MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Toyota Corolla — MOT statistics 2024

The Toyota Corolla failed 24.99% of 117,437 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 92.7 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 7% less often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 92.7, 95% CI 91.8–93.6 (100 = national average) 100 92.7 0 200
Index
92.7
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
24.99%
n = 117,437
Dangerous /100
11
national ≈11
Diesel − petrol
+2.4 pp
fail-rate gap
Rank
379 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Volkswagen Passat (index 92.4) — the two published results are 0.3 index points apart.

Toyota Corolla common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Suspension is well below the reference at 11.3 per 100 tests, against 25.0 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Toyota Corolla common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.

Component-group comparison table

Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Lamps & electrical32.7201,46630.41.07×1.07–1.08
Brakes19.6120,63518.91.03×1.03–1.04
Visibility11.369,54410.71.05×1.05–1.06
Suspension11.369,40425.00.45×0.45–0.45
Tyres7.345,2059.30.79×0.79–0.80
Body & structure6.238,32311.30.55×0.54–0.55
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 615,584 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defectiveHeadlamp reflector or lens slightly defective5.471.095.00×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down…The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements5.642.572.20×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Significant brake effort recorded with no brake…Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake2.891.032.81×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive
Rear registration plate lamp or light source…A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources4.472.831.58×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen3.702.221.66×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Wiper blade defectiveWiper blade defective2.401.261.90×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Suspension joint dust cover severely deterioratedA suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated2.931.901.54×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test
Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm2.932.151.36×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive
Lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a…A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning2.832.091.36×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements3.073.590.85×Check tyre tread depth across the full width

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Toyota Corolla MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Brakes are highest at 48.5 per 100 tests; Non-component advisories are lowest at 8.1 per 100 tests — the gap is 40.4 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Toyota Corolla MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Brakes48.5
Suspension41.9
Tyres36.9
Body & structure8.4
Non-component advisories8.1
Lamps & electrical8.1

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Toyota Corolla against cars of the same age

AgePartToyota CorollaSame age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres4.344.170.17
3 yearsBrakes0.451.77-1.32
3 yearsSuspension0.170.63-0.46
4 yearsTyres4.34.54-0.24
4 yearsBrakes0.662.43-1.77
4 yearsSuspension0.31.21-0.91
5 yearsTyres4.085.06-0.98
5 yearsBrakes0.93.09-2.19
5 yearsSuspension0.762.19-1.43

Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.

If a car like this fails, does it fail again?

A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.

After this year's testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed41.1%48,654
It passed28.2%279,059

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 12.9 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment — 41.9% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.

Adjusted for how much these are actually driven

The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 608,500 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.

Standardised forIndexReading
Age only89.8fails less often than expected
Age and annual mileage89.0fails less often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year8.7%a normal spread of use

Mileage changes little here (-0.8 points): this fleet is driven about as much as the vehicles it is compared with. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.

How the Toyota Corolla compares with cars of its own age and size

Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.

AgeToyota CorollaSame class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years10.55%11.31%-0.75 pp55,000
4 years11.51%14.26%-2.74 pp34,923
5 years11.52%17.43%-5.9 pp16,392
6 years15.43%20.75%-5.33 pp188
7 years26.49%24.32%+2.17 pp151
10 years31.2%35.6%-4.4 pp1,484
11 years34.28%38.66%-4.38 pp5,698
12 years35.55%41.26%-5.71 pp12,622
13 years36.12%43.34%-7.22 pp32,204
14 years36.63%45.14%-8.51 pp51,167
15 years38.66%46.45%-7.79 pp62,277
16 years39.87%47.52%-7.65 pp67,266
17 years40.16%48.02%-7.85 pp65,447
18 years41.07%48.24%-7.17 pp57,417
19 years41.11%47.99%-6.88 pp41,567
20 years41.59%47.59%-6 pp28,716

Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.

How does the Toyota Corolla perform as it gets older?

The Corolla at age 16 is well below the reference at 38.7%, against 43.1% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Toyota Corolla perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–47%.

Takeaway: solid line: this family; dashed: all cars.

Data table
AgeToyota CorollaAll vehiclesGap
310.8%12.4%-1.7 pp
410.9%13.1%-2.2 pp
511.4%15.1%-3.7 pp
1538.1%41.6%-3.5 pp
1638.7%43.1%-4.4 pp
1740.5%43.1%-2.6 pp
1839.5%43.9%-4.3 pp
1940.5%43.5%-3.0 pp
2042.2%41.0%+1.1 pp

Is a Toyota Corolla ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Toyota Corolla MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 67.6%.

Based on 113,809 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.

higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 5,749
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 54,941
6–7 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 49
8 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 18
9 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 28
10–14 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 167
15–17 years60.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 9,102
18 years84.2%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 12,571
19 years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 11,285
20+ years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 19,899

Toyota Corolla petrol vs diesel: which ages best

Diesel is highest at 41.9%; Hybrid is lowest at 10.6% — the gap is 31.3 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Toyota Corolla petrol vs diesel: which ages best — 2024 UK MOT data
Fuel split table
FuelTests% failingGap vs best
Hybrid59,65510.6%+0.0 pp
Petrol49,63339.6%+29.0 pp
Diesel8,08041.9%+31.3 pp

Chart sample sizes: n=60k · n=50k · n=8,080.

How dangerous are Toyota Corolla MOT failures?

Minor defects stand out at 23.8 per 100 tests, against 14.2 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Toyota Corolla MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor23.8014.221.67×
Major62.0552.751.18×
Dangerous11.2511.151.01×

Chart values: Minor 23.8 · Major 62.0 · Dangerous 11.3.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of a Toyota Corolla MOT matter?

Jan is highest at 35.4%; Sep is lowest at 31.6% — the gap is 3.7 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Toyota Corolla MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 27%–37%.

bars: Toyota Corolla · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthToyota CorollaAll vehiclesGap
Jan35.36%31.12%+4.2 pp
Feb34.62%29.99%+4.6 pp
Mar33.27%28.26%+5.0 pp
Apr33.51%29.78%+3.7 pp
May32.17%28.79%+3.4 pp
Jun32.21%28.15%+4.1 pp
Jul32.66%29.33%+3.3 pp
Aug32.78%29.2%+3.6 pp
Sep31.62%28.19%+3.4 pp
Oct33.84%30.34%+3.5 pp
Nov34.69%30.58%+4.1 pp
Dec33.56%29.33%+4.2 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 3.7 percentage points — noticeable seasonality. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.

Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.

Toyota Corolla average mileage by age

At age 16, the middle half of Corollas runs from 96,846 miles to 145,961 miles, against 119,955 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Bars: Toyota Corolla · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–153k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Toyota Corolla MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 3–5, 9.5% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 13.8% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

Does high mileage mean more Toyota Corolla MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Toyota Corolla: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles9.5%9.1–9.8%31,808
3–540-70k miles13.2%12.6–13.7%13,851
3–570-100k miles12.7%11.8–13.6%5,130
3–5100-140k miles13.4%12.2–14.8%2,580
3–5140k+ miles13.8%12.2–15.6%1,569
15+<40k miles21.6%19.7–23.7%1,606
15+40-70k miles29.7%28.7–30.7%8,053
15+70-100k miles38.9%38.1–39.7%14,752
15+100-140k miles44.5%43.8–45.2%18,553
15+140k+ miles48.4%47.4–49.4%9,909

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
318,54628,38044,19120,076
423,22335,44056,26618,585
528,88744,83075,61816,283
1478,357102,325127,39389
1590,489112,751137,9931,264
1696,846119,955145,9613,284
1788,286114,681143,7104,596
1875,492100,718129,51412,583
1977,970103,255130,45811,289
20+75,41499,932125,45419,904

A typical 16-year-old Corolla has ~119,955 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Toyota Corolla fails its MOT most

Dundee area is highest at 45.8%; Blackpool area is lowest at 26.1% — the gap is 19.8 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Toyota Corolla line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75) — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Dundee (DD)45.83%+12.4 pp
Torquay (TQ)43.3%+9.9 pp
Outer Hebrides (HS)43.18%+9.8 pp
Plymouth (PL)43.09%+9.7 pp
Exeter (EX)42.91%+9.5 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Blackpool (FY)26.06%-7.3 pp
Bromley (BR)27.21%-6.2 pp
Enfield (EN)27.62%-5.8 pp
Chelmsford (CM)28.17%-5.2 pp
Southend-on-Sea (SS)28.27%-5.1 pp

Why do areas differ?

For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.

In areas with the highest mot centre density this model fails 6.4 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.47, n=111 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest urban share this model fails 5.2 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.43, n=111 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest terrain gradient this model fails 4.1 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.31, n=66 areas with ≥800 tests).

Toyota Corolla Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
MOT centre density31.3%37.8%+6.5 ppr=0.47
Urban share36.3%31.1%-5.2 ppr=-0.43
Terrain gradient32.8%36.9%+4.1 ppr=0.31

Factors that only mean something combined

Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.

Composite area indicators, each tested against a defect rate we measure
CompositeBuilt fromTested againstrVerdict
Underbody corrosionfrost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1)share of tests with a corrosion defect+0.42holds (116 areas)
Tyre wearrain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisoryshare of tests failing on tyres+0.45holds (116 areas)
Overnight corrosionterraced housing × cars per household × frost daysshare with a corrosion defect+0.41holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index
Deferred maintenancedeprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour ratecars repeating the same advisory−0.26fails (118 areas)
Powertrain stressengine capacity ÷ kerb weightsuspension, brake and emissions failures−0.16fails (22 models)

The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.

All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
Factorrn areasLow-Q fail %High-Q fail %Gap ppLow-Q factorHigh-Q factor
MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles)0.46911131.337.8+6.458.4
Urban share (0–1)-0.43111136.331.1-5.20.41
Terrain gradient (% grade)0.3136632.836.9+4.10.53.7
Distance to coast (km)-0.29711136.532.6-3.96.279.5
Frost days (days/year)0.15311134.635.5+0.911.635.7
Income deprivation (score)-0.1529733.332.4-0.90.10.2
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)0.14211133.635.6+2.0221.2627.5

Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.

Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 28%–42% failing.

Toyota Corolla survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 19 is close to the reference at 100.0%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Toyota Corolla survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
355,000100%10.55%
434,923100%11.51%
516,39263.9%11.52%
61880.7%15.43%
71510.6%26.49%
81480.6%20.95%
91380.5%28.99%
101,4845.8%31.2%
115,69822.2%34.28%
1212,62249.2%35.55%
1332,204100%36.12%
1451,167100%36.63%
1562,277100%38.66%
1667,266100%39.87%
1765,447100%40.16%
1857,417100%41.07%
1941,567100%41.11%

By age 19, at least as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈25,658): the older fleet has not thinned out here, so there is no survivor selection to allow for.

How many miles does a Toyota Corolla last?

100,000+ miles is highest at 39.5%; 200,000+ miles is lowest at 1.3% — the gap is 38.2 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles242,72439.53%
150,000+ miles52,4758.55%
200,000+ miles7,8921.29%

Of 613,979 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 39.5% had reached 100k miles, 8.6% had reached 150k miles, 1.3% had reached 200k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is a Toyota Corolla likely to last?

Bought at age 10 is highest at 133.9 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 4.5 years — the gap is 129.4 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—at least 14.8
10—at least 133.9
12—at least 14.7
15—at least 4.5

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has at least 133.9 expected years of further MOT-present life. The curve is observed only until age 19, so the true figure is likely higher.

Toyota Corolla faults that come together

Body & structure + Emissions & leaks stand out at 6.17×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks7,4726.17×
Identification of the vehicleRoad Wheels555.95× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1005.89× (rough estimate)
SteeringSuspension2,5775.23×
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1,3195.08×
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels2924.96× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks6314.46×
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1814.44× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsTyres3614.31× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSteering644.05× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension2,1414.04×
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems2,8313.81×
Identification of the vehicleTyres7563.76×
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle7143.76×
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks9,6783.75×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels1,0393.72×
BrakesRoad Wheels6243.7×
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle1,4913.68×
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1,2743.65×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belt installation check383.61× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment2,2983.42×
Road WheelsSuspension4063.38× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering2353.37× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsVisibility4683.35× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels2653.35× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension6,1073.32×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems4,0893.32×
Identification of the vehicleVisibility1,0993.27×
Body, chassis, structureSuspension7,9613.22×
Body, chassis, structureSteering1,0033.09×
Identification of the vehicleSuspension8913.09×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks13,0393.05×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres1,1203.03×
BrakesSuspension15,5422.95×
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres3,7612.93×
Identification of the vehicleSteering1112.93× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility1,8012.92×
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering7052.92×
Body, chassis, structureBrakes10,1052.91×
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment34,6822.83×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSpeedometer and speed limiter242.81× (rough estimate)
BrakesTyres9,9962.72×
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility5,7552.69×
TyresVisibility7,9002.6×
BrakesSteering1,7782.57×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering2,8982.53×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres15,3142.52×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility25,4562.51×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension21,9202.51×
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment14,3842.5×
BrakesVisibility15,1662.47×
Body, chassis, structureTyres4,1652.42×
SuspensionTyres6,0892.33×
Body, chassis, structureVisibility6,4622.25×
SuspensionVisibility9,5882.2×
SteeringVisibility1,2372.16×
SteeringTyres7412.16×
Seat belt installation checkSuspension18too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkVisibility17too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belt installation check17too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belt installation check14too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterSuspension12too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterVisibility12too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSpeedometer and speed limiter11too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSpeedometer and speed limiter11too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belt installation check10too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterTyres9too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSpeedometer and speed limiter8too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkTyres6too few (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSpeedometer and speed limiter5too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems5too few (rough estimate)
Buses and coaches supplementary testsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment5too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Body, chassis, structure» and «Noise, emissions and leaks» appear together 6.17× more often than chance (7,472 co-occurrences in the same test; lift≥1.3, n≥500).

Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).

Is low mileage better for a Toyota Corolla?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 23.3%, against 38.1% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year23.28%22,262
8–12k miles/year38.05%34,271
Gap (low − normal)-14.77 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
1123.169536.921,300-13.77 pp
1223.7123238.562,759-14.86 pp
1326.3653540.64,862-14.25 pp
1426.6187242.136,397-15.52 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
56.3341118.13193-11.81 pp
1019.599733.83269-14.24 pp
1120.1232335.451,041-15.32 pp
1224.551,16138.692,251-14.15 pp
1324.425,85541.185,496-16.75 pp
1426.2110,61443.38,879-17.09 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 23.3% vs 38.0% for 8–12k miles/year — 14.8 pp lower (n_low=22,262, n_normal=34,271). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 26.5% low-use vs 41.5% normal (-15.0 pp).

Which Toyota Corolla engine is best?

petrol 1.8–2.0 is highest at 114.7; petrol 1.0–1.2 is lowest at 82.3 — the gap is 32.4 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Engine bands against this model's own failure rate at the same ages
FuelCapacityvs own age normRaw fail %Tests
petrol1.0–1.2 litre82.38.22%3,152 (rough estimate)
petrol1.5–1.8 litre9838.51%249,116
petrol1.2–1.5 litre10039.77%157,994
diesel1.2–1.5 litre102.339.86%8,508
dieselover 2.0 litre104.739.09%40,717
petrolover 2.0 litre108.639.24%316 (rough estimate)
diesel1.5–1.8 litre109.541.55%284 (rough estimate)
diesel1.8–2.0 litre110.643.5%28,148
petrol1.8–2.0 litre114.736.75%1,034 (rough estimate)

Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel 1.8–2.0 runs at 110.6 against this model's own age norm while the petrol 1.5–1.8 runs at 98 — a spread of 12.6 points between two cars that share a name.

Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.

Best year for a Toyota Corolla, and the years to avoid

Build year 2019 is highest at 104.6; Build year 2001 is lowest at 90.5 — the gap is 14.1 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Toyota Corolla build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Toyota Corolla by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
2020100.397.2–103.410.72%37,298no different
2019104.6101.9–107.411.31%48,637worse
201093.879.5–108.132.17%516no different
200998.194.6–101.634.76%8,771no different
200898.896.7–100.836.26%24,423no different
200798.296.6–99.936.99%35,758better
200696.996–97.937.44%98,169better
200598.697.6–99.638.95%94,630better
2004102.9101.7–104.141.69%66,160worse
2003102.9101.5–104.242.3%51,795worse
2002102100.4–103.642.29%36,881worse
200190.588.3–92.737.97%17,480better
200095.492.5–98.340.46%10,381better
199994.691.4–97.840.69%8,284better
1998104.199.9–108.445.29%5,098no different

The best build year here is 2001 and the weakest is 2019. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 10 of 15 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Toyota Corolla MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £102.09 to £193.97, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£102–194
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment32.7 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£45.78
Brakes19.6 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£29.40
Suspension11.3 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£20.34
Tyres7.3 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£6.57

Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £102 to £194, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.

Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.

For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Toyota Corolla running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 19 stand out at 40.0%, against 11.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 5
11
vehicles needing work
At age 19
40
other cars of this model tested at age 19 in 2024
Repairs per 100
£10,209
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 44.16% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
310.76%28,38020,076-0.7 pp
410.88%35,44018,585-0.5 pp
511.43%44,83016,283+0.0 pp
1538.13%112,7511,264+26.7 pp
1638.7%119,9553,284+27.3 pp
1740.51%114,6814,596+29.1 pp
1839.52%100,71812,583+28.1 pp
1940.46%103,25511,289+29.0 pp

No single year stands out as the point where this model starts costing more: the year-to-year steps in its failure rate are too small or rest on too few tests to name one (D1 rule: a step is named only with at least 2,000 tests on both sides and a jump above 3 percentage points).

Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.

Toyota Corolla rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility stands out at 1.34×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
1.34×
1.02% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
18th
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 111 postcode areas

This Toyota Corolla fails on corrosion more often than average once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are gentler than most for the models we publish. Those two point in opposite directions, which is the informative case: it rusts more than average despite living in gentler places, so the cause is the car, not the postcode.

Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.

Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.

Does a Toyota Corolla advisory become a failure?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 32.5%; Road wheels are lowest at 1.5% — the gap is 31.0 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Toyota Corolla chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Toyota Corolla, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Lamps & electrical 32.5% · Brakes 17.8% · Suspension 15.3% · Body & chassis 13% · Tyres 9.1% · Noise, emissions, leaks 8.6% · Seat belts & restraints 6.2% · Steering 5%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment32.5%12 months4,64725,647
Brakes17.8%12 months4,120121,713
Suspension15.3%12 months4,46584,475
Body, chassis, structure13.0%12 months4,27827,368
Tyres9.1%12.1 months4,839100,379
Noise, emissions and leaks8.6%12 months4,82826,891
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems6.2%12.1 months4,6743,733
Steering5.0%12 months5,0863,965
Identification of the vehicle3.7%12.1 months4,67427,592
Road wheels1.5%12.2 months3,5501,786

This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.

Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 33 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 4,647 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.

What will fail next on a Toyota Corolla?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 15-19 are highest at 31.9%; Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a passed at age 3-5 are lowest at 2.1% — the gap is 29.9 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedVisibility 3.8% · Tyres 3.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 2.1%30,541
<3advisoryVisibility 6.8% · Tyres 5.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 2.6%7,702
<3failureVisibility 6.5% · Tyres 5.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.0%3,918
3-5passedVisibility 4.1% · Tyres 3.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 2.1%18,786
3-5advisoryVisibility 7.0% · Tyres 5.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.4%5,759
3-5failureVisibility 6.4% · Tyres 6.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.1%3,233
6-8passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 9.0% · Tyres 3.0% · Visibility 3.0%167 (rough estimate)
6-8advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 17.9% · Visibility 10.4% · Brakes 9.0%67 (rough estimate)
6-8failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 26.2% · Visibility 15.5% · Suspension 5.9%84 (rough estimate)
9-11passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.6% · Visibility 6.4% · Brakes 5.1%4,374
9-11advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 16.9% · Visibility 10.1% · Brakes 8.2%3,859
9-11failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.7% · Visibility 12.6% · Brakes 10.2%4,045
12-14passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.8% · Brakes 7.8% · Visibility 6.5%34,328
12-14advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 22.6% · Brakes 11.9% · Visibility 10.2%36,341
12-14failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 28.2% · Brakes 15.8% · Visibility 12.6%38,915
15-19passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 15.9% · Brakes 9.8% · Visibility 6.9%53,902
15-19advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 24.7% · Brakes 14.5% · Suspension 10.9%73,224
15-19failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 31.9% · Brakes 19.3% · Suspension 13.7%79,983
20+passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 9.2% · Body, chassis, structure 8.0% · Brakes 7.7%12,986
20+advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 16.2% · Suspension 13.1% · Body, chassis, structure 12.1%16,111
20+failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.3% · Suspension 17.5% · Brakes 16.4%17,523
unknownpassedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 15.4% · Body, chassis, structure 11.5% · Visibility 11.5%52 (rough estimate)
unknownfailureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 19.7% · Suspension 10.3% · Visibility 10.3%117 (rough estimate)

The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.

The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.

Toyota Corolla ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 53.0%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 2.8% — the gap is 50.2 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
44.16%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.555
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
26.44%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
0.988%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 131,305 failures followed through to their re-test, 44.16% were repaired and passed the same day and 53.02% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 389,221 defect items were cleared in the process.

Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.555 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 4,370 miles a year across 137,404 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.

Two populations hide inside one model. 26.44% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 39.3% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.

Odometer anomalies: 0.988% of 137,585 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 15,822 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.

Toyota Corolla safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 38.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Toyota Corolla recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Toyota Corolla. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2011: 0 · 2012: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2014: 0 · 2015: 6 · 2016: 0 · 2017: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2022: 0 · 2023: 2 · 2024: 0 · 2025: 4.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Toyota Corolla
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2025/27024/11/202530,141Combination Meter Reprogramming on Multiple Models
R/2025/27024/11/20259Combination Meter Reprogramming on Multiple Models
R/2024/51420/01/2025180High-Pressure Fuel Pump replacement on multiple models
R/2024/46317/01/202531,809Brake actuator Skid control ECU reprogram on Certain Toyota Corolla 24SD-146
R/2023/29820/11/20235,440Affected vehicles are fitted with a high-pressure fuel pump which over time could develop
All 38 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2025/27024/11/202519/08/2022 – 06/05/202530,141Combination Meter Reprogramming on Multiple Models
R/2025/27024/11/202521/02/2022 – 07/11/20249Combination Meter Reprogramming on Multiple Models
R/2024/51420/01/202501/12/2018 – 30/11/2022180High-Pressure Fuel Pump replacement on multiple models
R/2024/46317/01/202516/01/2023 – 05/11/202431,809Brake actuator Skid control ECU reprogram on Certain Toyota Corolla 24SD-146
R/2023/29820/11/202318/06/2018 – 10/11/20225,440Affected vehicles are fitted with a high-pressure fuel pump which over time could develop
R/2023/27912/10/202314/12/2020 – 04/08/202327,327On affected vehicles there is a possibility that the DCM may not complete the shutdown pro
R/2021/31515/11/202105/10/2020 – 19/02/202126,575THE EMERGENCY CALLING SYSTEM (eCall) MAY NOT FUNCTION WHEN REQUIRED
R/2021/31515/11/202104/11/2020 – 23/02/202126,575THE EMERGENCY CALLING SYSTEM (eCall) MAY NOT FUNCTION WHEN REQUIRED
R/2021/18528/06/202118/06/2018 – 10/10/20195,440THE INSIDE OF THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP MAY BE WORN OR DAMAGED OVER TIME DURING OPERATIO
R/2021/10431/05/202102/03/2015 – 09/11/201724,241THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION COOLER COULD DEVELOP AN INTERNAL
R/2020/33714/12/202015/06/2019 – 20/05/20209,751A POSSIBILITY THAT A BOLT OF THE BRAKE PEDAL BRACKET MAY NOT HAVE BEEN TORQUED CORRECTLY
R/2019/12419/06/201924/01/2019 – 15/02/201919THE PANORAMIC GLASS ROOF DEFLECTOR MAY NOT BE SECURED CORRECTLY
R/2019/12211/05/201931/10/2018 – 06/04/20193,484THE EMERGENCY CALLING SYSTEM MAY NOT BE ENABLED
R/2018/34021/01/201930/08/2007 – 11/05/201085,909A POTENTIAL CRACK COULD DEVELOP IN THE FUEL EVAPORATIVE EMISSION CONTROL UNIT MOUNTED IN T
R/2018/30617/12/201809/07/2002 – 11/06/2004131,435AIR BAG CONTROL MODULE FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM COULD BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO INTER
R/2018/30717/12/201829/08/2000 – 01/02/200799,588FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAG INFLATORS CONTAINING DEGRADED PROPELLANT MAY RESULT IN AN INFLATOR
R/2018/15131/07/201812/12/2010 – 04/10/201612,182REPLACEMENT AIRBAG INFLATOR INSTALLED IN AN INCORRECT ORIENTATION
R/2017/08724/03/201706/01/2003 – 26/03/200456,143AIRBAG INFLATOR MAY RUPTURE
R/2017/08724/03/201707/10/2002 – 11/06/200456,143AIRBAG INFLATOR MAY RUPTURE
R/2017/08724/03/201730/07/2004 – 18/09/200456,143AIRBAG INFLATOR MAY RUPTURE
R/2017/08724/03/201702/11/2001 – 10/05/200456,143AIRBAG INFLATOR MAY RUPTURE
R/2016/23609/01/201713/09/2002 – 17/01/20031,248DRIVER'S SIDE AIRBAG INFLATOR MAY RUPTURE
R/2015/20601/12/201513/06/2005 – 31/12/2010123,306RISK OF FIRE
R/2015/09615/06/201501/02/2001 – 30/03/2007542,751PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG MAY FAIL TO DEPLOY CORRECTLY
R/2015/09615/06/201525/10/2006 – 24/11/2008542,751PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG MAY FAIL TO DEPLOY CORRECTLY
R/2015/09615/06/201510/05/2004 – 05/06/2007542,751PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG MAY FAIL TO DEPLOY CORRECTLY
R/2015/09615/06/201501/02/2007 – 30/03/2007542,751PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG MAY FAIL TO DEPLOY CORRECTLY
R/2014/16007/01/201517/11/2008 – 19/11/20147,884RISK OF FIRE
R/2013/04817/04/201308/01/2001 – 15/11/200385,405PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG MAY FAIL TO DEPLOY CORRECTLY
R/2012/14503/12/201206/07/2001 – 31/03/200461,910LOSS OF STEERING
R/2012/14503/12/201221/08/2002 – 14/10/200861,910LOSS OF STEERING
R/2006/10313/09/200601/10/2001 – 01/06/200239,372STEERING MAY FAIL
R/2006/10313/09/200601/10/2001 – 30/06/200239,372STEERING MAY FAIL
R/2004/16825/04/200501/09/1999 – 01/09/20006,936BRAKE FLUID MAY LEAK
R/2003/04118/02/200325/10/2000 – 25/10/20001PASSENGER FRONT AIR BAG CONCERN
R/2002/17116/12/200203/08/2002 – 09/10/200250TWO GEARS MAY BE SELECTED AT THE SAME TIME
R/2002/09811/07/200205/03/2002 – 30/05/20024,025BRAKE PEDAL STROKE MAY INCREASE
R/2002/05220/05/200222/11/2001 – 04/04/20026,617REAR BRAKE AND HUB SECURITY CONCERN

DVSA lists 38 safety recall campaigns for the Toyota Corolla, covering roughly 3,353,717 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.

Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.

Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.

Toyota Corolla technical service bulletins: what dealers are told

US market, Toyota COROLLA and its variants, model years 2019–2022 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.

NHTSA manufacturer communications are 396.

bigger number = more recorded dealer communicationsnot affected vehicles or confirmed faults

These are the issues the manufacturer fixes quietly: service communications sent to dealers without a public recall campaign. They show what the service network has been told even when the issue never became news.

United States · NHTSA manufacturer communications

US technical service bulletins by communication year; leading subjects cover the full file
Communication yearBulletinsLeading subjects across all years
20011
  • Equipment (171)
  • Electrical system (102)
  • Structure (84)
  • Engine (44)
  • Adaptive and mobility equipment (24)
  • Engine and cooling (18)
  • Back Over Prevention (13)
  • Lane Departure (9)
20161
201815
201971
2020111
202136
202259
202319
202459
202517
20266

Caveat worth stating plainly: this is NHTSA data about US-specification cars. British cars sold under the same name often use different gearboxes, engines and equipment, so a bulletin may describe a component that was never fitted here. The file counts dealer communications, not affected vehicles or confirmed failures, and it cannot tell you whether an individual UK car has the issue. A communication can carry more than one subject tag, so topic counts do not have to add up to the total. Source: NHTSA Manufacturer Communications API (US-market vehicles; queried model years 2015-2022). Licence: U.S. Government work / public domain · retrieved 2026-09-25.

Toyota Corolla owner complaints: what goes wrong

US market, Toyota COROLLA and its variants, model years 2019–2022 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.

Engine (not MOT-tested) is highest at 203; Visibility is lowest at 43 — the gap is 160.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

Owner complaints (US) against actual MOT failures (UK) for the same component groups
ComponentComplaintsShareMOT fail items per 100MOT rankAgreement
Engine (not MOT-tested)20325.4%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Restraints13817.3%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Transmission (not MOT-tested)13016.3%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Lamps & electrical11514.4%32.7#1complained about and fails often
Brakes637.9%19.6#2complained about and fails often
Visibility435.4%11.3#3complained about and fails often

Two different populations answering two different questions: the MOT records what an inspector can measure once a year, the complaint file records what annoyed or frightened an owner on the road. A component high in one column and absent from the other is the interesting case — driver-assistance and electronics dominate complaints while almost never appearing as an MOT failure item.

What the reports actually say
Slave cylinder on clutch failed and leaked fluid in to clutch and flywheel. Clutch pedal would not rebound after being pressed in to shift gear, stuck in middle of road trying to get vehicle in first gear. Had vehicle towed to dealership, estimate of 5800 to repair. Apparently this is a known problem with this manual transmission, many others have experienced similar failure at around 60,000 miles.
NHTSA complaint, filed 09/10/2026 · POWER TRAIN
I was driving on a two lane state road. Two vehicles we traveling in front of me in the left lane. The further vehicle in left decide to make a sudden stop at a traffic light. The silver sedan behind that vehicle was traveling too close to react appropriately. The sedan avoid the vehicle in front of it and impeded into my lane and collide with my vehicle. My airbags in my 2019 Corolla failed to deploy.
NHTSA complaint, filed 05/04/2026 · AIR BAGS

US owners have filed 800 complaints about the equivalent Toyota Corolla to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 75 that mention a crash, 4 a fire and 62 an injury. These are owner reports, not verified findings — but they are the only large public record of what drivers themselves notice, and they cover the years between MOT tests.

Caveat worth stating plainly: US-specification cars, self-selected reporters, no denominator — complaint counts scale with how many cars were sold there and how motivated owners are to file. The mechanical gap matters as much as the statistical one: American cars of the same name often carry different gearboxes, engines and equipment — automatics where Britain buys manuals — so a drivetrain complaint filed in Ohio may describe a part that was never fitted here. Read the ranking inside a model, not between models, and treat drivetrain entries with particular caution. Source: NHTSA ODI consumer complaints (US market, public domain) — US-spec vehicles, indicative only.

Toyota Corolla inspection results in other countries

Finland Katsastus is well below the reference at 21.5%, against 26.3% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)24.99%26.01%-1 pp117,437
FinlandKatsastus21.5%26.3%-4.8 pp43,942
NetherlandsAPK49.9%50.8%-0.9 pp24,064
NorwayPKK38.5%33.7%+4.8 pp18,141

The countries disagree about this car, and that is worth saying out loud rather than averaging away. A model can sit above its national average in one country and below it in another because the fleets are not the same cars: different model years, different engines, different roads and salt, and inspection rules that weight components differently. Treat each row as evidence from one regime, not as a verdict.

What Finland fails it for — share of recorded faults
Fault areaShare
Brake systems48.8%
Chassis and body23.3%
Axles, wheels and suspension13.6%
Environmental hazards7.7%
Steering equipment2.1%

Useful as a cross-check on the UK defect table above: the categories are named differently, but a component that dominates in both regimes is a genuine weak point of the model rather than an artefact of one country's testing style.

The exact faults Netherlands records — APK defect codes, 2024
CodeFaultRecordedType
210Tyre pressure not at the correct value4,162failure
205Tyre with insufficient tread2,240failure
391Wipers leave insufficient visibility2,073failure
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed1,679failure
289Schijf-, trommelrem loopt niet vrij1,612failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread1,571advisory
522Dipped-beam cut-off line unclear1,484failure
497Number-plate light not working or missing1,481failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 1.317 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.

Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Toyota Corolla is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.

Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: Traficom — Periodic inspections of cars by model / by model and fault object 2024, CC BY 4.0; RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.; Statens vegvesen — Periodisk kjøretøykontroll (PKK) 2024, CC BY 4.0. Adapted; licences and full notice.

Toyota Corolla MOT: quick answers

Toyota Corolla MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 92.7, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

What is the Toyota Corolla first-time MOT pass rate?
75.01% of first attempts passed in 2024 (117,437 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
Why does this number differ from other sites?
Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 24.99% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 117,437 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 92.7 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Toyota Corolla with other cars

Audi A1 is highest at 93.1; Seat Leon is lowest at 91.9 — the gap is 1.2 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Same brand

All Toyota MOT statisticsToyota Yaris MOT statsToyota Aygo MOT stats

Similar risk

Volkswagen Passat (index 92.4)Audi A1 (index 93.1)Seat Leon (index 91.9)

Same size class

how Land Rover Range Rover Sport compareshow Land Rover Discovery Sport compareshow Land Rover Freelander compares

By build year

Toyota Corolla 1998Toyota Corolla 1999Toyota Corolla 2000Toyota Corolla 2001Toyota Corolla 2002Toyota Corolla 2003Toyota Corolla 2004Toyota Corolla 2005Toyota Corolla 2006Toyota Corolla 2007Toyota Corolla 2008Toyota Corolla 2009Toyota Corolla 2010Toyota Corolla 2019Toyota Corolla 2020

By area

Toyota Corolla MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Toyota Corolla body, chassis and structure failuresToyota Corolla brakes failuresToyota Corolla vehicle identification failuresToyota Corolla lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresToyota Corolla noise, emissions and leaks failuresToyota Corolla road wheels failuresToyota Corolla seat belts and airbags failuresToyota Corolla steering failuresToyota Corolla suspension failuresToyota Corolla tyres failuresToyota Corolla visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Toyota Corolla in NorwayToyota Corolla in FinlandToyota Corolla in the Netherlands


Data details & how to cite

Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:toyota-corolla:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Toyota Corolla MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/toyota-corolla/ · Published 2026-07-30.