All generations and engines together · 61,787 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 63k
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. 5,461 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 old 2.2 D-4D unit, fitted to Auris/Corolla models up to around 2012, can struggle to complete a DPF regeneration on short, low-speed runs. When the ECU keeps dumping extra fuel to try to burn the filter clean, that fuel can wash oil off the cylinder bores and damage the piston rings. Toyota treated this seriously enough to extend the warranty on affected diesels to five years. On a high-mileage, town-only example, check the dipstick for a rising oil level or a diesel smell.
Earlier Auris/Corolla cars offered a MultiMode single-clutch robotised manual rather than a true automatic. Owners report harsh, jerky downshifts on the approach to junctions and, in a few cases, the actuator or software locking the box in first gear until it is manually reset. It tends to show itself early rather than developing with age, so it is more about knowing what you're buying than a wear item. No recall has been issued; owners' own fix is a reset or actuator replacement.
On the Auris/Corolla hybrids, the small 12V battery under the bonnet runs the electronics and can go flat if the car sits unused for two or three weeks, which strands the whole hybrid system. Separately, one owner's high-voltage pack was flagged by an AA inspector as able to fail 'at any time' after the car cut out at a junction. Never jump-start it the normal way; a flat hybrid needs a slow trickle charge on the 12V side, not a boost.
Honest John's reader reports include a clutch replacement at just 6,000 miles on a 2016 car, another failure at 35,000 miles, and an older report of a dual-mass flywheel and clutch going at 27,000 miles on a 2007 1.6. The spread of mileages, from very low to fairly ordinary, makes it hard to call a consistent design fault rather than a handful of unlucky cars or hard driving. Where a cost was quoted, replacement including the dual-mass flywheel ran to around £595.
Older Auris/Corolla sat-nav units have been reported giving reversed left/right directions on a specific software version, which Toyota fixed with a free dealer update, and the screen can be hard to read in bright sunlight. On Corolla built before the 2023 facelift, the Toyota Touch 2 infotainment is widely described as dated and fiddly next to rivals; Toyota replaced it with a noticeably slicker system from 2023 onward.
A handful of owners report electric power steering problems: one 2007 diesel needed a new power steering controller at 25,000 miles, with the part free under warranty and about £80 in labour; a 2011 car developed a knocking steering column traced to a worn universal joint, around £400 to fix; and one 2007 1.4 needed a full new column at roughly £1,000. These read more like isolated component failures than one shared design flaw, but worth budgeting for on an older car out of warranty.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Family hatchbacks), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.