All generations and engines together · 46,382 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 39k
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. 19,621 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.
Owners report the power steering cutting out or turning heavy for no clear reason, sometimes with a dashboard warning light and no fault code to explain it, on cars going back to 2011. The MOT data backs up a steering problem on the Venga, but not quite this one: track rod ends wear out well above the class average, typically around 70-75k miles, which points more at worn linkage than a dying steering motor. Either way, budget for steering work earlier than you would on most small cars.
A rattle or thump from the front end over rough roads and speed bumps, reported on cars from 2012 to 2016 and not tied to one engine or gearbox. It lines up with MOT data showing ball joint dust covers splitting above the class average, usually by around 70k miles. Bushes, drop links and ball joints are the usual suspects, none of it expensive on its own, but it adds up if several go at once.
The auto box on early cars can develop a selector that needs real force to move, especially into reverse, caused by a stretched cable or a corroded selector shaft after water gets in. Other reports point to shift quality getting jerkier from around 40-60k miles onward. Does not apply to manual Vengas, which are the majority of cars on the road.
On the CRDi diesels, owners describe a hesitation or lag on acceleration that some call incurable rather than a one-off glitch. It fits with MOT data showing Venga diesels failing on compression-ignition emissions well above the class average, typically by the low 80,000s in miles, the kind of result you get from a filter or EGR system that isn't regenerating properly. Short-journey cars are the ones most likely to suffer, and a proper clean-up isn't cheap.
A scatter of small electrical faults rather than one big one: starter motors sticking intermittently, central locking jamming so rear doors won't open from inside, key fobs dying together, and the stop-start system cutting in and out on its own. MOT data backs up an electrical weak spot too, with rear fog lamps failing above the class average. None of it is one big repair bill, but it's worth testing everything at a viewing rather than assuming it all works.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (MPVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.