Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Land Rover Discovery Sport 2015: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 79 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (rear).

Summary

The 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 14,194 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
79 in every 100
Did not pass first time
21 in every 1002,980 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
10 yearsabout 87,871 miles
First tests counted
14,194

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (rear)11 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Brake pads (rear)10 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Coil spring (front)8 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 Land Rover Discovery Sport 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.

Lamps and electrical

One fault: rear fog light, 5.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 2,978 of 2,980 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.

Rear fog light

Failed on 105 first tests5.5 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

A missing obligatory rear fog lamp, one that is not working, or one that does not emit a steady red light is graded Major. A rear fog lamp adversely affected by the operation of any other lamp is Major too. The manual allows it to go out when main beam is switched on or when dipped beam headlamps are switched off.

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: 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 229 first tests2.6 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.

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

Failed on 82 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

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

Brakes

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

Brake pads (rear)

Failed on 283 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A pad worn down to its wear indicator, or contaminated with oil or grease, is Major. A pad worn below the set thickness limit, missing or incorrectly mounted is Dangerous. The manual treats an illuminated brake wear indicator as no reason for failure, although DVSA also lists an illuminated indicator as a Major row.

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.

Flexible brake hoses (front)

Noted on 29 first tests4.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm (front)

Noted on 42 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension sub-frame (front)

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

Flexible brake hoses (rear)

Noted on 36 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension sub-frame (rear)

Noted on 96 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Seat belt condition (rear)

Noted on 25 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
79in 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
17in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 79.0% of 14,194 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 83.4%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 17 not fixed make the 21 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

40608010020152016201720182019202020212022Newer 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, 80 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
2015 This car79 in every 10014,194
201679 in every 10020,602
201781 in every 10021,517
201882 in every 10017,890
201982 in every 10015,804
202083 in every 10010,484
202183 in every 1006,363
202283 in every 1003,288

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 2015 Discovery Sport.

Of 2015 Discovery Sport vehicles with under 67,000 miles, 83 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 110,000 miles or more, 75 in every 100 did.

Under 67,0002,867 tests
83
67,000–81,0002,715 tests
81
81,000–94,000 Typical car2,905 tests
80
94,000–110,0002,805 tests
77
110,000 and over2,895 tests
75

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 67,00081,000–94,000110,000 and over
Tyre condition (rear)2.12.32.3
Brake pads (rear)1.81.92.6
Coil spring (front)1.11.42.1
Diesel engine warning light1.11.31.9
Headlight aim1.01.41.8

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

When a car fails

52in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

21in 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.

The 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (rear), about 11 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 79.0% of 14,194 first MOTs on the 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 83.4%. Among 2,980 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Rear fog light appears more often than on similar cars (3.5% of those tests; 105 observed failures; about 5.5× 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 Land Rover Discovery Sport at the first attempt were Tyre condition (rear) (10.9%), Brake pads (rear) (9.5%) and Coil spring (front) (7.9%), 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: Rear fog light (3.5% of those tests; 105 observed failures; about 5.5× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Rear fog light shows up more often than on similar cars (3.5% of those tests; 105 observed failures; about 5.5× 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 Land Rover Discovery Sport include Rear fog light, Diesel engine 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 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport (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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