Does the Ford Fiesta fail the MOT on noise, emissions and leaks more than it should?

The Ford Fiesta records 4.47 noise, emissions and leaks failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 3.75 expected for a car of the same age mix: more than expected for its class and age (+0.72, 95% interval +0.71 to +0.74). It ranks 162 of 678 models on noise, emissions and leaks (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on noise, emissions and leaks · check a Ford Fiesta by registration

What exactly fails on noise, emissions and leaks?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Ford Fiesta is “Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer”, recorded 74,340 times in 2019–2024.

Ford Fiesta: most frequent noise, emissions and leaks defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer	74,340	0.89
Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction	71,149	0.85
Emissions levels exceed default limits	50,998	0.61
Emissions test unable to be completed	46,332	0.55
Smoke opacity levels exceed the manufacturer's specified limit	41,142	0.49

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 8,370,825 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

If a Ford Fiesta gets a noise, emissions and leaks advisory, how often does it fail next time?

7.9% of Ford Fiesta MOTs with a noise, emissions and leaks advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12 months and 5,225 miles later (234,073 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 234,073 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

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Does the Ford Fiesta fail the MOT on noise, emissions and leaks more than it should?

What exactly fails on noise, emissions and leaks?

If a Ford Fiesta gets a noise, emissions and leaks advisory, how often does it fail next time?

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Other pages for this model