Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Bentley Continental 2004: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 85 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2004 Bentley Continental were passes.

Summary

With 971 first tests, there are too few to say whether the 2004 Bentley Continental differs from the model years either side. Treat the faults below as a checklist.

At a glance

How 971 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
85 in every 100
Did not pass first time
15 in every 100148 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
21 yearsabout 68,971 miles
First tests counted
971

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2004 Bentley Continental vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Noise, emissions and leaks

Two faults. The strongest is the petrol engine warning light: 3.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 145 of 148 failed first attempts (98.0%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like. 2.0% of failures are excluded because no mileage was recorded, so treat these shares as indicative for this model year.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Petrol engine warning light

Failed on 33 first tests3.5 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

The malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) on a petrol engine is a Major failure when it is illuminated indicating a malfunction. The detail line DVSA gives for the same row also names an inoperative lamp. The test covers only certain petrol vehicles, depending on their age, size and fuel type.

Petrol emissions (with catalyst)

Failed on 25 first tests3.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Emissions levels over the manufacturer's specified limits are Major, as are levels over default limits, which apply when no exact match is found for the vehicle. Dense blue or clearly visible black smoke at idle, held for a set period, is Major, except for certain older vehicles and two stroke engines where smoke is unavoidable. An induction or exhaust leak that could affect emissions levels is Major too.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
85in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
2in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
13in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 84.8% of 971 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 87.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 2 fixed and the 13 not fixed make the 15 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

4060801002004201020152020Newer cars
406080100200420102020Newer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 86 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
2004 This car85 in every 100971
200588 in every 1001,059
200687 in every 100994
200790 in every 1001,280
200891 in every 100845
200991 in every 100407
201090 in every 100524
201190 in every 100523
201292 in every 100705
201391 in every 100691
201493 in every 100720
201595 in every 100764
201694 in every 100811
201795 in every 100623
201896 in every 100573
201997 in every 100771
202097 in every 100593
202196 in every 100389
202296 in every 100433

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

With 971 first tests, there are too few to say whether the 2004 Bentley Continental differs from the model years either side. Treat the faults below as a checklist. In 2025, 84.8% of 971 first MOTs on the 2004 Bentley Continental passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 87.2%. Among 148 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Petrol engine warning light appears more often than on similar cars (22.8% of those tests; 33 observed failures; about 3.5× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Petrol engine warning light (22.8% of those tests; 33 observed failures; about 3.5× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Petrol engine warning light shows up more often than on similar cars (22.8% of those tests; 33 observed failures; about 3.5× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2004 Bentley Continental include Petrol engine warning light, Petrol emissions (with catalyst). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2004 Bentley Continental (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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