Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 41,574 tests

Pass rate drops 6.2 points across the cohorts — recent Estima examples are doing worse than the early cars at the same tested age.

Pre-2018 cohort 36,570

Pass

82.7%

Fail

11.6%

PRS

5.0%

Avg mileage at test

90,186 mi

2018–2020 cohort 3,900

Pass

78.9%

Fail

13.4%

PRS

6.8%

Avg mileage at test

104,629 mi

2021+ cohort 1,104

Pass

76.5%

Fail

16.3%

PRS

6.1%

Avg mileage at test

97,690 mi

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

Generations on file · 3

Toyota Estima · UK market

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

The picture

Toyota Estima: mixed MOT record across 18,435 tests

The Toyota Previa, also known as the Toyota Estima in Japan, and Toyota Tarago in Australia, is a minivan that was produced by Toyota from 1990 until October 2019 across three generations.

MOT data from 18,435 tests puts this car on a 79.4% first-time pass rate, roughly in line with the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 96,194 miles. The most common fail item is failed number plate light, followed by suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated.

Buyers weighing up a used Estima 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 10–28

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 →

10–28

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

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

01

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

1,263 occurrences · 3.0% of tests
02

A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated

943 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
03

A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated

938 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
04

Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

904 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
05

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

759 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
06

A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc

737 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
07

An obligatory rear fog lamp missing, or a front or rear fog lamp inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

515 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
08

A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated

514 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
09

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

500 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
10

Wiper blade defective

487 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

£178–£595

If every one of this Estima'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 6.2-point gap between bands means the year you buy Toyota Estima has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

82.7%

Pre-2018 registration

the older band (pre-2018) climbs to 82.7% — a 6.2-point improvement. Tests in this band average 90,186 miles — roughly 8K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band.

Band to be cautious about

76.5%

2021+ registration

On the 2021-on band, the data shows a 76.5% pass rate against a fleet average of 82.7% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated, and ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated. Average mileage on test for this band is 97,690 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: pre-2018 (82.7% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: 2021+ (76.5% pass). That's a 6.2-point spread across 1,104 older tests and 36,570 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

Headlight restoration kit

Yellowed lenses fail the light-output test. A restoration kit lifts the haze in an afternoon for £20.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

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Draper Expert

Draper Expert Toyota Oil Filter Replacement Tool

£29.69

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Hycote

Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Toyota Super White No. 2 12.5ml

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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Toyota Lucerne Silver Metallic 12.5ml

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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Toyota Tyrol Silver Metallic 12.5ml

£6.59

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Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

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Buying or keeping an Estima?

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 Estima 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.