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Ford reliability and common MOT problems by model

Ford shows a 20.5% combined MOT failure rate across 5,906,668 tests in Motintel data. Ecosport has one of the lower high-confidence rates at 11.3%. Focus C Max deserves extra checking at 29.5%.

Data sources: DVSA MOT records, official recall records, and MOT fault wording snapshots (2026-04-27, 2026-04-29, rfr_codes_2025-05-12, failure items 2023). Search-indexed model pages must clear 20,000 MOT tests and 10,000 vehicles.

Most reliable Ford models in MOT data

#	Model	MOT failure rate	Tests	Vehicles
1	Ford Ecosport	11.3%	110,311 tests	93,530 vehicles
2	Ford Transit Custom	13.4%	86,593 tests	72,910 vehicles
3	Ford Kuga	14.0%	298,478 tests	246,407 vehicles
4	Ford Transit 350 Leader Ecoblue	16.2%	20,893 tests	16,910 vehicles
5	Ford Transit Courier	16.4%	28,644 tests	23,192 vehicles

Ford models with the highest MOT failure rates

#	Model	MOT failure rate	Tests	Vehicles
1	Ford Focus C Max	29.5%	25,159 tests	18,032 vehicles
2	Ford Transit	24.6%	786,518 tests	581,940 vehicles
3	Ford Fusion	23.7%	75,196 tests	55,988 vehicles
4	Ford Galaxy	23.1%	83,567 tests	60,500 vehicles
5	Ford S Max	22.8%	99,773 tests	74,717 vehicles

Common Ford MOT problem areas

#	Problem area	MOT notes	Models affected	What to check	High-rate examples
1	Corrosion and structure	2,080,892 MOT notes	19 models	Inspect sills, subframes, suspension mounts, brake pipes, and previous welding or rust repairs.	Ford Fusion, Ford Transit, Ford Focus C Max
2	Suspension and steering	937,604 MOT notes	19 models	Listen for knocks, check uneven tyre wear, and ask whether worn joints or bushes have been replaced.	Ford Fusion, Ford Focus C Max, Ford Transit
3	Lights and electrical	686,839 MOT notes	19 models	Test every exterior light, warning lamp, horn, washer, and basic electrical function before buying.	Ford Focus C Max, Ford Transit, Ford Fusion
4	Emissions, engine, and exhaust	613,955 MOT notes	19 models	Check cold starts, exhaust smoke, warning lights, service history, and recent emissions repairs.	Ford Transit Connect, Ford Focus C Max, Ford Fusion
5	Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors	463,054 MOT notes	19 models	Check the windscreen, wipers, washers, mirrors, chips, cracks, and whether the driver's view is clear.	Ford Transit Connect, Ford Transit, Ford Transit Custom
6	Tyres and wheels	133,414 MOT notes	19 models	Look for matching tyres, legal tread, sidewall damage, wheel damage, and uneven wear.	Ford Transit 350 Leader Ecoblue, Ford Transit Custom, Ford Transit Courier

All Ford model reports

Model	MOT tests	Vehicles	Failure rate
Fiesta	1,761,562	1,357,489	21.3%
Focus	1,207,223	944,751	20.3%
Transit	786,518	581,940	24.6%
Kuga	298,478	246,407	14.0%
Mondeo	269,092	206,165	21.8%
Ka	235,069	181,540	21.0%
Transit Connect	213,677	163,474	22.7%
C Max	144,509	113,928	19.2%
Ranger	127,854	101,109	19.3%
Ecosport	110,311	93,530	11.3%
S Max	99,773	74,717	22.8%
Transit Custom	86,593	72,910	13.4%
Galaxy	83,567	60,500	23.1%
Fusion	75,196	55,988	23.7%
B Max	66,017	52,978	17.0%
Grand C Max	45,595	35,129	19.9%
Transit Courier	28,644	23,192	16.4%
Focus C Max	25,159	18,032	29.5%
Transit 350 Leader Ecoblue	20,893	16,910	16.2%
Tourneo limited data	17,628	13,252	17.6%
Tourneo Connect limited data	14,809	11,745	14.9%
Transit Custom 300limitd Eblue limited data	13,724	11,571	13.3%
Mustang limited data	13,181	11,125	12.8%
Escort limited data	12,782	10,714	17.6%
Transit Custom 280limitd Eblue limited data	9,773	8,412	12.7%
Edge limited data	8,857	7,587	11.0%
Transit Custom 300leader Eblue limited data	8,151	6,684	16.0%
Fiesta St Line Edition Turbo limited data	7,823	6,776	8.6%
Puma St Line X Mhev limited data	6,647	6,063	5.2%
Fiesta Trend Turbo limited data	6,558	5,582	9.5%
Puma St Line Mhev limited data	5,672	5,283	4.5%
Fiesta Trend limited data	5,664	4,963	8.5%
Puma St Line X First Ed Mhev limited data	5,535	4,881	5.2%
Allied limited data	4,319	3,521	12.9%
Transit 350 Trend Ecoblue limited data	3,952	3,248	14.9%
Fiesta St Line Edition T Mhev limited data	3,945	3,586	6.5%
Focus St limited data	3,531	2,980	11.2%
Tourneo Custom limited data	3,369	2,602	12.9%
Puma limited data	3,288	2,438	28.3%
Transit Custom 300 Trend Eblue limited data	3,204	2,651	14.3%
Transit Custom 280leader Eblue limited data	3,007	2,530	14.0%
Unclassified limited data	3,002	2,441	18.5%
Transit Custom 320limitd Eblue limited data	2,970	2,540	11.5%
Fiesta Titanium Turbo Mhev limited data	2,867	2,603	7.4%
Capri limited data	2,766	2,411	12.6%
Sierra limited data	2,687	2,371	11.3%
Transit Custom 300lmtd Eblue A limited data	2,615	2,212	12.0%
Transit Custom 340leader Eblue limited data	2,443	2,037	14.4%
Puma Titanium Mhev limited data	2,319	2,115	5.4%
Transit Custom 320lmtd Eblue A limited data	2,279	1,977	10.1%
Fiesta St Line X Edition Turbo limited data	2,111	1,794	10.7%
Puma Titanium limited data	2,060	1,944	3.5%
Transit Custom 320 Trend Eblue limited data	1,964	1,546	17.3%
Transit Custom 320leader Eblue limited data	1,956	1,635	12.7%
Puma Titanium First Ed Mhev limited data	1,902	1,701	3.7%
Focus St Line X Edition Mhev limited data	1,730	1,601	6.5%
Freedom limited data	1,609	1,292	12.2%
Fiesta Stline X Edition T Mhev limited data	1,585	1,475	5.6%
Tourneo Custom 320 Ti Eblue A limited data	1,513	1,256	11.1%
Tourneo Custom 320 Tnium Eblue limited data	1,509	1,249	9.7%
Transit Custom 280 Trend Eblue limited data	1,346	1,157	13.0%
Transit Custom 280lmtd Eblue A limited data	1,343	1,164	10.9%
Puma St Line limited data	1,317	1,233	4.3%
Focus St Line Edition Mhev limited data	1,295	1,186	7.1%
Fiesta Active Edition Turbo limited data	1,269	1,085	9.5%
Freda limited data	1,243	864	31.0%
Focus Titanium Edition Mhev limited data	1,241	1,176	4.3%
Transit 460 Leader Ecoblue limited data	1,198	1,085	6.8%
Roller Team limited data	1,163	1,038	8.3%
Fiesta Active X Edition Turbo limited data	1,116	931	11.3%
Fiesta Vignale Edition Turbo limited data	1,101	973	7.5%

Models with limited data (fewer than 20,000 tests or 10,000 vehicles) have full reports but are not indexed in search engines until the evidence threshold is met.