Pass rate
80.4%
Around average — 3.2 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 4,791 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£98
2012 Volvo XC70 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 113,164 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
21.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2015 84.9% pass
- Avoid 2003 70.3% pass
Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 14.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 75.8%
- Typical mileage
- 113k mi
The 2012 Volvo XC70 MOT pass rate is 80.4% of its MOT tests — 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Steering: 3.0× the national share
Steering accounts for 7.7% of everything recorded on the 2012 Volvo Xc70, against 2.6% nationally — 5.1 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 21.0%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
- 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 77.2% and this one manages 80.4% — 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 29% 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 XC70? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Volvo XC70 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 75.8%. The median 2012 Volvo XC70 in this dataset had covered 113,164 mi.
98% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 80.2% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 81.0% of the time, April–September 79.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 4.80% of tests.
- 4,791 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.4% overall pass rate, 75.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volvo XC70, the average is 79.1% — best year 2015 (84.9%), worst 2003 (70.3%).
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
- 4,791
- Typical mileage (median)
- 113,164 mi
- Make and model
- Volvo XC70
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the XC70 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 69% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (98% of tests).
Where the Volvo XC70 is most common
Across all XC70 model years on record (2002–2017): 24,718 Volvo XC70 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 63,153 tests. Nottingham (NG) has the most, with 643 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 | Nottingham (NG) | 643 | 83.4% |
| 2 | York (YO) | 607 | 75.9% |
| 3 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 503 | 79.7% |
| 4 | Peterborough (PE) | 496 | 82.0% |
| 5 | Sheffield (S) | 445 | 83.6% |
| 6 | Reading (RG) | 444 | 81.7% |
| 7 | Exeter (EX) | 440 | 75.5% |
| 8 | Southampton (SO) | 436 | 81.2% |
| 9 | Edinburgh (EH) | 431 | 74.7% |
| 10 | Ashford (TN) | 428 | 79.6% |
| 11 | Norwich (NR) | 397 | 78.0% |
| 12 | Guildford (GU) | 388 | 78.0% |
| 13 | Ipswich (IP) | 381 | 79.5% |
| 14 | Birmingham (B) | 381 | 82.5% |
| 15 | Glasgow (G) | 378 | 81.8% |
| 16 | Oxford (OX) | 367 | 78.9% |
| 17 | Cardiff (CF) | 363 | 79.3% |
| 18 | Doncaster (DN) | 363 | 81.1% |
| 19 | Gloucester (GL) | 344 | 75.4% |
| 20 | Swansea (SA) | 342 | 78.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Volvo XC70 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 XC70
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 771 | 81.8% |
| South West | 749 | 77.2% |
| Scotland | 637 | 76.3% |
| East of England | 528 | 82.4% |
| Yorkshire | 518 | 79.5% |
| North West | 467 | 80.9% |
| West Midlands | 305 | 84.6% |
| East Midlands | 294 | 84.0% |
| North East | 255 | 80.8% |
| Wales | 233 | 81.5% |
| London | 34 | 85.3% |
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 2012 XC70
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 2012 XC70
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 coil springs 4.8% 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 lights 3.8% 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 suspension joints 2.4% of tests
“track rod end ball joint has excessive play”
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 2012 XC70 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£98 — and 29% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£98
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot split or…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 29%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 4,791 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 XC70, side by side
16 model years on record, from 2002 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.3% to 84.9% — a spread of 14.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 74.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 70.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 71.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 72.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 72.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 74.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 79.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 80.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 80.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 80.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 80.4%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 82.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 83.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 84.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 84.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 83.9% linkage ball joints ball joint…
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 2012 Volvo XC70 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Verso 80.4%
- Mercedes-Benz Cls 80.4%
- BMW 520 80.5%
- London Taxis Int TX4 80.5%
- Peugeot 107 80.1%
- BMW X3 80.8%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Volvo XC70 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 6,875 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 | 1,458 | 21.00% | 20.98% | +0.02 |
| Tyres | 1,408 | 20.30% | 19.76% | +0.54 |
| Brakes | 1,317 | 19.00% | 20.89% | −1.89 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,014 | 14.60% | 12.21% | +2.39 |
| Steering | 533 | 7.70% | 2.57% | +5.13 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 282 | 4.10% | 5.57% | −1.47 |
| Non-component advisories | 269 | 3.90% | 4.18% | −0.28 |
| Visibility | 262 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 205 | 3.00% | 5.52% | −2.52 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 127 | 1.80% | 1.76% | +0.04 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.8% | £25–65 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.6% | £80–250 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 2.1% | £80–250 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.0% | £80–200 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 1.7% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.6% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £5–25 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £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 | 15.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.3% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.4% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 6.8% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 6.3% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 3.6% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 13 | 92.3% | 23,542 mi |
| 30-60k | 349 | 87.7% | 48,485 mi |
| 60-90k | 988 | 82.2% | 76,729 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,361 | 81.0% | 105,020 mi |
| 120k+ | 2,078 | 77.8% | 153,516 mi |
Source: 4,791 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.
2012 XC70 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Volvo XC70?
80.4% of the 4,791 2012 Volvo XC70 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 75.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Volvo XC70?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (4.80%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.76%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.59%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Volvo XC70 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.3% of the time, falling to 77.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Volvo XC70 in this dataset had covered 113,164 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Volvo XC70?
Diesel: 80.2% pass rate across 4,719 tests. Petrol: 90.3% pass rate across 72 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Volvo XC70 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 81.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 79.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.