All generations and engines together · 1,110,523 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 51k
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 390,147 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The dry dual-clutch PowerShift automatic (fitted to some Mk7/Mk7.5 Fiestas) can judder, hesitate or bang into gear as the clutch packs wear early, because a dry clutch has none of the cooling a wet clutch gets. It's serious enough that Ford agreed cash payments, reimbursements and buybacks for affected Fiesta and Focus owners in 2017 after complaints piled up. A full clutch pack and mechatronic repair runs well into four figures if it's left too long.
The 1.0-litre EcoBoost drives its oil pump off a belt that runs in the oil rather than a chain or dry belt. If the tensioner lets go, belt material sheds into the sump, blocks the oil pickup and starves the engine, sometimes causing total failure with no warning beyond a knock or a sudden loss of oil pressure. Ford's own service interval is 150,000 miles or 10 years, but plenty of failures have turned up nearer 50-60k, which pushed regulators to investigate and Ford to issue a recall covering some affected cars. A full engine rebuild or replacement is £3,000-5,000+; a precautionary belt change is a few hundred pounds and cheap insurance.
Owners regularly report a clonk or knock from the rear over speed bumps and low-speed lumps, blamed variously on torsion beam bushes, loose top mount bolts, or worn rear damper bushes. The measured MOT data for this segment backs up suspension as the standout fault area for superminis generally, so the folklore and the numbers point the same way here. What the forums can't agree on is the exact cause, some fixes turn out to be as simple as retorquing top mount bolts rather than replacing anything.
On manual 1.25/1.4 Duratec petrol and TDCi diesel cars, owners report a shudder through the clutch pedal, worse from cold, which is commonly pinned on the dual-mass flywheel wearing or a failing clutch. It's not universal and some owners drive 100k+ with no issue, so it's more a lottery than a design fault. A clutch and flywheel replaced together typically runs £500-900.
A common electrical niggle on 2011-2018 cars: the heater fan only works flat out on its top setting, or cuts out completely, because water gets past the cowl panel, soaks the cabin filter and drips onto the blower resistor until it fails or blows a fuse. It's a cheap fix, the resistor sits behind the glovebox and takes under half an hour to swap, but it's a nuisance and worth checking on a test drive.
1.4 and 1.5 TDCi diesels that spend their life on short trips struggle to get hot enough to burn off the diesel particulate filter, leading to warning lights, poor economy and occasional forced regens that hammer fuel consumption. The EGR valve can gunge up in the same conditions. Not really a design fault so much as the wrong car for the job; a DPF replacement or professional clean is £500-1,500 if it's left too long. Doesn't apply to petrol Fiestas.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Superminis), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.
Head to head with the other popular cars in its class on reliability and common faults.