Pass rate
86.1%
Above average — 4.0 pts ahead of the 82.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 6,883 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £35–£89
2015 Volvo V70 MOT pass rate
- 2015
- typical 83,949 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
30.9% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
2.9 pts up across model years — 5.8% in 2000, 8.7% in 2016.
Which year to buy
- Best 2017 94.1% pass
- Avoid 2002 71.4% pass
Across the 18 years on record, a spread of 22.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 84.0%
- Typical mileage
- 84k mi
The 2015 Volvo V70 MOT pass rate is 86.1% of its MOT tests — 4.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.6× the national share
Tyres make up 30.9% of everything recorded on the 2015 Volvo V70, against 19.8% nationally — 11.1 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.
- 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 82.1% and this one manages 86.1% — 4.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 28% 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 V70? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2015 Volvo V70 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 82.1%, so this figure is 4.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 84.0%. The median 2015 Volvo V70 in this dataset had covered 83,949 mi.
99% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 86.1% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 86.3% of the time, April–September 85.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 3.20% of tests.
- 6,883 recorded tests behind this page.
- 86.1% overall pass rate, 84.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volvo V70, the average is 76.6% — best year 2017 (94.1%), worst 2002 (71.4%).
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
- 6,883
- Typical mileage (median)
- 83,949 mi
- Make and model
- Volvo V70
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the V70 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 74% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (99% of tests).
Where the Volvo V70 is most common
Across all V70 model years on record (2000–2017): 55,587 Volvo V70 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 146,276 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 1,285 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) | 1,285 | 81.9% |
| 2 | Nottingham (NG) | 1,170 | 78.4% |
| 3 | Peterborough (PE) | 1,104 | 77.4% |
| 4 | Ashford (TN) | 1,078 | 75.9% |
| 5 | Reading (RG) | 1,059 | 78.8% |
| 6 | Ipswich (IP) | 973 | 77.4% |
| 7 | Norwich (NR) | 941 | 76.3% |
| 8 | Oxford (OX) | 934 | 76.5% |
| 9 | Sheffield (S) | 923 | 79.5% |
| 10 | York (YO) | 914 | 72.7% |
| 11 | Guildford (GU) | 903 | 74.4% |
| 12 | Leicester (LE) | 886 | 79.0% |
| 13 | Exeter (EX) | 856 | 70.6% |
| 14 | Gloucester (GL) | 852 | 75.8% |
| 15 | Bristol (BS) | 835 | 71.7% |
| 16 | Southampton (SO) | 823 | 78.2% |
| 17 | Portsmouth (PO) | 817 | 74.2% |
| 18 | Brighton (BN) | 796 | 72.2% |
| 19 | High Wycombe (HP) | 768 | 75.0% |
| 20 | Derby (DE) | 754 | 77.4% |
The twenty areas with the most Volvo V70 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 V70
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,378 | 86.4% |
| South West | 949 | 86.2% |
| East of England | 819 | 85.6% |
| North West | 737 | 86.4% |
| Yorkshire | 677 | 85.5% |
| Scotland | 623 | 79.8% |
| West Midlands | 579 | 87.7% |
| East Midlands | 492 | 89.0% |
| North East | 229 | 86.0% |
| Wales | 213 | 89.2% |
| London | 187 | 89.8% |
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 2015 V70
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 2015 V70
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 3.2% 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 windscreen 3.0% 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 1.7% of tests
“track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or 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 2015 V70 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £35–£89 — and 28% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £35–£89
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot split or…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 28%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 6,883 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 V70, side by side
18 model years on record, from 2000 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.4% to 94.1% — a spread of 22.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 72.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 71.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 71.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 71.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 71.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 72.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 73.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 74.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 78.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 76.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 80.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 81.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 81.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 81.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 84.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 86.1%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 87.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 94.1% has ply or cords exposed
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 2015 Volvo V70 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 2015 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2015 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 2015 Volvo V70 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 7,279 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 | 2,312 | 30.90% | 19.76% | +11.14 |
| Brakes | 1,844 | 24.60% | 20.89% | +3.71 |
| Suspension | 608 | 8.10% | 20.98% | −12.88 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 589 | 7.90% | 12.21% | −4.31 |
| Steering | 433 | 5.80% | 2.57% | +3.23 |
| Visibility | 410 | 5.50% | 4.97% | +0.53 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 353 | 4.70% | 5.52% | −0.82 |
| Non-component advisories | 333 | 4.40% | 4.18% | +0.22 |
| Road Wheels | 201 | 2.70% | 0.75% | +1.95 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 196 | 2.60% | 1.76% | +0.84 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.2% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.0% | £80–200 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 1.7% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.4% | £3–12 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of… Steering | Major | 1.0% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.0% | £45–95 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.0% | £45–95 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 0.96% | £80–250 |
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 | 18.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 10.2% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.2% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.5% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.1% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 3.0% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 188 | 92.6% | 23,419 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,455 | 88.9% | 48,043 mi |
| 60-90k | 2,256 | 87.3% | 74,971 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,701 | 83.8% | 103,995 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,282 | 82.8% | 153,379 mi |
Source: 6,883 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.
2015 V70 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2015 Volvo V70?
86.1% of the 6,883 2015 Volvo V70 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 82.1% for cars first used in 2015. First-attempt pass rate: 84.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2015 Volvo V70?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.20%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.02%), track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (1.67%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2015 Volvo V70 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.6% of the time, falling to 82.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2015 Volvo V70 in this dataset had covered 83,949 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2015 Volvo V70?
Diesel: 86.1% pass rate across 6,836 tests. Petrol: 87.2% pass rate across 47 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2015 Volvo V70 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 86.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.