Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Ford Focus 2022: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 90 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2022 Ford Focus were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

The 2022 Ford Focus follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 14,931 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
90 in every 100
Did not pass first time
10 in every 1001,497 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
3 yearsabout 22,803 miles
First tests counted
14,931

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)28 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Headlight aim8 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre tread depth (front)8 in every 100 failed tests

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 2022 Ford Focus vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Lamps and electrical

Two faults. The strongest is the horn: 8.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,497 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

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.

Horn

Failed on 63 first tests8.0 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A horn that does not work, or is likely to be confused with an emergency vehicle siren, is graded Major. Gongs, bells, sirens and anything with more than one tone, which includes a horn that alternates between its notes, are not allowed, except a gong, bell or siren on vehicles first used before a set date. Sound defects are Minor for named cases such as a bell or harsh sound, and Major under a general row.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 46 first tests4.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

All stop lamps missing or not working is graded Dangerous, and so is a stop lamp that stays on when the brakes are released. A stop lamp that is missing or not working is Major. On some vehicles with LED rear lamps, part of the stop lamp can go out when the rear fog lamp is lit, which is not regarded as a defect.

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

Brakes

One wear pattern: brake discs (rear), 2.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake discs (rear)

Failed on 32 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A brake disc or drum must be significantly worn before it is rejected, and being worn below the manufacturer's recommended limits is not a reason in itself. Significantly and obviously worn is Major, as is contamination with oil or grease. A disc or drum that is fractured, insecure, seriously weakened or missing is graded Dangerous.

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

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail.

Wheel condition (front)

Noted on 26 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, 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
90in 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
8in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 90.0% of 14,931 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 92.1%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 2 fixed and the 8 not fixed make the 10 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol13,06821,857 miles9191
Diesel1,78031,773 miles8486

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

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

40608010020002005201020152022Older cars
406080100200020102022Older 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, 91 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
199952 in every 100910
200053 in every 1001,696
200154 in every 1003,892
200252 in every 1006,783
200355 in every 1008,641
200452 in every 10011,427
200554 in every 10015,756
200657 in every 10022,078
200757 in every 10031,159
200855 in every 10037,319
200955 in every 10046,757
201056 in every 10047,851
201158 in every 10057,244
201261 in every 10061,916
201362 in every 10067,752
201464 in every 10069,468
201572 in every 10071,323
201677 in every 10060,894
201781 in every 10060,958
201882 in every 10045,414
201981 in every 10052,713
202086 in every 10036,414
202189 in every 10020,069
2022 This car90 in every 10014,931

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2022 Focus.

Of 2022 Focus vehicles with under 15,000 miles, 94 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 34,000 miles or more, 85 in every 100 did.

Under 15,0003,215 tests
94
15,000–20,0002,766 tests
92
20,000–26,000 Typical car3,112 tests
90
26,000–34,0002,742 tests
88
34,000 and over3,094 tests
85

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Petrol21,857 miles9191
Diesel31,773 miles8486

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 31,773 against 21,857). At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 15,00020,000–26,00034,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)1.73.02.8
Headlight aim0.70.90.7
Tyre tread depth (front)0.10.61.7
Horn0.30.30.5
Windscreen washers0.20.30.8

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

69in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

9in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

4in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

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

The 2022 Ford Focus follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (front), about 28 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 90.0% of 14,931 first MOTs on the 2022 Ford Focus passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 92.1%. Among 1,497 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Horn appears more often than on similar cars (4.2% of those tests; 63 observed failures; about 8.0× 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.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2022 Ford Focus at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (27.6%), Headlight aim (8.2%) and Tyre tread depth (front) (7.8%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Horn (4.2% of those tests; 63 observed failures; about 8.0× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Horn shows up more often than on similar cars (4.2% of those tests; 63 observed failures; about 8.0× 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 2022 Ford Focus include Horn, Brake light (rear). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2022 Ford Focus (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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