Does the Toyota Prius fail the MOT on noise, emissions and leaks more than it should?

The Toyota Prius records 0.93 noise, emissions and leaks failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 2.98 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−2.05, 95% interval −2.09 to −2.01). It ranks 549 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 Toyota Prius by registration

What exactly fails on noise, emissions and leaks?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Toyota Prius is “Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction”, recorded 6,917 times in 2019–2024.

Toyota Prius: most frequent noise, emissions and leaks defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction	6,917	0.82
An induction or exhaust leak that could affect emissions levels	166	0.02
Emission control equipment fitted by the manufacturer missing, obviously modified or obviously defective	164	0.02
Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users	129	0.02
Emissions test unable to be completed	112	0.01

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 842,178 (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 Toyota Prius gets a noise, emissions and leaks advisory, how often does it fail next time?

3.9% of Toyota Prius 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 8,568 miles later (6,409 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 6,409 (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 Toyota Prius fail the MOT on noise, emissions and leaks more than it should?

What exactly fails on noise, emissions and leaks?

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

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Other pages for this model