Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Hyundai i10 2021: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 85 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2021 Hyundai i10 were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

The 2021 Hyundai i10 follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 7,840 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
85 in every 100
Did not pass first time
15 in every 1001,166 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
4 yearsabout 18,624 miles
First tests counted
7,840

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)15 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Seat belt condition (rear)14 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Windscreen wipers (front)13 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 2021 Hyundai i10 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.

Steering

One fault: steering rack (front), 60 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,166 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.

Steering rack (front)

Failed on 42 first tests60 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Steering gear casing retaining devices dangerously loose, or visible relative movement to the chassis or bodywork, is graded Dangerous. A casing not properly attached, or fractured, is Major, but a fracture that affects the stability or attachment of the casing is Dangerous. A gaiter damaged but still keeping dirt out is Minor, and Major once missing or no longer doing so.

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

Lamps and electrical

One fault: daytime running lights (front), 32 times as often as on similar cars.

Daytime running lights (front)

Failed on 85 first tests32 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Daytime running lamps are inspected only when fitted as original equipment to cars and similar passenger vehicles first used on or after a set date. A lamp that is missing or not working, or that shows red light to the front, is Major. These lamps need not operate when the engine is not running, the parking brake is on, or park is selected on an automatic.

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

Seat belts and restraints

Two faults. The strongest is the seat belt condition (front): 29 times as often as on similar cars.

Seat belt condition (front)

Failed on 76 first tests29 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Any sign of overstretching is a deficiency, and so is a cut anywhere on a child seat belt. On other belts the size of a cut decides it, with a stricter limit at the webbing edge than away from it. Webbing significantly stretched or weakened has rows in both Major and Dangerous grades.

Seat belt condition (rear)

Failed on 165 first tests11 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Any sign of overstretching is a deficiency, and so is a cut anywhere on a child seat belt. On other belts the size of a cut decides it, with a stricter limit at the webbing edge than away from it. Webbing significantly stretched or weakened has rows in both Major and Dangerous grades.

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
4in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
11in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 85.1% of 7,840 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 88.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 11 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.

406080100201020152021Older cars
40608010020102021Older 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, 82 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200855 in every 1004,181
200958 in every 10017,479
201062 in every 10017,362
201163 in every 10016,019
201262 in every 10019,089
201363 in every 10019,598
201471 in every 10022,080
201576 in every 10021,555
201680 in every 10021,548
201781 in every 10023,091
201880 in every 10020,594
201982 in every 10017,682
202087 in every 1006,192
2021 This car85 in every 1007,840
202284 in every 1008,288

If you are buying one

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

Mileage makes a modest difference on a 2021 Hyundai i10.

Of 2021 Hyundai i10 vehicles with under 11,000 miles, 87 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 30,000 miles or more, 82 in every 100 did.

Under 11,0001,681 tests
87
11,000–16,0001,488 tests
87
16,000–22,000 Typical car1,554 tests
85
22,000–30,0001,507 tests
85
30,000 and over1,610 tests
82

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 11,00016,000–22,00030,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)0.82.73.2
Seat belt condition (rear)2.82.41.4
Windscreen wipers (front)2.91.71.6
Daytime running lights (front)0.21.22.6
Windscreen washers0.21.00.9

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

When a car fails

61in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

11in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

3in 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 2021 Hyundai i10 follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (front), about 15 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 85.1% of 7,840 first MOTs on the 2021 Hyundai i10 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 88.8%. Among 1,166 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Seat belt condition (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (14.2% of those tests; 165 observed failures; about 11× 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 2021 Hyundai i10 at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (15.4%), Seat belt condition (rear) (14.2%) and Windscreen wipers (front) (13.5%), 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: Seat belt condition (rear) (14.2% of those tests; 165 observed failures; about 11× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Seat belt condition (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (14.2% of those tests; 165 observed failures; about 11× 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 2021 Hyundai i10 include Seat belt condition (rear), Steering rack (front), Daytime running lights (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.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2021 Hyundai i10 (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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