Does the Volvo V50 fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?

The Volvo V50 records 14.61 brakes failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 17.27 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−2.66, 95% interval −2.83 to −2.49). It ranks 488 of 712 models on brakes (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on brakes · check a Volvo V50 by registration

What exactly fails on brakes?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Volvo V50 is “a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm”, recorded 6,462 times in 2019–2024.

Volvo V50: most frequent brakes defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm	6,462	2.86
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement	5,135	2.27
Parking brake inoperative on one side	2,891	1.28
Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake	2,746	1.22
Excessive fluctuation in brake effort through each wheel revolution.	1,722	0.76

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 225,806 (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 Volvo V50 gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?

13.8% of Volvo V50 MOTs with a brakes advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12.1 months and 6,264 miles later (36,573 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 36,573 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

Does the Volvo V50 fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?

What exactly fails on brakes?

If a Volvo V50 gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?

Related pages

Other pages for this model