Ford
7,935 MOT tests analysed. sits above the UK fleet average — here's where Focus STs pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.
That's 12.1 points above the UK fleet average across our 1,984 tracked models — a confident result.
Pass
89.6%
Pass-after-fix
1.4%
Fail
8.8%
Avg miles
30,204
Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%
Petrol cars first registered from January 2006 meet Euro 4 — compliant in London ULEZ, Birmingham CAZ, Bristol CAZ, and Glasgow LEZ.
Performance by cohort
2 year bands · 7,871 tests
Pass rate climbs 2.7 points across the cohorts — newer Focus ST examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.
Pass
89.5%
Fail
9.1%
PRS
1.2%
Avg mileage at test
30,967 mi
Pass
92.2%
Fail
6.3%
PRS
0.9%
Avg mileage at test
21,097 mi
Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.
The picture
Across 3,530 MOT tests, the Focus St returns 87.0% first-time pass — comfortably ahead of the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is a tyre with the cords showing. A seriously damaged tyre and tyre tread under the limit round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 23,589, which is the lens to read those failure rankings through. If you own one and the next test is close, the ranked list below is a sensible pre-test checklist.
ABI Insurance Group
Below the fleet average — generally reasonable to insure. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.
Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →
10–26
out of 50
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A tyre cords visible or damaged
235 occurrences · 3.0% of tests
A tyre seriously damaged
139 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
A tyre seriously damaged
80 occurrences · 1.0% of tests
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
69 occurrences · 0.9% of tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
65 occurrences · 0.8% of tests
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
50 occurrences · 0.6% of tests
A tyre seriously damaged
38 occurrences · 0.5% of tests
A tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative
21 occurrences · 0.3% of tests
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
21 occurrences · 0.3% of tests
Wiper blade defective
15 occurrences · 0.2% of tests
Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.
Worst-case fix budget · top 3 failures
£200–£350
If every one of this Focus ST's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →
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Build your own retest budget.
Year-band analysis
First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 2.7-point gap between bands is modest — the year you buy Ford Focus ST makes a small but real difference to MOT outcomes.
Best band to buy
92.2%
2021+ registration
the 2021-on band climbs to 92.2% — a 2.7-point improvement. Tests in this band average 21,097 miles — roughly 10K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: has ply or cords exposed, has a cut in excess of the… — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. Post-2020 examples are early in their MOT life and generally show the cleanest records.
Band to be cautious about
89.5%
2018–2020 registration
On the 2018–2020 band, the data shows a 89.5% pass rate against a fleet average of 92.2% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: has ply or cords exposed, has a cut in excess of the…, and has a tear, caused by separation or…. Average mileage on test for this band is 30,967 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.
Best band to buy: 2021+ (92.2% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: 2018-2020 (89.5% pass). That's a 2.7-point spread across 6,861 older tests and 1,010 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.
Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.
Item 01 · Amazon UK
Digital tyre-tread depth gauge
Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.
Search Amazon UK
Item 02 · Amazon UK
Brake pad measurement gauge
Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.
Search Amazon UK
My Motor World · affiliate
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Owner reports · Honest John
Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.
What's good
The Ford Focus delivers just the right blend of family-friendly comfort, young-at-heart handling, jack-of-all-trades practicality and penny-pinching affordability.
Report of Sync3 system freezing on 2018 Focus. Occasionally and for no obvious reason the touchscreen freezes. The only way to get it all to work again seems to be to turn the car off for at least fifteen minutes or more.
Report of “Exhaust filter limit reached. Drive to clean now" warning message on 2018 Focus 1.0- EcoBoost. Ford suggests driving at a varied range of conditions, including motorway for a minimum of 20 minutes or until the message disappears. Driver should also maintain engine speed between 1500 and 4000rpm.
Numerous electrical faults reported in new Ford Focus 1.5 Ecoboost 8-speed automatic since summer 2019: "Charging System Alert!! Service Now! warnings, displays changing randomly, the seatbelt warning alarms going on even when the engine was switched off, and so on. Fearing imminent breakdown owner called out the RAC. After connecting his diagnostic interrogator to the car it revealed dozens of different faults including low voltage to the brake servos and steering servos etc. etc. After a lot of head scratching he looked under the bonnet and found a faulty battery earth connection. The earth bolt was only partly inserted into the body, cross-threaded and the cable was making and breaking connection.
Report of judder from stop/start system on 2018 Ford Focus 1.5ST automatic. Also judders when accelerating hard from T junctions.
Report of replacement steering rack for April 2019 Ford Focus ST Line X on back order. Power steering rack failed and owner has been without car since 7th October, but provided with a courtesy car.
Report of delivery of Ford Focus Estate 2.0 TDCI x Ecolube Auto 19B with panoramic roof in dark grey metallic ordered on 21-5-2019 being held up, probably due to RDE1 emissions testing. Originally supposed to have been delivered in August (on a 19 reg), delivery then stretched to October 2019, then "no build date until December 2019".
Report of "small browny red light to the right of the milometer at the top of the dash display that very occasionally comes on for three of four seconds every 300 to 400 miles" in new Ford Focus 1.5 3cyl Ecoboost 182 Vignale 8-speed auto. Explanation is that the light comes on to show the engine going lean. The PPF works differently from a DPF and works a little and relatively frequently by comparison to a DPF. It only comes on a typical motorway journey. Owner drove from Newcastle to Leamington Spa last week, the fuel consumption was 50.1mpg on way down and 48.2 on way back. This is about 5 to 6mpg better than his previous 1.5 4cyl 182hp manual.
Report of clutch failure of new, 2019 Ford Focus in just 450 miles.
Third report of Petrol Particulate Filter light coming on, this time in a 2019 Ford Focus ST Line 1.0 EcoBoost 125 at just 300 miles from new. Owner made a run of 15 miles dual carriage way and motorway and it came back on when he made the return journey. Booked into Ford for diagnostic next week. Ford dealer carried out a static forced regeneration of the filter. Mechanic said he had it up to 750 degrees to clean it. Manual says it should clean at 550 degrees.
Report of many electronic systems on a new September 2018 Ford Focus either malfunctioning or not working at all: "almost immediately there were problems with the touch screen and reversing camera. It displays warnings such as 'collision assist warning service needed' and several other messages randomly. The rear camera often remains on when driving forward again and then the whole system crashes. Despite numerous visits to the dealer no one can find the cause of the fault."
Report of several minor faults with the electrics of a new Ford Focus forcing ower to park it on his driveway for 3 weeks waiting for parts. The latest fault affects the engine performance, and leaves owner reluctant to take the car out.
Report of dashboard of new Ford Focus 1.0 Ecoboost 125 with 2,000 miles on 5 occasions showing 'exhaust filter at limit. Drive to clean'. On each occasion, owners carried on driving the car and after a short period the display reverted back to normal. Country driven car and driven briskly. But owner reports. "The management display on the dash keeps telling us to change up, yet this condition implies that really you need to change down." This is the result of conflicting EC requirements. It is a Type Approval requirement that new manual cars have to have an indicator suggesting changes. But if this is applied during the first 5-10 mies after a cold start the PPF will not necessarily get hot enough to clear the cold start particulates. Suggested running at up to 2000rpm for the first 5-10 miles.
Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 15 reports indexed, top 12 shown
Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.
If you own a Focus ST and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.
