All generations and engines together · 13,933 MOT tests in the 2025 data
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. 13,922 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 iQ 1.0 manual uses the same engine and clutch as the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1, and all four shared a run of premature clutch failures, sometimes at little more than 12,000 miles and typically inside the first three years. Toyota moved to a bigger, stronger clutch from around January 2009 as a running change, and dealers have been known to help with goodwill repairs on affected cars. A full clutch job on a car this size typically runs to a few hundred pounds.
Soot can build up in the exhaust manifold and EGR passages on the 1.0 and 1.33 petrol engines, showing up as flat, breathless performance pulling away or climbing hills and slip roads. Toyota addressed it with a technical bulletin covering a redesigned exhaust manifold, fitted to cars from around mid-2010, and separate bulletins cover manifold-related rattling and check-engine codes on earlier cars. Sorting it properly, rather than just clearing the fault code, can run to four figures.
Owners repeatedly report the manual gearbox losing synchromesh between 2nd and 3rd, or 3rd and 4th, so the change crunches or needs a double-shift, sometimes on cars with a full service history and unremarkable mileage. Toyota hasn't put out a fix for it, so each case gets treated on its own merits by dealers. Repairs range from a few hundred pounds for a partial rebuild to well over a thousand for a full gearbox strip.
The auto-only iQ uses a CVT-type Multidrive gearbox, and owners and independent guides both flag it starting to feel rough from roughly 40,000 to 50,000 miles: hesitant or jerky changes, and a shudder in the 40-60km/h range at low revs. It doesn't affect the manual car at all. If the actuator or internals need attention rather than just a fluid change, budget for a significant bill given the car's low resale value.
Owners and independent MOT analysis both point the same way here: brakes are the single most common problem area for the iQ across its MOT history, with discs and pads wearing faster than you'd expect and reports of warped discs turning up on higher-mileage cars. Because the car itself is cheap, a set of discs and pads that would barely register on a bigger Toyota looks expensive in proportion. Budget roughly £150-£300 for a front axle, more if calipers are sticking too.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (City cars), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.