MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Volvo XC70 — MOT statistics 2024

The Volvo XC70 failed 31.25% of 17,373 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 85.2 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 15% less often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 85.2, 95% CI 83.3–87.1 (100 = national average) 100 85.2 0 200
Index
85.2
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
31.25%
n = 17,373
Dangerous /100
10
national ≈11
Rank
308 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Audi A3 (index 84.8) — the two published results are 0.4 index points apart.

Volvo XC70 common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Suspension is well below the reference at 14.7 per 100 tests, against 20.1 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Volvo XC70 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 & electrical23.826,89023.11.03×1.02–1.05
Suspension14.716,54720.10.73×0.72–0.74
Brakes12.213,82014.70.83×0.82–0.85
Tyres7.88,8049.70.80×0.78–0.82
Visibility6.97,8219.00.76×0.75–0.79
Steering5.36,0023.71.44×1.41–1.49
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 112,839 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 defective2.841.092.60×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Suspension pin, bush or joint excessively wornA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn6.494.871.33×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test
Aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down…The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements4.102.571.60×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
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 functioning3.402.091.63×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
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 sources3.912.831.38×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Spring or spring component fractured or seriously…A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened3.412.861.19×Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm2.552.151.19×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view2.502.361.06×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged2.592.541.02×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements2.433.590.68×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.

Volvo XC70 MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Suspension is highest at 38.1 per 100 tests; Emissions & leaks are lowest at 4.2 per 100 tests — the gap is 33.9 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Volvo XC70 MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Suspension38.1
Tyres37.2
Brakes32.8
Non-component advisories7.6
Lamps & electrical5.4
Emissions & leaks4.2

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

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Volvo XC70 against cars of the same age

AgePartVolvo XC70Same age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres6.894.172.72
3 yearsBrakes2.881.771.11
3 yearsSuspension0.960.630.33
4 yearsTyres6.24.541.66
4 yearsBrakes3.232.430.80
4 yearsSuspension0.971.21-0.24
5 yearsTyres5.995.060.93
5 yearsBrakes2.733.09-0.36
5 yearsSuspension2.282.190.09
6 yearsTyres5.645.540.10
6 yearsBrakes3.453.81-0.36
6 yearsSuspension3.913.720.19
7 yearsTyres5.365.95-0.59
7 yearsBrakes3.314.55-1.24
7 yearsSuspension5.135.68-0.55
8 yearsTyres5.696.31-0.62
8 yearsBrakes3.525.38-1.86
8 yearsSuspension6.357.78-1.43

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 failed33.9%6,584
It passed25.6%62,645

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 8.3 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment — 33.1% 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 112,607 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 only85.5fails less often than expected
Age and annual mileage79.2fails less often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year0.9%a normal spread of use

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 6.3 points — this fleet works harder than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view penalises it — but it does not change which side of normal the car sits on. 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 Volvo XC70 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.

AgeVolvo XC70Same class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years16.32%10.77%+5.55 pp1,146
4 years14.96%12.34%+2.62 pp2,694
5 years16.69%14.16%+2.54 pp4,391
6 years18.23%16.07%+2.16 pp5,978
7 years19.77%18.24%+1.54 pp7,374
8 years22.99%20.52%+2.48 pp9,255
9 years24.45%23.08%+1.37 pp9,710
10 years25.19%25.6%-0.41 pp9,175
11 years26.71%28.24%-1.53 pp8,486
12 years29.47%30.57%-1.1 pp8,384
13 years32.86%32.62%+0.23 pp8,443
14 years35.55%34.57%+0.98 pp8,138
15 years39.2%36.01%+3.19 pp7,668
16 years41.51%37.05%+4.46 pp7,053
17 years43.29%37.42%+5.87 pp5,853
18 years43.8%37.8%+6 pp4,176
19 years45.02%37.4%+7.61 pp2,779
20 years46.9%36.92%+9.98 pp1,356

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 Volvo XC70 perform as it gets older?

The XC70 at age 15 is well below the reference at 29.3%, against 41.6% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Volvo XC70 perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–50%.

Takeaway: a 10-year-old XC70 has roughly a 22% chance of failing its MOT.

Data table
AgeVolvo XC70All vehiclesGap
824.9%23.3%+1.6 pp
921.6%26.5%-5.0 pp
1022.5%30.1%-7.6 pp
1125.1%33.2%-8.1 pp
1229.8%35.7%-5.9 pp
1329.7%38.2%-8.5 pp
1430.2%40.4%-10.3 pp
1529.3%41.6%-12.3 pp
1634.0%43.1%-9.1 pp
1737.7%43.1%-5.4 pp
1840.8%43.9%-3.1 pp
1943.2%43.5%-0.3 pp
2046.3%41.0%+5.3 pp

Is a Volvo XC70 ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Volvo XC70 MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 11.4%.

Based on 17,276 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 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
3–5 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1
6–7 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 16
8 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,024
9 years33.8%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,604
10–14 years1.7%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 7,838
15–17 years4.7%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 3,199
18 years8.7%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,141
19 years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,226
20+ years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,227

How dangerous are Volvo XC70 MOT failures?

Major defects are well below the reference at 49.7 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Volvo XC70 MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor16.5714.221.17×
Major49.7452.750.94×
Dangerous10.3911.150.93×

Chart values: Minor 16.6 · Major 49.7 · Dangerous 10.4.

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

Does the month of a Volvo XC70 MOT matter?

Nov is highest at 31.5%; Mar is lowest at 27.4% — the gap is 4.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Volvo XC70 MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 26%–33%.

bars: Volvo XC70 · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthVolvo XC70All vehiclesGap
Jan29.91%31.12%-1.2 pp
Feb28.98%29.99%-1.0 pp
Mar27.4%28.26%-0.9 pp
Apr30.23%29.78%+0.4 pp
May29.76%28.79%+1.0 pp
Jun29.56%28.15%+1.4 pp
Jul30.96%29.33%+1.6 pp
Aug30.85%29.2%+1.7 pp
Sep29.2%28.19%+1.0 pp
Oct29.87%30.34%-0.5 pp
Nov31.45%30.58%+0.9 pp
Dec29.8%29.33%+0.5 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 4.1 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.

Volvo XC70 average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of XC70s runs from 57,415 miles to 95,731 miles, against 74,296 miles as the median.

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

Bars: Volvo XC70 · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–205k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Volvo XC70 MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 10–14, 16.4% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 33.9% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

Does high mileage mean more Volvo XC70 MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Volvo XC70: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
6–9<40k miles15.6%11–21.8%173 (rough estimate)
6–940-70k miles17.8%15.4–20.6%813
6–970-100k miles24.1%21.5–27%937
6–9100-140k miles27.3%23.7–31.2%542
6–9140k+ miles31.8%25.5–39%179 (rough estimate)
10–14<40k miles16.4%11.4–23.2%152 (rough estimate)
10–1440-70k miles18.1%15.7–20.7%913
10–1470-100k miles24.9%23.1–26.8%2,004
10–14100-140k miles27.6%26–29.3%2,700
10–14140k+ miles33.9%31.9–36%2,066
15+40-70k miles26%20.7–32.1%227 (rough estimate)
15+70-100k miles31.4%28–35%669
15+100-140k miles35.9%33.7–38.1%1,860
15+140k+ miles42.5%40.9–44%3,995

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

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
857,41574,29695,7311,024
963,16782,051106,8131,604
1071,21893,842118,0721,749
1180,058103,673131,9121,569
1285,611112,077141,0891,330
1395,328122,253150,5611,804
14104,148132,431163,9741,386
15107,213134,930162,270997
16112,475143,211171,649959
17118,973146,463173,2271,243
18123,174148,965176,6761,142
19130,789162,796190,5411,226
20+132,120162,234195,3651,228

A typical 8-year-old XC70 has ~74,296 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Volvo XC70 fails its MOT most

Kirkcaldy area is highest at 40.8%; Ilford area is lowest at 18.7% — the gap is 22.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Volvo XC70 line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75) — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Kirkcaldy (KY)40.8%+11.0 pp
Dorchester (DT)38.98%+9.2 pp
Dundee (DD)38.33%+8.5 pp
Plymouth (PL)38.18%+8.4 pp
Llandrindod Wells (LD)37.84%+8.1 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Ilford (IG)18.68%-11.1 pp
Croydon (CR)19.63%-10.2 pp
Southend-on-Sea (SS)20.42%-9.4 pp
Romford (RM)20.85%-8.9 pp
Enfield (EN)21.17%-8.6 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 5.9 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.46, n=62 areas with ≥800 tests).

In the most coastal fifth of areas this model fails 5.6 pp more often than in the most inland fifth (r=-0.42, n=62 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest terrain gradient this model fails 3.7 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.41, n=35 areas with ≥800 tests).

Volvo XC70 Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
MOT centre density27.8%33.7%+5.9 ppr=0.46
Distance to coast33.0%27.4%-5.6 ppr=-0.42
Terrain gradient28.0%31.7%+3.7 ppr=0.41

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)0.4556227.833.7+5.95.78.9
Distance to coast (km)-0.4186233.027.4-5.6783.1
Terrain gradient (% grade)0.4133528.031.7+3.70.63.9
Urban share (0–1)-0.4036232.127.8-4.40.40.9
Frost days (days/year)0.1486231.931.7-0.211.140.2
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)0.1426231.932.0+0.1220.7718.8
Income deprivation (score)-0.0625128.027.3-0.70.10.1

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: 23%–38% failing.

Volvo XC70 survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 19 is well below the reference at 63.8%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Volvo XC70 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 %
31,14626.3%16.32%
42,69461.9%14.96%
54,391100%16.69%
65,978100%18.23%
77,374100%19.77%
89,255100%22.99%
99,710100%24.45%
109,175100%25.19%
118,486100%26.71%
128,384100%29.47%
138,443100%32.86%
148,138100%35.55%
157,668100%39.2%
167,053100%41.51%
175,853100%43.29%
184,17695.9%43.8%
192,77963.8%45.02%

By age 19, only about 64% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈4,354); survivors still fail at 45.0% vs 15.0% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does a Volvo XC70 last?

100,000+ miles is highest at 55.0%; 200,000+ miles is lowest at 5.1% — the gap is 49.9 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles62,01155.01%
150,000+ miles25,12622.29%
200,000+ miles5,7265.08%

Of 112,719 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 55.0% had reached 100k miles, 22.3% had reached 150k miles, 5.1% 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 Volvo XC70 likely to last?

Bought at age 5 is highest at 14.1 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 4.1 years — the gap is 10.0 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—at least 14.1
8—at least 11.1
10—at least 9.1
12—at least 7.1
15—at least 4.1

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has at least 9.1 expected years of further MOT-present life. The curve is observed only until age 19, so the true figure is likely higher.

Volvo XC70 faults that come together

Body & structure + Emissions & leaks stand out at 6.19×, 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 leaks2026.19× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle484.88× (rough estimate)
BrakesRoad Wheels764.8× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks3374.5× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels314.49× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment1754.31× (rough estimate)
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle974.3× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems254.06× (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems2184.01× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels1093.83× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems3713.8× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks4883.62× (rough estimate)
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4,0583.42×
Road WheelsTyres403.41× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems803.38× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureBrakes9713.37×
Identification of the vehicleTyres563.35× (rough estimate)
BrakesSuspension2,9123.29×
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment1,6733.23×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility1353.18× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSuspension963.18× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension3183.17× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering1013.13× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering1393.12× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension2263.11× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSuspension1,1823.07×
Road WheelsSuspension643.02× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSteering282.97× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres1192.96× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSteering4992.92× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension4,4842.82×
SteeringSuspension1,4842.82×
BrakesSteering1,0912.78×
Identification of the vehicleVisibility492.78× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsVisibility342.75× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSteering362.68× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres1482.67× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering1,7872.53×
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility1482.53× (rough estimate)
BrakesTyres1,2192.49×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility2,2842.46×
Body, chassis, structureVisibility5262.34×
BrakesVisibility1,1952.31×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres2,0172.29×
TyresVisibility8382.19×
SuspensionTyres1,3942.13×
Body, chassis, structureTyres4432.08× (rough estimate)
SteeringTyres5982.05×
SuspensionVisibility1,3842×
SteeringVisibility6142×
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks19too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems14too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels8too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleRoad Wheels7too few (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems6too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Brakes» and «Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment» appear together 3.42× more often than chance (4,058 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 Volvo XC70?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 14.9%, against 24.4% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year14.86%1,830
8–12k miles/year24.35%11,714
Gap (low − normal)-9.49 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
513.5125917.121,659-3.61 pp
610.3836620.422,312-10.03 pp
710.6846819.972,960-9.28 pp
814.3861923.313,732-8.93 pp
913.3861324.913,990-11.54 pp
1017.7154225.063,899-7.35 pp
1117.8146626.853,683-9.04 pp
1217.4443029.793,766-12.35 pp
1319.740133.433,955-13.73 pp
1424.837936.723,908-11.92 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
1121.883224.4445-2.57 pp
1212.54039.0664-26.56 pp
1313.163839.13115-25.97 pp
1423.446447.1155-23.66 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 14.9% vs 24.4% for 8–12k miles/year — 9.5 pp lower (n_low=1,830, n_normal=11,714). 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: 15.1% low-use vs 24.4% normal (-9.3 pp).

Which Volvo XC70 engine is best?

diesel 1.8–2.0 is highest at 107.3; petrol over 2.0 is lowest at 95.8 — the gap is 11.5 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
petrolover 2.0 litre95.836.26%4,652 (rough estimate)
dieselover 2.0 litre10029.69%103,687
diesel1.8–2.0 litre107.324.7%4,348 (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 107.3 against this model's own age norm while the petrol over 2.0 runs at 95.8 — a spread of 11.5 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 Volvo XC70, and the years to avoid

Build year 2012 is highest at 110.1; Build year 2008 is lowest at 87.2 — the gap is 22.9 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

Volvo XC70 build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Volvo XC70 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
2016104.898.8–110.818.73%6,213no different
20159085.7–94.317.46%9,670better
201492.288.2–96.219.46%10,423better
2013100.596.3–104.722.88%9,492no different
2012110.1105.6–114.727.12%8,183worse
2011100.496.8–10426.9%11,227no different
201097.593.6–101.428.11%8,744no different
200989.685.5–93.827.97%6,400better
200887.283.3–91.229.51%6,346better
2007103.7100.1–107.237.83%8,607worse
2006105.2101.6–108.740.93%8,149worse
2005102.198.8–105.341.87%8,976no different
2004108.2104.1–112.346.55%5,697worse
2003108.2103.2–113.347.98%3,633worse
2002101.790.3–113.146.1%666no different

The best build year here is 2008 and the weakest is 2012. 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 — 8 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.

Volvo XC70 MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £85.10 to £161.69, against £54.85 for the test itself.

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

MOT repairs, budget
£85–162
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 equipment23.8 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£33.32
Suspension14.7 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£26.46
Brakes12.2 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£18.30
Tyres7.8 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£7.02

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 £85 to £162, 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.

Volvo XC70 running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 are well below the reference at 22.0%, against 25.0% at age 8, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 8
25
vehicles needing work (rough estimate: 1,024 tests)
At age 10
22
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024 (rough estimate: 1,749 tests)
Repairs per 100
£8,510
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 38.72% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
824.9%74,2961,024—
921.57%82,0511,604—
1022.47%93,8421,749—
1125.11%103,6731,569—
1229.77%112,0771,330—
1329.71%122,2531,804—
1430.16%132,4311,386—
1529.29%134,930997—
1633.99%143,211959—
1737.73%146,4631,243—
1840.81%148,9651,142—
1943.23%162,7961,226—

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.

Volvo XC70 rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is well below the reference at 0.25×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

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

How it rusts
0.25×
0.19% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
highest
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 62 postcode areas

This Volvo XC70 fails on corrosion much less often than average once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are saltier than most for the models we publish. Both point the same way and reinforce each other: it resists corrosion even though its owners live in saltier areas than most.

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 Volvo XC70 advisory become a failure?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 28.0%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 28.0 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

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

Volvo XC70 chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Volvo XC70, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Lamps & electrical 28% · Suspension 18.8% · Steering 13.7% · Brakes 11.9% · Body & chassis 10.9% · Tyres 8.4% · Noise, emissions, leaks 2.6% · Identification of the veh… 2.4%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment28.0%12 months7,1243,242
Suspension18.8%12 months6,81216,629
Steering13.7%12.1 months6,2242,725
Brakes11.9%12 months6,44017,347
Body, chassis, structure10.9%12 months6,0521,975
Tyres8.4%12 months7,02220,081
Noise, emissions and leaks2.6%12 months5,8253,182
Identification of the vehicle2.4%12.1 months6,6822,297
Non-component advisories0.0%——5,952

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 28 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 7,124 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 Volvo XC70?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 15-19 are highest at 34.4%; Suspension after a passed at age 3-5 is lowest at 3.3% — the gap is 31.1 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
<3passedTyres 5.5% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.2% · Visibility 4.0%602
<3advisoryTyres 7.7% · Brakes 4.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.6%194 (rough estimate)
<3failureTyres 6.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.6% · Visibility 4.6%152 (rough estimate)
3-5passedTyres 4.8% · Suspension 3.3% · Visibility 3.3%6,420
3-5advisoryTyres 6.5% · Visibility 5.0% · Suspension 4.4%2,886
3-5failureTyres 7.2% · Visibility 5.9% · Suspension 5.3%1,837
6-8passedSuspension 5.8% · Tyres 4.8% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.6%11,490
6-8advisorySuspension 7.2% · Tyres 6.5% · Visibility 6.3%6,154
6-8failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 8.9% · Suspension 8.6% · Tyres 7.3%4,942
9-11passedSuspension 7.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.0% · Visibility 4.6%9,215
9-11advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.6% · Suspension 10.0% · Visibility 6.8%6,188
9-11failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.7% · Suspension 11.8% · Visibility 7.9%5,588
12-14passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 13.6% · Suspension 9.5% · Brakes 6.1%6,501
12-14advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.3% · Suspension 13.4% · Brakes 10.2%6,192
12-14failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 28.1% · Suspension 16.8% · Brakes 14.9%6,769
15-19passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 18.2% · Suspension 12.1% · Brakes 11.2%4,151
15-19advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 28.6% · Suspension 20.0% · Brakes 15.8%5,708
15-19failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 34.4% · Suspension 21.7% · Brakes 20.8%7,547
20+passedBrakes 14.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.0% · Suspension 14.0%50 (rough estimate)
20+advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 28.7% · Suspension 25.0% · Brakes 21.3%108 (rough estimate)
20+failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 25.9% · Brakes 19.1% · Suspension 16.3%147 (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.

Volvo XC70 ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 57.9%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 3.4% — the gap is 54.5 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
38.72%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.406
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
38.28%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
1.482%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 25,077 failures followed through to their re-test, 38.72% were repaired and passed the same day and 57.88% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 61,306 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 0.406 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 6,332 miles a year across 19,762 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. 38.28% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 36.1% 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: 1.482% of 19,768 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 31,246 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.

Volvo XC70 safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 39.

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

recall campaigns launched per year

Volvo XC70 recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Volvo XC70. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2006: 0 · 2007: 2 · 2008: 2 · 2009: 4 · 2010: 10 · 2011: 3 · 2012: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2014: 0 · 2015: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2017: 0 · 2018: 0 · 2019: 3 · 2020: 3.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Volvo XC70
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2020/21016/07/202076,945THERE IS A RISK FOR TRAPPED AIR TO BE IN THE COOLING SYSTEM WHICH MAY RESULT IN INSUFFICI
R/2020/20508/07/202015,167THERE IS A RISK FOR TRAPPED AIR TO BE IN THE COOLING SYSTEM
R/2020/19201/07/2020170,160POTENTIAL BREAKAGE/FATIGUE OF A FLEXIBLE STEEL CABLE SUPPORTING THE FRONT SEATBELT ANCHOR
R/2019/18007/10/201969,630THE ENGINE'S PLASTIC INLET MANIFOLD MAY MELT AND DEFORM
R/2019/18007/10/201969,630THE ENGINE'S PLASTIC INLET MANIFOLD MAY MELT AND DEFORM
All 39 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2020/21016/07/202007/11/2013 – 28/04/201676,945THERE IS A RISK FOR TRAPPED AIR TO BE IN THE COOLING SYSTEM WHICH MAY RESULT IN INSUFFICI
R/2020/20508/07/202021/11/2012 – 24/05/201615,167THERE IS A RISK FOR TRAPPED AIR TO BE IN THE COOLING SYSTEM
R/2020/19201/07/202009/05/2007 – 30/05/2016170,160POTENTIAL BREAKAGE/FATIGUE OF A FLEXIBLE STEEL CABLE SUPPORTING THE FRONT SEATBELT ANCHOR
R/2019/18007/10/201907/11/2013 – 26/04/201669,630THE ENGINE'S PLASTIC INLET MANIFOLD MAY MELT AND DEFORM
R/2019/18007/10/201921/11/2012 – 10/05/201669,630THE ENGINE'S PLASTIC INLET MANIFOLD MAY MELT AND DEFORM
R/2018/37704/01/201911/04/2015 – 30/05/201630,777SMALL CRACKS ON THE INSIDE OF A RUBBER FUEL HOSE
R/2016/11701/06/201602/05/2016 – 15/05/2016123DRIVER'S AIRBAG MODULE MAY NOT DEPLOY AS INTENDED
R/2016/02719/02/201621/10/2014 – 18/02/20167,237STALLING AND LOSS OF STEERING POWER ASSISTANCE
R/2015/25318/01/201621/11/2014 – 17/04/20151,109FUEL GUAGE MAY NOT SHOW FUEL LEVEL CORRECTLY
R/2015/25421/12/201521/11/2014 – 17/04/20152,743FUEL GUAGE MAY NOT SHOW FUEL LEVEL CORRECTLY
R/2015/24916/12/201524/04/2014 – 11/12/20155,354FUEL GUAGE MAY NOT SHOW FUEL LEVEL CORRECTLY
R/2015/04019/02/201514/03/2012 – 30/01/20152,146PARKING BRAKE MAY UNINTENTIONALLY RELEASE
R/2013/14028/11/20133,134LOSS OF POWER STEERING ASSISTANCE
R/2012/10414/09/20123,394REDUCED BRAKING PERFORMANCE
R/2012/05624/04/20126ENGINE MAY FAIL
R/2012/02807/03/20129,330AIRBAGS MAY NOT DEPLOY IN A COLLISION
R/2011/17523/12/201101/01/2007 – 31/12/20097,302ENGINE MAY LOOSE DRIVE AND POWER STEERING ASSISTANCE.
R/2011/13503/10/201101/01/2009 – 31/12/20109,936POSSIBILITY OF LOSS OF DRIVE
R/2011/00214/01/20114,787ENGINE MAY RUN ON
R/2010/22403/12/2010845FIRE MAY OCCUR
R/2010/21526/11/201064ENGINE MAY CUT OUT
R/2010/20105/11/20104,430ENGINE SPEED MAY INCREASE WITHOUT WARNING.
R/2010/16618/10/2010186WHEEL MAY BECOME LOOSE
R/2010/16518/10/20106,844AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY AS INTENDED.
R/2010/09916/07/2010326ENGINE MAY SEIZE
R/2010/07111/06/20106,961GEARBOX MAY JAM
R/2010/05826/05/20104,673ENGINE MAY LOOSE DRIVE AND POWER STEERING ASSISTANCE.
R/2010/05112/05/201020,204ENGINE SPEED MAY NOT DECREASE
R/2010/03301/04/20102,297AUXILIARY DRIVE BELT MAY DETACH
R/2009/08802/09/2009254ENGINE MAY STALL
R/2009/06317/06/20094,006ENGINE COOLING FAN MAY FAIL
R/2009/04622/04/20092,216WIPERS MAY NOT OPERATE CORRECTLY
R/2009/01713/02/20098,255SHORT CIRCUIT - FIRE MAY OCCUR
R/2008/07507/05/20084,875SIDE AIRBAG MAY NOT WORK AS INTENDED
R/2008/05419/03/20087SEAT BELT MAY NOT BEEN TORQUED CORRECTLY
R/2007/16229/10/20072,386AIRBAGS MAY NOT DEPLOY AS INTENDED
R/2007/05813/03/2007388FIRE MAY OCCUR
R/2004/21623/12/200435,024ELECTRIC COOLING FAN MAY OVERHEAT
R/2004/00707/01/2004287POSSIBLE FUEL LEAK FROM INJECTOR PIPES.

DVSA lists 39 safety recall campaigns for the Volvo XC70, covering roughly 593,438 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.

Volvo XC70 technical service bulletins: what dealers are told

US market, Volvo XC70, model years 2015–2016 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.

NHTSA manufacturer communications are 361.

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
20143
  • Equipment (184)
  • Electrical system (114)
  • Adaptive and mobility equipment (39)
  • Engine (26)
  • Engine and cooling (22)
  • Wheels (20)
  • Other / uncategorised (16)
  • Structure (10)
20151
201678
201780
201863
201951
202018
20217
202213
202332
20245
20257
20263

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.

Volvo XC70 owner complaints: what goes wrong

US market, Volvo XC70, model years 2015–2016 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.

Engine (not MOT-tested) is highest at 5; Lamps & electrical are lowest at 1 — the gap is 4.

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)538.5%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Transmission (not MOT-tested)323.1%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Restraints215.4%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Lamps & electrical17.7%23.8#1complained about and fails often
Visibility17.7%6.9#5complained about, fails occasionally

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
I replaced a catalytic converter and 2 O2 sensors a few months ago. Check engine light came on. Oil was pooling into the catalytic converter from the engine. Technician checked pistons. Said there was unusual wear and oil was coming in through the pistons.
NHTSA complaint, filed 11/06/2024 · POWER TRAIN
Fuel gauge doesn’t show actual fuel level. When full, it shows 50% left, and gauge doesn’t start to move till half the tank is empty.
NHTSA complaint, filed 10/25/2021 · FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

US owners have filed 13 complaints about the equivalent Volvo XC70 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration0. 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.

Volvo XC70 inspection results in other countries

United Kingdom MOT stands out at 31.3%, against 26.0% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)31.25%26.01%+5.2 pp17,373
NorwayPKK32.8%33.7%-0.9 pp14,992
NetherlandsAPK52%50.8%+1.2 pp9,115
FinlandKatsastus23.6%26.3%-2.7 pp7,132

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
Axles, wheels and suspension50.9%
Brake systems22.5%
Steering equipment12.8%
Environmental hazards3.9%
Chassis and body3.2%

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 value1,331failure
205Tyre with insufficient tread1,015failure
497Number-plate light not working or missing733failure
584Sidelight not working properly618failure
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed536failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread504advisory
RA2Excessive leak of other fluids396advisory
576Indicator colour wrong or not permitted316failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 1.218 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 Volvo XC70 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.

One caveat before you read the UK row: these are raw failure rates, because no other country publishes the age detail our index needs. This model's raw UK rate looks worse than the national average while its age-adjusted index is 85.2 — the fleet here is unusually old, and the raw column silently credits that. The index above is the fair comparison; this table is for reading each country against itself.

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

Volvo XC70 MOT: quick answers

Volvo XC70 MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 85.2, 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 Volvo XC70 first-time MOT pass rate?
68.75% of first attempts passed in 2024 (17,373 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 31.25% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 17,373 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 85.2 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Volvo XC70 with other cars

MINI Hatch is highest at 86.0; Audi A3 is lowest at 84.8 — the gap is 1.2 points.

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

Same brand

All Volvo MOT statisticsVolvo XC60 MOT statsVolvo S60 MOT stats

Similar risk

Audi A3 (index 84.8)Volkswagen Golf (index 85.8)MINI Hatch (index 86.0)

Same size class

how BMW X4 compareshow Citroen C4 Grand Picasso compareshow Toyota Estima compares

By build year

Volvo XC70 2002Volvo XC70 2003Volvo XC70 2004Volvo XC70 2005Volvo XC70 2006Volvo XC70 2007Volvo XC70 2008Volvo XC70 2009Volvo XC70 2010Volvo XC70 2011Volvo XC70 2012Volvo XC70 2013Volvo XC70 2014Volvo XC70 2015Volvo XC70 2016

By area

Volvo XC70 MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Volvo XC70 body, chassis and structure failuresVolvo XC70 brakes failuresVolvo XC70 vehicle identification failuresVolvo XC70 lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresVolvo XC70 noise, emissions and leaks failuresVolvo XC70 road wheels failuresVolvo XC70 seat belts and airbags failuresVolvo XC70 steering failuresVolvo XC70 suspension failuresVolvo XC70 tyres failuresVolvo XC70 visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Volvo XC70 in NorwayVolvo XC70 in FinlandVolvo XC70 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:volvo-xc70:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Volvo XC70 MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/volvo-xc70/ · Published 2026-07-30.