Pass rate
92.9%
Above average — 1.7 pts ahead of the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 56 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £11–£38
2021 Volvo XC60 MOT pass rate
- 2021
- typical 35,070 mi
Only 56 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Tyres
29.6% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 92.9% pass · this year
- Avoid 2008 77.5% pass
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 15.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 92.0%
- Typical mileage
- 35k mi
The 2021 Volvo XC60 MOT pass rate is 92.9% of its MOT tests — 1.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 29.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volvo XC60 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.5× the national share
Tyres make up 29.6% of everything recorded on the 2021 Volvo Xc60, against 19.8% nationally — 9.8 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.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 70% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
- Based on a small sample. 56 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 XC60? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2021 Volvo XC60 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 1.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 92.0%. The median 2021 Volvo XC60 in this dataset had covered 35,070 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 41% of tests, with a 91.3% pass rate.
The single most recorded failure item is "Wipers blade defective", noted on 5.36% of tests.
- 56 recorded tests behind this page.
- 92.9% overall pass rate, 92.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volvo XC60, the average is 84.3% — best year 2021 (92.9%), worst 2008 (77.5%).
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
- 56
- Typical mileage (median)
- 35,070 mi
- Make and model
- Volvo XC60
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Wiper Blade
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the XC60 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 82% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (41% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the XC60
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 19 | 84.2% |
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 XC60
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 2021 XC60
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 wipers and washers 5.4% 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.
-
Check the lights 3.6% of tests
“headlamp cleaning device for LED or HID headlamp inoperative”
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 number plates 1.8% of tests
“registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements”
Check both plates are present, legible and correctly spaced, with the postcode of the supplier and the BS AU 145e mark. A private plate in the wrong style is a fail before the car is even looked at.
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 XC60 through its MOT
Across the 7 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £11–£38 — and 70% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 7 common items
- £11–£38
- Cheapest common item: all direction indicators incorrect colour
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: headlamp aim too high
- £30–£80
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 86%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 70%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 56 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 XC60, side by side
14 model years on record, from 2008 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 77.5% to 92.9% — a spread of 15.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2008 77.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2009 78.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 78.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 79.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 80.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 81.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 81.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 83.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 84.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2017 86.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2018 90.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 90.8% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2020 91.2% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2021 92.9%wipers blade defective
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 XC60 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 2021 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz Glc 92.9%
- Volkswagen Up 92.9%
- Ford Mustang Mach-E 92.9%
- Kia Stonic 92.9%
- Hyundai Kona Ultimate 92.9%
- Vauxhall Crossland Ultimate 92.9%
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 XC60 7 failure items · 6 advisories · 7 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 27 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 | 8 | 29.60% | 19.76% | +9.84 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 5 | 18.50% | 12.21% | +6.29 |
| Brakes | 4 | 14.80% | 20.89% | −6.09 |
| Visibility | 3 | 11.10% | 4.97% | +6.13 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 11.10% | 1.76% | +9.34 |
| Suspension | 2 | 7.40% | 20.98% | −13.58 |
| Non-component advisories | 2 | 7.40% | 4.18% | +3.22 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 5.4% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp cleaning device for LED or HID headlamp inoperative Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| All direction indicators incorrect colour Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.8% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.8% | £30–80 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.8% | £3–15 |
| Registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements Identification of the vehicle | Rectified | 1.8% | £20–80 |
| Registration plates incorrect Identification of the vehicle | Major | 1.8% | £20–80 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.1% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 7.1% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.4% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 3.6% | £20–80 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 1.8% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 1.8% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 21 | 95.2% | 19,137 mi |
| 30-60k | 30 | 90.0% | 41,804 mi |
| 60-90k | 5 | 100.0% | 68,509 mi |
Source: 56 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 XC60 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Volvo XC60?
92.9% of the 56 2021 Volvo XC60 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 92.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Volvo XC60?
The three most recorded items are wipers blade defective (5.36%), headlamp cleaning device for led or hid headlamp inoperative (3.57%), all direction indicators incorrect colour (1.79%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2021 Volvo XC60 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 95.2% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Volvo XC60 in this dataset had covered 35,070 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2021 Volvo XC60?
Petrol: 91.3% pass rate across 23 tests. Hybrid: 86.7% pass rate across 15 tests. Other: 100.0% pass rate across 12 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.