All generations and engines together · 13,725 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 68k
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. 5,122 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 3.2 DI-D (4M41) diesel, carbon build-up wears the check-ball seat in the timing chain tensioner, which can let the chain rattle and, in the worst case, snap and wreck the engine. Mitsubishi issued a UK recall (R/2015/004) covering roughly 11,400 vehicles built between October 2006 and March 2014, so a genuine tensioner replacement should already show on the history for cars in that window. A cheap nylon cam chain top guide inside the same mechanism is also known to wear from around 70-90k miles; replacing it early is a tenner, letting it fail can mean a full rebuild running into five figures.
Diesel owners repeatedly report rough running, black smoke and occasional limp mode, especially after a spell of motorway driving followed by a cold restart. The EGR valve clogging with carbon is the usual explanation and cleaning it fixes the symptoms for a while, but several owners say it comes back within a few months. No manufacturer bulletin or recall covers this, it's treated as a wear item rather than a fault Mitsubishi has owned up to.
Across model years from the early 2000s through to the 2011-on facelift, auto-box Shoguns turn up with the same complaint: reluctance to select drive or reverse from cold, momentary loss of drive pulling away from a junction, or getting stuck in one gear. It doesn't seem tied to one specific year or mileage band, which points to wear in the valve body or shift solenoids rather than a single bad batch. A sensor or solenoid fix can be cheap, but a full rebuild runs into four figures, so get any auto car driven properly cold and warm before buying.
As a ladder-frame 4x4 that's often used off-road or left outside, the Shogun rots in the usual spots: inner sills, chassis rails near body mounting points, and the fuel filler pipe, which lets water and rust into the system as it perishes. This is exactly the kind of corrosion the MOT prescribed-area rule fails cars for, and real MOT records show Shoguns going down for chassis corrosion near mounting points. It's an age-and-storage issue rather than a manufacturer defect, so there's no recall, just a strong case for checking the underside properly.
Owners flag premature front pad and disc wear as a running cost of the Shogun, put down to the vehicle's weight and its use for towing. The measured MOT data for this class backs that up: brakes is the standout fault for large SUVs generally, and a heavy, often-towing Shogun fits that pattern rather than being an outlier. It's consumable wear rather than a design fault, but budget for pads and discs coming round sooner than on a lighter car.
A scatter of owners report central locking dropping out, intermittent dashboard warning lights, and general wiring niggles across different model years, with no obvious single cause. Some owners shrug these off as typical for an ageing 4x4 with a lot of wiring exposed to water and mud, others find them a genuine nuisance that's hard to pin down. There's no recall or pattern tight enough to call it a manufacturer-level fault, it's more a case of buying an older vehicle.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Family & large SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.