Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Hyundai i20 2014: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 67 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2014 Hyundai i20 were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Individual sidelight or tail light (front).

Summary

A 2014 Hyundai i20 passed first time about 1 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2013 and 2015 model years.

At a glance

How 12,442 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
67 in every 100
Did not pass first time
33 in every 1004,086 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
11 yearsabout 62,212 miles
First tests counted
12,442

What failed most often

  1. Individual sidelight or tail light (front)16 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)9 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Headlight aim8 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 2014 Hyundai i20 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: suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front), 5.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 4,081 of 4,086 failed first attempts (99.9%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.

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.

Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 387 first tests5.4 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Whether a suspension arm ball joint dust cover still keeps dirt out decides its grade. Severely deteriorated is Minor, while missing, or no longer preventing the ingress of dirt, is Major.

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

Brakes

Two faults. The strongest is the rigid brake pipes (rear): 5.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Failed on 184 first tests5.1 times as often as similar carsStrong 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 488 first tests, 4.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-lock braking system (ABS)

Failed on 158 first tests3.6 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

ABS is failed as removed only where it has obviously been removed, because not every vehicle in the age range where removal is not permitted has ABS. A warning lamp that does not light or shows an ABS fault is Major, as is a missing or excessively damaged wheel speed sensor. Every failure row for this component is Major.

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

Seat belts and restraints

One fault: airbag warning light, 3.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Airbag warning light

Failed on 165 first tests3.7 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

The airbag warning lamp (SRS MIL in DVSA's wording) is failed only if it indicates a system malfunction, which is Major. A lamp lit to show the passenger airbag is disabled is not to be regarded as a defect. Dashboard messages are not a defect in their own right, though they can help the tester confirm a malfunction.

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

Lamps and electrical

One fault: individual sidelight or tail light (front), 3.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Individual sidelight or tail light (front)

Failed on 663 first tests3.0 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A position lamp showing red light to the front or white light to the rear is Major. Rear lamps must show a steady red light, and front ones can show white, predominantly white with a blue tinge, or yellow if combined in a yellow headlamp. With a multiple light source, up to half not working is Minor and more than half is Major.

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.

Side repeater indicators

Noted on 24 first tests4.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Rigid brake pipes (front)

Noted on 234 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Suspension arm (front)

Noted on 84 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Anti-roll bar ball joint (front)

Noted on 20 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Number plates (front)

Noted on 125 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Seat belt condition (rear)

Noted on 31 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Wheel bearings (rear)

Noted on 22 first tests2.1 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
67in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
9in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
24in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 67.2% of 12,442 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 75.6%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 9 fixed and the 24 not fixed make the 33 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as tested
Petrol12,02561,634 miles67
Diesel41788,198 miles61

Figures are in every 100 first tests.

Same model, other years

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

406080100201020142020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020142020Older carsNewer 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, 69 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200956 in every 1008,062
201060 in every 1008,409
201159 in every 1008,716
201258 in every 1008,948
201360 in every 10011,739
2014 This car67 in every 10012,442
201577 in every 10012,299
201679 in every 10013,351
201781 in every 10011,350
201884 in every 1008,418
201986 in every 1007,185
202088 in every 1004,087
202188 in every 1005,830
202285 in every 1007,234

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2014 Hyundai i20.

Of 2014 Hyundai i20 vehicles with under 41,000 miles, 82 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 87,000 miles or more, 57 in every 100 did.

Under 41,0002,462 tests
82
41,000–56,0002,559 tests
72
56,000–70,000 Typical car2,518 tests
64
70,000–87,0002,407 tests
60
87,000 and over2,490 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 41,00056,000–70,00087,000 and over
Individual sidelight or tail light (front)1.85.48.7
Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)1.73.33.3
Headlight aim0.92.65.0
Windscreen washers1.32.42.4
Coil spring (front)1.31.82.7

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

When a car fails

36in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

37in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

6in 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.

A 2014 Hyundai i20 passed first time about 1 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2013 and 2015 model years. In 2025, 67.2% of 12,442 first MOTs on the 2014 Hyundai i20 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 75.6%. Among 4,086 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) appears more often than on similar cars (9.5% of those tests; 387 observed failures; about 5.4× 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 2014 Hyundai i20 at the first attempt were Individual sidelight or tail light (front) (16.2%), Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) (9.5%) and Headlight aim (8.3%), 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: Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) (9.5% of those tests; 387 observed failures; about 5.4× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (9.5% of those tests; 387 observed failures; about 5.4× 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 2014 Hyundai i20 include Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front), Rigid brake pipes (rear), Airbag warning light. 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 2014 Hyundai i20 (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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