All generations and engines together · 69,602 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 53k
One of the worst small SUVs to buy at this age, but about average per mile driven. Watch corrosion and emissions/leaks. One to judge on its mileage rather than its age, and worth it only if its MOT history has no repeating corrosion advisories.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The 1.2 PureTech petrol engine, shared across several Stellantis models, uses a timing belt that runs inside the engine oil rather than a dry chain or belt. If the oil isn't kept to the right spec, or the belt goes well past its interval, it can shed material and starve the engine of clean oil. Owners describe a rattly cold start, a lit oil pressure or engine light, and repair bills that range from a belt kit to a full engine rebuild if it's caught late. No recall exists for this, so a stamped service history showing the belt was done is the only real protection.
Vauxhall recalled Crossland petrol models built between March 2019 and February 2020 over a high-pressure fuel pump fitted with insufficient torque, which could work loose and leak fuel. This is a genuine manufacturer-issued safety recall, not forum folklore, and dealers were meant to carry out a free fix. The risk for a used buyer is a car from that build window where the recall was never actioned, which does happen with cars that changed hands quickly or came in privately.
A recurring complaint across owner reports and independent garages: the parking brake's release button sticks or breaks, leaving the handbrake either not releasing properly or not holding at all. It's been flagged on cars still fairly young, not just high-mileage ones, and the usual fix is replacing the whole handbrake lever assembly behind the centre console. No manufacturer bulletin has turned up for it, so it reads as a wear-prone part rather than something Vauxhall has formally owned.
Automatic Crosslands are repeatedly described as slow to kick down and jerky or hesitant pulling away from a stop, particularly at low speed in traffic. It doesn't look like one specific part failing so much as how the transmission is mapped, and a fluid service sometimes eases it without curing it outright. Manual cars aren't reported to have the same complaint, so it only matters if you're buying an automatic.
Manual Crosslands used mostly for town driving are reported to wear their clutches early, with slipping, a high biting point, or judder on pull-away being the usual signs. It reads as a wear item rather than a design fault, but it comes up often enough in owner write-ups to budget for on a car with a lot of stop-start miles on the clock. Doesn't apply to automatics.
Several owner forum threads describe water getting into the footwell or door bottoms, usually put down to blocked drain channels or perished door and window seals rather than anything more serious. Corrosion is the measured MOT signature fault for small SUVs in this class, and a car that's sat with a damp sill or footwell for months is exactly the kind of thing that turns into hidden rust later. It's not proof every leak causes rot, but it's the plausible link between what owners complain about and what the data shows, and it costs nothing to check at a viewing.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
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. 20,978 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.
Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.