Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Ford Tourneo 2018: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 75 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2018 Ford Tourneo were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Drive shaft joints and boots (front).

Summary

The 2018 Ford Tourneo follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 2,275 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
75 in every 100
Did not pass first time
25 in every 100577 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
7 yearsabout 80,443 miles
First tests counted
2,275

What failed most often

  1. Drive shaft joints and boots (front)11 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 2018 Ford Tourneo 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.

Suspension

One fault: anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (rear), 36 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 577 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.

Anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (rear)

Failed on 35 first tests36 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Excessive wear in an anti-roll bar linkage pin or bush is Major. If the pin or bush is likely to become detached, it is graded Dangerous. The wording is DVSA's general one for a suspension pin, bush or joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 40 first tests, 51 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Brakes

Two faults. The strongest is the rigid brake pipes (front): 12 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (front)

Failed on 27 first tests12 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 46 first tests, 7.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)

Failed on 32 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A parking brake with efficiency below the minimum requirement is Major, and graded Dangerous where efficiency is less than half of the required value. On a roller brake tester, the requirement counts as met if more than half of the wheels of a brake system lock. The check applies only to vehicles whose parking brake was not already tested as the secondary brake.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Body and structure

One fault: drive shaft joints and boots (front), 3.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Drive shaft joints and boots (front)

Failed on 66 first tests3.4 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A constant velocity boot that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. It is Major once it is missing, split or insecure so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A transmission joint excessively worn is Major, and graded Dangerous when it is so worn it is likely to fail.

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. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Noted on 34 first tests4.8 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Noted on 67 first tests2.2 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
75in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
4in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
21in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 74.6% of 2,275 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 79.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 21 not fixed make the 25 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

4060801002013201420152016201720182019Older carsNewer cars
4060801002018Older 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, 77 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
201366 in every 100428
201466 in every 1001,389
201567 in every 1002,033
201671 in every 1001,302
201769 in every 1002,568
2018 This car75 in every 1002,275
201979 in every 1002,147

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2018 Tourneo.

Of 2018 Tourneo vehicles with under 49,000 miles, 83 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 154,000 miles or more, 68 in every 100 did.

Under 49,000454 tests
83
49,000–69,000466 tests
75
69,000–97,000 Typical car446 tests
75
97,000–154,000454 tests
73
154,000 and over455 tests
68

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 49,00069,000–97,000154,000 and over
Drive shaft joints and boots (front)1.12.94.0

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

When a car fails

40in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

32in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

5in 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 2018 Ford Tourneo follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Drive shaft joints and boots (front), about 11 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 74.6% of 2,275 first MOTs on the 2018 Ford Tourneo passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 79.2%. Among 577 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (6.1% of those tests; 35 observed failures; about 36× 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 2018 Ford Tourneo at the first attempt were Drive shaft joints and boots (front) (11.4%), 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: Anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (rear) (6.1% of those tests; 35 observed failures; about 36× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (6.1% of those tests; 35 observed failures; about 36× 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 2018 Ford Tourneo include Anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (rear), Rigid brake pipes (front), Drive shaft joints and boots (front). 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 2018 Ford Tourneo (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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