Hyundai
37,480 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where I40s pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.
That's in line with the UK fleet average across our 1,984 tracked models.
Pass
77.3%
Pass-after-fix
3.6%
Fail
18.4%
Avg miles
98,611
Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%
Some examples of this model are borderline — a small number of diesels were certified Euro 6 before September 2015. Check your registration on the government's ULEZ checker to be certain. Daily charges if driven in the zone: London £12.50 · Birmingham £8.00 · Bristol £9.00 .
Performance by cohort
2 year bands · 37,480 tests
Pass rate climbs 7.5 points across the cohorts — newer I40 examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.
Pass
77.0%
Fail
18.8%
PRS
3.6%
Avg mileage at test
99,793 mi
Pass
84.5%
Fail
11.1%
PRS
3.7%
Avg mileage at test
72,129 mi
Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.
The picture
The Hyundai i40 is a large family car designed primarily for the European market by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai between 2011 and 2019. Sharing its platform with the Hyundai Sonata, the i40 sedan was unveiled at the 2011 Barcelona Motor Show.
MOT data from 27,149 tests puts this car on a 77.1% first-time pass rate, roughly in line with the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 91,210 miles. The most common fail item is brake pads worn below 1.5mm, followed by failed number plate light.
A great-value estate for used buyers, the Hyundai i40 Tourer comes with lots of kit and comfort. It’s competent rather than charismatic, though.
Buyers weighing up a used I40 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
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 rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources
1,300 occurrences · 3.5% of tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
1,122 occurrences · 3.0% of tests
A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play
994 occurrences · 2.7% of tests
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
803 occurrences · 2.1% of tests
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
685 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded
443 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED
440 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
A tyre cords visible or damaged
435 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
A tyre seriously damaged
388 occurrences · 1.0% of tests
Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake
377 occurrences · 1.0% 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–£530
If every one of this I40'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
First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 7.5-point gap between bands means the year you buy Hyundai I40 has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.
Best band to buy
84.5%
2018–2020 registration
the 2018–2020 band climbs to 84.5% — a 7.5-point improvement. Tests in this band average 72,129 miles — roughly 28K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: less than 1.5 mm thick, has ply or cords exposed — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. The stricter post-2018 MOT test rules meant manufacturers had to tighten up emissions and electrical checks, but this band still shows far fewer major failures on suspension and bodywork than the older fleet.
Band to be cautious about
77.0%
Pre-2018 registration
On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 77.0% pass rate against a fleet average of 84.5% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, less than 1.5 mm thick, and ball joint has excessive play. Average mileage on test for this band is 99,793 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.
Best band to buy: 2018-2020 (84.5% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (77.0% pass). That's a 7.5-point spread across 35,879 older tests and 1,601 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
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
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
Item 03 · 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
My Motor World · affiliate
Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.
Hycote
Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Hyundai Sleek Silver Metallic 12.5ml
£6.59
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Hycote
Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Hyundai Polar White 12.5ml
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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Hyundai Electric Red 12.5ml
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Hycote
Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Hyundai Creamy White 12.5ml
£6.59
View at My Motor World →
Click Mechanic · affiliate
Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.
Mobile mechanic · UK-wide
Book a mechanic at your door.
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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
Good quality. Fairly stylish for an estate. Economical diesel engines
Recall history
The I40 has 2 official UK vehicle recalls covering defect details, remedies, and affected build dates.
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 an I40 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.
