Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 165,951 tests

Pass rate climbs 11.0 points across the cohorts — newer Xc60 examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 141,667

Pass

81.3%

Fail

15.0%

PRS

3.3%

Avg mileage at test

91,549 mi

2018–2020 cohort 24,140

Pass

90.0%

Fail

8.2%

PRS

1.4%

Avg mileage at test

50,322 mi

2021+ cohort 144

Pass

92.4%

Fail

6.3%

PRS

1.4%

Avg mileage at test

27,070 mi

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

The picture

81.52% pass rate — class-leading, with caveats

At 81.52% across 107,060 tests, the Volvo XC60 posts the highest pass rate in this batch — a result that holds even at an average presenting mileage of 78,295. Top failures are spring fractures, rear number plate lamps, and brake pads worn below 1.5mm. The brake pad failure is worth noting: owners of SUVs with heavy kerbweights often run pads down further than they realise before the advisory turns into a fail.

Owner reports flag some specific costs. Rear trailing arm bushes split at 52,000 miles on a 2017 XC60 — Volvo dealer quoted £540 for replacement. A buckled alloy on 21-inch wheels appeared at just 21,000 miles. An AdBlue dosing fault appeared on a new V60 D3 within days of delivery, requiring dealer intervention under warranty. None of these fail an MOT directly, but a pad below 1.5mm and a fractured spring absolutely do. The XC60 rewards regular inspection; ignore it and the pass rate advantage disappears.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 32–44

A high-group car — insurance costs will be significantly above average. 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 →

32–44

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

4,874 occurrences · 2.9% of tests
02

A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

4,848 occurrences · 2.9% of tests
03

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

3,434 occurrences · 2.1% of tests
04

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

3,106 occurrences · 1.9% of tests
05

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

2,892 occurrences · 1.7% of tests
06

A tyre seriously damaged

1,948 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
07

A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated

1,612 occurrences · 1.0% of tests
08

Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated

1,597 occurrences · 1.0% of tests
09

Wiper blade defective

1,455 occurrences · 0.9% of tests
10

A tyre cords visible or damaged

1,429 occurrences · 0.9% 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 Xc60'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 11.0-point gap between bands means the year you buy Volvo Xc60 has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

92.4%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 92.4% — a 11.0-point improvement. Tests in this band average 27,070 miles — roughly 64K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: incorrect colour, not working — 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

81.3%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 81.3% pass rate against a fleet average of 92.4% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, fractured or broken, and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. Average mileage on test for this band is 91,549 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme. Honest John records: "Report of Adblue problem with new Volvo V60 D3 Momentum delivered 25-10-2018 with 241 delivery miles. A warning message stating "Adblue Dosing Service required. No restart after 550mi" appeared. Owner…"

Best band to buy: 2021+ (92.4% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (81.3% pass). That's a 11.0-point spread across 141,667 older tests and 144 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

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

Parts & supplies for this fix

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Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

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

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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.

Where it falls short

Owner reports (3 entries) flag recurring problems with AdBlue.

Recent owner-reported faults

10 Sep 2021
Report of rear trailing arm bushes failure on Volvo XC60 (2017). Bushes have split after 52,000 miles. The owner has been quoted £540 to replace at the dealer.
10 Sep 2021
Report of alloy wheel buckle on XC60 T5. Car has 21-inch wheels and 21,000 miles on the clock. * Terms and Conditions * Privacy * Cookies * Advertise on this site * Contact * Mobile) Website of the Year 2016, 2017 & 2018
17 Oct 2018
Report of Adblue problem with new Volvo V60 D3 Momentum delivered 25-10-2018 with 241 delivery miles. A warning message stating "Adblue Dosing Service required. No restart after 550mi" appeared. Owner took it to Volvo dealer under warranty who explained that they would have to take it for a 30 mile test drive. They then tried to update/upgrade the software but this hasn't worked and the message is still there.

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 3 reports indexed

Buying or keeping a Xc60?

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 Xc60 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.