 S90 Inscription T8

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.

Tyres 61.7%
+41.9 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Visibility 11.1%
+6.1 pts vs national national 5.0% Order bulbs & wipers
Advisories 8.6%
+4.4 pts vs national national 4.2% Price advisories parts
Brakes 6.2%
−14.7 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Show the other 4 fault categories
  • Suspension 4.9%
  • Lamps & electrics 4.9%
  • Identification 1.2%
  • Seat belts 1.2%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2021 S90 Inscription T8

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.

  1. Check the windscreen 2.3% of tests

    “windscreen damaged”

    Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.

  2. Check the wipers and washers 1.4% 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.

  3. Check the lights 0.9% of tests

    “headlamp aim too low”

    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 2021 S90 Inscription T8 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £45–£106 — and 13% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£45–£106
Cheapest common item: wipers blade defective
£8–£22
Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
£80–£200
Common items a careful owner can do at home
60%
Repairs that still cost under £30
13%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 216 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 S90 Inscription T8, side by side

3 model years on record, from 2020 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 91.0% to 94.0% — a spread of 3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2020 91.1% has a cut in excess of the…
  2. 2021 94.0%
    has ply or cords exposed
  3. 2022 91.0% has a cut in excess of the…

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 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 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.

Compare 2021 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2021 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2021 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 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 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 81 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 50 61.70% 19.76% +41.94
Visibility 9 11.10% 4.97% +6.13
Non-component advisories 7 8.60% 4.18% +4.42
Brakes 5 6.20% 20.89% −14.69
Suspension 4 4.90% 20.98% −16.08
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4 4.90% 12.21% −7.31
Identification of the vehicle 1 1.20% 1.76% −0.56
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems 1 1.20% 0.82% +0.38

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 216 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Has ply or cords exposed Tyres Major 2.3% £45–95 Tyres →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 2.3% £80–200 Windscreen →
Wipers blade defective Visibility Minor 1.4% £8–22 Wiper Blade →
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Major 0.93% £45–95 Tyres →
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Major 0.93% £45–95 Tyres →
Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 0.93% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Buckle not functioning as intended Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems Rectified 0.46% £40–120 Seat Belt →
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension Major 0.46% £25–65 Coil Spring →
Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Major 0.46% £45–95 Tyres →
Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 0.46% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 9.7% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 3.2% £45–95
Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres Advisory 3.2% £45–95
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 1.9% £18–45
Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories Advisory 1.9% £20–80
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Advisory 0.93% £18–45

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 100 93.0% 21,692 mi
30-60k 86 93.0% 41,983 mi
60-90k 26 100.0% 73,141 mi
90-120k 1 100.0% 108,214 mi
120k+ 3 100.0% 134,350 mi

Source: 216 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.

2021 S90 Inscription T8 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8?

94.0% of the 216 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 93.6%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8?

The three most recorded items are has ply or cords exposed (2.31%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.31%), wipers blade defective (1.39%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 in this dataset had covered 30,986 mi.

Does the season affect the 2021 Volvo S90 Inscription T8 MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 90.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 96.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.