Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 46,534 tests

Pass rate climbs 8.8 points across the cohorts — newer Transit Courier examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 23,471

Pass

72.5%

Fail

18.7%

PRS

8.3%

Avg mileage at test

97,620 mi

2018–2020 cohort 17,330

Pass

78.4%

Fail

14.3%

PRS

6.7%

Avg mileage at test

65,859 mi

2021+ cohort 5,733

Pass

81.3%

Fail

11.9%

PRS

6.0%

Avg mileage at test

41,722 mi

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

Generations on file · 2

Ford Transit Courier · UK market

Ford Transit Courier 2014-2023 — 2014–2023

Ford Transit Courier 2023-now — 2023–now

Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.

The picture

Ford Transit Courier: mixed MOT record across 28,644 tests

The Ford Transit Courier is a small delivery vehicle marketed by Ford of Europe. Making its debut as a model of 2014 at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, the Transit Courier is the smallest vehicle of the product range of the Ford Transit.

MOT data from 28,644 tests puts this van on a 75.5% first-time pass rate, roughly in line with the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 73,832 miles. The most common fail item is cracked or discoloured windscreen, followed by failed number plate light.

I am buying a used small van, Ford Transit Connect size. What would you recommend in either petrol or diesel options?.

Buyers weighing up a used Transit Courier should treat the failure breakdown as a pre-purchase checklist. The pass rate is reasonable, but the gap between first attempt and a clean sheet narrows with age and mileage.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 10–18

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 →

10–18

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

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

01

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

2,613 occurrences · 5.6% of tests
02

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

2,012 occurrences · 4.3% of tests
03

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

1,286 occurrences · 2.8% of tests
04

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

1,144 occurrences · 2.5% of tests
05

Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

726 occurrences · 1.6% of tests
06

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

665 occurrences · 1.4% of tests
07

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

646 occurrences · 1.4% of tests
08

Obligatory mirror or device slightly damaged or loose

611 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
09

A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED

580 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
10

A tyre seriously damaged

555 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

£96–£210

If every one of this Transit Courier'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 8.8-point gap between bands means the year you buy Ford Transit Courier has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

81.3%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 81.3% — a 8.8-point improvement. Tests in this band average 41,722 miles — roughly 56K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, does not clear the windscreen effectively — 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

72.5%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 72.5% pass rate against a fleet average of 81.3% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, and not working. Average mileage on test for this band is 97,620 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: 2021+ (81.3% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (72.5% pass). That's a 8.8-point spread across 23,471 older tests and 5,733 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

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

Item 02 · 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 03 · Amazon UK

Bosch Aerotwin wiper blades

Cheap wipers fail the test on smear streaks. Bosch Aerotwins last a winter and clear a screen properly.

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.

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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

Good to drive, comfortable cabin, practical load area, option of LED loadspace lighting.

Where it falls short

I'm looking for recommendations for a small van with a budget of £14k and would like a large enough rear space to allow for occasional nights away. I have considered either the Nissan NV200 or Ford Transit...

Recall history

29 UK recalls on record.

The Transit Courier has 29 official UK vehicle recalls covering defect details, remedies, and affected build dates.

See all recalls

Buying or keeping a Transit Courier?

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 Transit Courier 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.