Jeep Compass 2019: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 77 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2019 Jeep Compass were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre tread depth (front).

Summary

The 2019 Jeep Compass follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 2,979 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
77 in every 100
Did not pass first time
23 in every 100681 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
6 yearsabout 43,718 miles
First tests counted
2,979

What failed most often

  1. Tyre tread depth (front)14 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (front)10 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Windscreen wipers7 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 2019 Jeep Compass 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.

Suspension

Two faults. The strongest is the anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front): 16 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 679 of 681 failed first attempts (99.7%) 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.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front)

Failed on 48 first tests16 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Excessive wear on an anti-roll bar linkage ball joint is Major. A joint likely to become detached is graded Dangerous.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)

Failed on 24 first tests15 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Pins and bushes on suspension arms fail as Major when they are excessively worn. They are graded Dangerous when likely to become detached. DVSA uses the same wording for a suspension joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 70 first tests, 34 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.

Lamps and electrical

Two faults. The strongest is the daytime running lights (front): 7.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Daytime running lights (front)

Failed on 29 first tests7.6 times as often as similar carsPossible 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.

Individual sidelight or tail light (front)

Failed on 29 first tests5.7 times as often as similar carsPossible 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.

Noise, emissions and leaks

Two faults. The strongest is the diesel engine warning light: 2.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 48 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

An engine malfunction indicator lamp that is illuminated to show a malfunction is graded Major on a diesel, but only on the diesels the test covers, which depends on the vehicle type and when it was first used. DVSA lists it under exhaust emissions for compression ignition engines, and the detail line for the row also names an inoperative lamp.

Petrol engine warning light

Failed on 35 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

The malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) on a petrol engine is a Major failure when it is illuminated indicating a malfunction. The detail line DVSA gives for the same row also names an inoperative lamp. The test covers only certain petrol vehicles, depending on their age, size and fuel type.

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

Brakes

One wear pattern: brake discs (rear), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake discs (rear)

Failed on 20 first tests2.1 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.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 112 first tests, 2.1 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.

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.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (rear)

Noted on 20 first tests120 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Engine oil leaks

Noted on 30 first tests3.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Non-component advisories (front)

Noted on 32 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
77in 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
19in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 77.1% of 2,979 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 81.0%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 19 not fixed make the 23 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol1,93642,193 miles7878
Diesel1,04346,878 miles7576

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.

40608010020182019202020212022Older carsNewer cars
40608010020182019202020212022Newer 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, 78 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
201874 in every 1002,246
2019 This car77 in every 1002,979
202083 in every 1001,566
202184 in every 1001,584
202285 in every 1001,219

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2019 Jeep Compass.

Of 2019 Jeep Compass vehicles with under 31,000 miles, 84 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 59,000 miles or more, 71 in every 100 did.

Under 31,000571 tests
84
31,000–39,000583 tests
79
39,000–48,000 Typical car609 tests
77
48,000–59,000623 tests
75
59,000 and over586 tests
71

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested
Passed first time,
same mileage
Petrol42,193 miles7878
Diesel46,878 miles7576

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 46,878 against 42,193). 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 31,00039,000–48,00059,000 and over
Tyre tread depth (front)2.33.34.1
Tyre condition (front)1.62.52.0
Windscreen wipers1.82.11.5

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


When a car fails

48in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

21in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

7in 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 2019 Jeep Compass follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre tread depth (front), about 14 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 77.1% of 2,979 first MOTs on the 2019 Jeep Compass passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 81.0%. Among 681 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front) appears more often than on similar cars (7.1% of those tests; 48 observed failures; about 16× 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 2019 Jeep Compass at the first attempt were Tyre tread depth (front) (13.8%), Tyre condition (front) (10.3%) and Windscreen wipers (7.4%), 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 ball joints (front) (7.1% of those tests; 48 observed failures; about 16× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (7.1% of those tests; 48 observed failures; about 16× 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 2019 Jeep Compass include Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front), Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear), 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.
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 2019 Jeep Compass (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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