All generations and engines together · 1,964 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 109k
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. 1,963 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.
On the 2.0 and 2.2 diesel engines the high-pressure fuel pump can wear internally and send metal debris into the injectors, causing a rough idle, misfiring or a flashing glow-plug light. It tends to show up from around 80,000-100,000 miles onwards. A full pump-and-injector job can run to £1,000 or more depending on how many injectors are contaminated. No factory recall exists, but it is a heavily discussed topic on the owners' forums.
Honest John's own notes list suspension components wearing out alongside electrical gremlins as the car's main age-related headache, and owners report steering rack whine as parts age. On four-wheel-drive 2.5 and 3.0 V6 cars it goes further: incorrect rear toe settings or worn alignment cause serious inner-shoulder front tyre wear. The measured MOT data for this model shows a genuine excess of suspension-related failures, so the folklore and the numbers point the same way even if the exact worn part varies car to car.
A scattered but persistent set of niggles: interior and headlight dimming, boot lock solenoids failing once water gets in, central locking that stops responding, and climate control units playing up. None of it is safety-critical and no single part is named in a recall, but it comes up often enough across sources that buyers should expect at least one of these on any given car.
The bottom radiator hose is held on with a simple wire clip instead of a proper jubilee clip, and it can pop off and dump the whole coolant charge with little warning, risking a cooked engine if it goes unnoticed. It's a recognised weak point with a documented fix of refitting a jubilee clip, though the hose is awkward to reach. Worth checking coolant level and hose security at any service or viewing.
On automatic X-Types the ZF gearbox can suffer a fractured clutch piston, bringing on harsh or delayed changes and eventually a failure to select gears properly. Typical repair cost is around £1,750, and reports of it increase once the car is past about four years old. Manual gearbox cars are not affected by this specific fault.
On the 2.5 and 3.0 V6 petrol engines the rubber insert in the bottom crank pulley damper can start to separate, first showing up as a rumble from the front of the engine. Left alone it can fail completely and take the engine with it. Replacement is cheap, around £126 for the part, but only if it's caught before it lets go.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Saloons & estates), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.