All generations and engines together · 123,535 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 50k
Better than most superminis, by age and by mileage. Watch brakes and lights & electrics. A solid used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating brakes advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
A shudder or shake through the car when pulling away, worst on a cold engine or after sitting in traffic, is the single most repeated complaint about manual i20s across generations. It shows up anywhere from a few thousand miles on a near-new car to well past 60,000 miles, and dealers often send owners away saying it's 'normal wear'. A clutch kit replacement runs roughly £400-700 independently, more at a main dealer.
Cars with the small three-cylinder 1.0-litre turbo petrol can develop a rattle or chatter on cold start as the timing chain and its tensioner wear, typically from around 40,000-60,000 miles. In the worst reported cases the chain has caught the cam cover and taken the engine with it, and one dealer was quoted as recognising it immediately as 'a known issue' once the engine code came up. This engine is shared across several Hyundai and Kia models, so reports outside the i20 itself back up the pattern. A full repair or engine rebuild can run into four figures.
On the 1.1 and 1.4 CRDi diesel, short runs and town driving let the DPF clog and the EGR gum up with soot, bringing on warning lights, a flat spot under acceleration and sometimes visible smoke. The P1405 EGR-related fault code comes up often enough in diagnostic forums that it's treated as a known weak point on the DCM3.7 ECU used on these engines. Regeneration drives or an EGR clean can sort early cases; a full DPF replacement is closer to £700-1,500 if it's gone too far.
Owners on the Hyundai forums report discs warping within a few thousand miles of fitting, sometimes twice over, with a pedal that pulses or a car that pulls under braking. This tallies with the site's own measured MOT figures, where brakes are the standout fault for this class of car generally, and separate warranty-claim data puts the braking system as the single biggest source of claims on the i20. Pads and discs are cheap parts, £150-300 for a full front set fitted, but if you're doing it every year or two something's off.
The touchscreen can freeze on the Hyundai logo at startup, black out, or drop Bluetooth and CarPlay for several seconds before reconnecting. It's a nuisance rather than a safety issue and a battery disconnect or dealer reset usually clears it for a while, but it tends to come back. Not officially acknowledged as a fault, and a full head unit swap if it fails outright can run several hundred pounds.
On automatic i20s, owners report a jerky or delayed take-up moving off in first gear and harsher-than-expected shifts into second, more common from around 60,000-80,000 miles. A fluid change can settle it in mild cases; in worse ones it points to a tired torque converter or valve body, which is a four-figure job at a specialist. Doesn't apply to manual cars.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
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. 42,986 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.
Same segment (Superminis), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.