Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Ford Transit Courier 2015: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 59 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2015 Ford Transit Courier were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Suspension arm ball joint (front).

Summary

The 2015 Ford Transit Courier follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 3,236 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
59 in every 100
Did not pass first time
41 in every 1001,321 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
10 yearsabout 111,685 miles
First tests counted
3,236

What failed most often

  1. Suspension arm ball joint (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Brake light (rear)12 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Coil spring (rear)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 2015 Ford Transit Courier 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.

Lamps and electrical

Three faults. The strongest is the brake light (rear): 3.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,283 of 1,321 failed first attempts (97.1%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like. 2.9% 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.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 148 first tests3.8 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.

Individual direction indicators (rear)

Failed on 29 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Direction indicators must be amber, though vehicles first used before a set date may have white at the front and red at the rear when the indicators are combined with stop or position lamps, and sequential or dynamic ones are not a reason to fail. A lamp that is missing, inoperative or has more than half of a multiple light source not functioning is graded Major. A flashing rate outside the permitted range is graded Minor.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 21 first tests, 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Number plate lights

Failed on 103 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Registration plate lamps must light up the rear registration plate and operate at the same time as the position lamps. A missing or inoperative lamp is Major when the plate has only one lamp or all its lamps are not working, and Minor when the plate has several lamps or light sources and not all have failed. A lamp throwing direct white light to the rear is also Minor.

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

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/01/2014), 3.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/01/2014)

Failed on 93 first tests3.7 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

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

Visibility

One fault: windscreen washers (front), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Windscreen washers (front)

Failed on 137 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Windscreen washers that are not working, or do not provide sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen, are graded Major. They must provide enough fluid for the wipers to clear the windscreen effectively. Vehicles with an opening windscreen, or some other adequate view to the front, left and right, are not inspected for washers.

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

Suspension

One fault: coil spring (rear), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Coil spring (rear)

Failed on 147 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A missing bump stop rubber is not a reason to fail a coil spring. When the vehicle is jacked and lowered, a spring that does not correctly locate as the suspension returns to its normal running position is rejected as insecurely attached. A missing spring is Major, and graded Dangerous where directional control is affected.

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.

Wheel condition (rear)

Noted on 23 first tests3.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Coil spring (front)

Noted on 32 first tests3.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Transmission oil leaks

Noted on 30 first tests3.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Rigid brake pipes (front)

Noted on 64 first tests2.7 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm ball joint (front)

Noted on 63 first tests2.3 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
59in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
10in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
31in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 59.2% of 3,236 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 69.1%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 10 fixed and the 31 not fixed make the 41 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

406080100201420152016201720182019202020212022Older carsNewer cars
40608010020152020Newer 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, 61 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
201460 in every 100969
2015 This car59 in every 1003,236
201664 in every 1002,563
201766 in every 1003,673
201870 in every 1004,108
201971 in every 1004,267
202074 in every 1003,182
202178 in every 1003,419
202280 in every 1004,351

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2015 Transit Courier.

Of 2015 Transit Courier vehicles with under 78,000 miles, 69 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 152,000 miles or more, 57 in every 100 did.

Under 78,000637 tests
69
78,000–100,000615 tests
61
100,000–123,000 Typical car631 tests
57
123,000–152,000640 tests
52
152,000 and over632 tests
57

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 78,000100,000–123,000152,000 and over
Suspension arm ball joint (front)2.25.75.5
Brake light (rear)2.45.14.6
Coil spring (rear)5.04.05.7
Windscreen washers2.04.84.9
Headlight aim2.83.54.6

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

When a car fails

35in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

42in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

10in 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 2015 Ford Transit Courier follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Suspension arm ball joint (front), about 12 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 59.2% of 3,236 first MOTs on the 2015 Ford Transit Courier passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 69.1%. Among 1,321 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Brake light (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (11.5% of those tests; 148 observed failures; about 3.8× 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 2015 Ford Transit Courier at the first attempt were Suspension arm ball joint (front) (11.8%), Brake light (rear) (11.5%) and Coil spring (rear) (11.5%), 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: Brake light (rear) (11.5% of those tests; 148 observed failures; about 3.8× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Brake light (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (11.5% of those tests; 148 observed failures; about 3.8× 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 2015 Ford Transit Courier include Brake light (rear), Individual direction indicators (rear), Number plate lights. 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 2015 Ford Transit Courier (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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