2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 MOT pass rate

Pass rate

91.9%

Above average — 0.7 pts ahead of the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 273 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £48–£111

Which year to buy

  • Best 2020 95.5% pass
  • Avoid 2021 91.9% pass · this year

Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 3.6 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
91.2%
Typical mileage
39k mi

The 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 MOT pass rate is 91.9% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 66.0% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 on the real record

91.9% of 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 MOTs passed — 273 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 R-Design T8 does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Tyres: 3.3× the national share

Tyres make up 66.0% of everything recorded on the 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8, against 19.8% nationally — 46.2 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 R-Design T8? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 0.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 91.2%. The median 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 in this dataset had covered 38,534 mi.

Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 92.0% of the time, April–September 91.9%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 3.30% of tests.

  • 273 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 91.9% overall pass rate, 91.2% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Volvo S90 R-Design T8, the average is 93.1% — best year 2020 (95.5%), worst 2021 (91.9%).

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
273
Typical mileage (median)
38,534 mi
Make and model
Volvo S90 R-Design T8
Updated
2026-11-05

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

Top part to budget for

Windscreen

Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.

Does mileage affect the S90 R-Design T8 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 95.7%
30-60k 90.4%
60-90k 86.5%
90-120k 100.0%
120k+ 100.0%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 78% so small gaps stay visible.

Regional pass rates for the S90 R-Design T8

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 53 94.3%
North West 40 95.0%
West Midlands 32 90.6%
Scotland 31 93.5%
Yorkshire 26 88.5%
East of England 22 86.4%
South West 21 85.7%
East Midlands 20 85.0%
London 15 100.0%

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 R-Design 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 66.0%
+46.2 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Brakes 13.2%
−7.7 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Visibility 7.6%
+2.6 pts vs national national 5.0% Order bulbs & wipers
Advisories 6.9%
+2.7 pts vs national national 4.2% Price advisories parts
Show the other 4 fault categories
  • Lamps & electrics 3.5%
  • Identification 1.4%
  • Suspension 0.7%
  • Road wheels 0.7%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design 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 R-Design 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 3.3% 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 tyre tread 2.2% of tests

    “tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”

    Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.

  3. Check the brakes 0.7% of tests

    “brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”

    Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.

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 R-Design T8 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £48–£111 — and 8% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£48–£111
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
80%
Repairs that still cost under £30
8%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 273 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 R-Design T8, side by side

3 model years on record, from 2020 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 91.9% to 95.5% — a spread of 3.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2020 95.5% windscreen damaged but not…
  2. 2021 91.9%
    windscreen damaged but not…
  3. 2022 94.2% 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 R-Design 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 R-Design 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 144 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 95 66.00% 19.76% +46.24
Brakes 19 13.20% 20.89% −7.69
Visibility 11 7.60% 4.97% +2.63
Non-component advisories 10 6.90% 4.18% +2.72
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5 3.50% 12.21% −8.71
Identification of the vehicle 2 1.40% 1.76% −0.36
Suspension 1 0.70% 20.98% −20.28
Road Wheels 1 0.70% 0.75% −0.05

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 273 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 3.3% £80–200 Windscreen →
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Major 2.9% £45–95 Tyres →
Has ply or cords exposed Tyres Major 2.9% £45–95 Tyres →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Major 2.2% £45–95 Tyres →
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Major 0.73% £18–45 Brake Pads Set →
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 0.73% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Major 0.37% £45–95 Tyres →
Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 0.37% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Not fitted in accordance with side wall instructions Tyres Major 0.37% £45–95 Tyres →
Registration plate lamp(s) does not illuminate simultaneously with the position lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 0.37% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →

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 15.4% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 5.1% £45–95
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 4.8% £18–45
Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres Advisory 2.2% £45–95
Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories Advisory 1.8% £45–95
Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 1.5% £45–95

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 93 95.7% 21,578 mi
30-60k 136 90.4% 44,065 mi
60-90k 37 86.5% 70,657 mi
90-120k 5 100.0% 96,748 mi
120k+ 2 100.0% 142,096 mi

Source: 273 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 R-Design T8 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8?

91.9% of the 273 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 91.2%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8?

The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.30%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.93%), has ply or cords exposed (2.93%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 95.7% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 in this dataset had covered 38,534 mi.

Does the season affect the 2021 Volvo S90 R-Design T8 MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 92.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 91.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.