2012 Volvo S40 MOT pass rate and common faults
MOT tests in 2025, published 22 Jun 2026. DVSA publishes a new year each summer.
1,219 Volvo S40 cars first used in 2012 had an MOT in 2025, at about 13 years old, and 59.7% passed first time. That is below the 63.5% for all cars first used in 2012.
The year is when the car was first used, as on its V5C log book, not the model year.
Common failures
The share of 2012 Volvo S40 cars tested that failed on, or had fixed at the station, each item. Worth checking before the MOT or before you buy.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Coil spring: fractured or broken | 7.0% |
| Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt | 6.9% |
| Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn | 5.5% |
| Condition: has ply or cords exposed | 3.1% |
| Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm | 3.0% |
| Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick | 2.7% |
Source: DVSA, tests in 2025, published 22 June 2026.
Common advisories
Things the tester noticed that were not bad enough to fail. They often turn into failures later. What advisories mean for the next MOT.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge | 22.9% |
| Pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement | 12.0% |
| Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened | 9.9% |
| Brake pads: wearing thin | 9.8% |
| Condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing | 7.5% |
| Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive | 4.4% |
Source: DVSA, tests in 2025, published 22 June 2026.
Where the faults are
The share of cars tested with at least one failure or fix in each part of the car.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Suspension | 19.6% |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 12.2% |
| Tyres | 9.6% |
| Body, chassis, structure | 8.3% |
| Brakes | 7.0% |
| Visibility | 5.1% |
Source: DVSA, tests in 2025, published 22 June 2026.
Typical mileage
Recorded mileage at the MOT. A car well above this range has done more work than most; one far below is worth a closer look at its MOT history.
| Cars | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,219 | 74,900 | 102,500 miles | 129,100 |
The middle half of cars fall between the low and high figures. Source: DVSA, tests in 2025, published 22 June 2026.
Other Volvo S40 years
| Year | Tests | Passed first time | All cars that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1,219 | 59.7% | 63.5% |
| 2011 | 1,334 | 57.0% | 61.2% |
| 2010 | 1,688 | 58.6% | 59.3% |
| 2009 | 2,096 | 57.6% | 58.3% |
| 2008 | 2,443 | 57.9% | 57.2% |
| 2007 | 1,496 | 58.9% | 57.4% |
| 2006 | 1,334 | 60.3% | 57.0% |
| 2005 | 1,136 | 57.4% | 57.6% |
- Volvo S40 MOT results for all years.
- Years with fewer than 1,000 tests have no page of their own. How these figures are worked out.
Checking one car?
These figures describe groups of cars. A vehicle history report shows the full MOT history, mileage, outstanding finance, write-offs and stolen records for one registration.
Figures from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing data for MOT tests in 2025, published by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. Analysis by Motoring Insider. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. How we work out these figures.
Every dataset we use is listed on our data sources page, with the credit lines on our attribution page.