Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 1,667,364 tests

Pass rate climbs 15.9 points across the cohorts — newer Focus examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 1,444,382

Pass

72.2%

Fail

21.0%

PRS

6.1%

Avg mileage at test

91,091 mi

2018–2020 cohort 201,700

Pass

86.5%

Fail

10.5%

PRS

2.6%

Avg mileage at test

41,355 mi

2021+ cohort 21,282

Pass

88.1%

Fail

9.0%

PRS

2.4%

Avg mileage at test

30,478 mi

Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.

The picture

Popular family hatch with a suspension habit

Spring failures are the Focus's most common reason for a failed MOT — fractured spring components appear at the top of the failure list across 1.2 million tests. With an average mileage of 81,536 miles and a 73.43% pass rate, the Focus sits in middling territory for a car this common. Worn suspension pins and bush joints compound the story for older examples. Tyre tread failures round out a trio that tells you this car rewards consistent maintenance over optimistic servicing intervals.

Electrical gremlins are a separate concern. Sync3 freezing, EcoBoost exhaust filter warnings and wholesale electrical faults in early 1.5 automatics all feature in owner reports. Before any MOT, check the springs, check the bushes, and check the tyres. Sort those three and the Focus passes more often than not.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 10–26

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

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

Hide wear items to see the model's real defects.

01

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

40,405 occurrences · 2.4% of tests
02

A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

33,205 occurrences · 2.0% of tests
03

A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

30,718 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
04

A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

30,327 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
05

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

30,137 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
06

Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

28,892 occurrences · 1.7% of tests
07

The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements

27,399 occurrences · 1.6% of tests
08

A tyre cords visible or damaged

24,856 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
09

A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated

24,498 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
10

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

20,627 occurrences · 1.2% 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 4 failures

£228–£610

If every one of this Focus'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 →

Try the calculator

Build your own retest budget.

Year-band analysis

Best year to buy. Worst to avoid.

First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 15.9-point gap between bands means the year you buy Ford Focus has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

88.1%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 88.1% — a 15.9-point improvement. Tests in this band average 30,478 miles — roughly 61K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, less than 1.5 mm thick — 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

72.2%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 72.2% pass rate against a fleet average of 88.1% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, fractured or broken, and not working. Average mileage on test for this band is 91,091 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme. Honest John records: "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…"

Best band to buy: 2021+ (88.1% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (72.2% pass). That's a 15.9-point spread across 1,444,382 older tests and 21,282 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.

Year-spread leaderboard →

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

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

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Summit

Summit ADRG-18 Ford Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass LHS

£8.79

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ADRG-10 Ford Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass RHS

£9.89

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ADRG-47 Ford Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass LHS

£9.89

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ADRG-85 Ford Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass RHS

£9.89

View at My Motor World →

Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Mobile mechanic · UK-wide

Book a mechanic at your door.

Fixed-price quotes upfront. No garage needed. Click Mechanic sends a vetted local mechanic to you — home, work, or roadside.

Get a quote →

Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

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.

Recent owner-reported faults

20 May 2022
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.
1 Feb 2021
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.
17 Dec 2019
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.
17 Nov 2019
Report of judder from stop/start system on 2018 Ford Focus 1.5ST automatic. Also judders when accelerating hard from T junctions.
26 Oct 2019
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.
15 Sep 2019
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".
23 Aug 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.
16 Apr 2019
Report of clutch failure of new, 2019 Ford Focus in just 450 miles.
13 Feb 2019
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.
23 Jan 2019
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."
2 Jan 2019
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.
20 Dec 2018
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

Recall history

70 UK recalls on record.

The Focus has 70 official UK vehicle recalls covering defect details, remedies, and affected build dates.

See all recalls

Buying or keeping a Focus?

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 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.