Land Rover Discovery Sport 2021: reliability & common MOT faults

At a glance

How 6,363 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time: 83 in every 100
Did not pass first time: 17 in every 1001,063 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car: 4 yearsabout 37,028 miles
First tests counted: 6,363

What failed most often

Tyre condition (front)28 in every 100 failed tests
Windscreen wipers (front)16 in every 100 failed tests
Brake pads (rear)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 2021 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. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel engine warning light, 3.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,063 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.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 55 first tests3.2 times as often as similar carsLikely 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.

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.

Shock absorbers (front)

Noted on 76 first tests5.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Brake pads (rear)

Noted on 148 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

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: 83in every 100; Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station: 3in every 100; Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed: 14in every 100; Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 83.3% of 6,363 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 86.3%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 14 not fixed make the 17 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage

Diesel4,88538,177 miles8383

Petrol1,25132,538 miles8382

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.

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.

Year	Passed first time	First tests
2015	79 in every 100	14,194
2016	79 in every 100	20,602
2017	81 in every 100	21,517
2018	82 in every 100	17,890
2019	82 in every 100	15,804
2020	83 in every 100	10,484
2021 This car	83 in every 100	6,363
2022	83 in every 100	3,288

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 Discovery Sport.

Of 2021 Discovery Sport vehicles with under 27,000 miles, 86 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 49,000 miles or more, 80 in every 100 did.

Under 27,0001,295 tests

86

27,000–34,0001,272 tests

85

34,000–40,000 Typical car1,175 tests

82

40,000–49,0001,328 tests

84

49,000 and over1,292 tests

80

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 27,000	34,000–40,000	49,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)	3.8	5.8	5.2
Windscreen wipers (front)	2.6	3.0	2.4
Brake pads (rear)	0.2	1.7	2.7
Diesel engine warning light	0.5	1.1	1.6
Tyre tread depth (front)	0.3	1.6	0.7

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

When a car fails

56in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

15in 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.

Is the 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport reliable?

The 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (front), about 28 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 83.3% of 6,363 first MOTs on the 2021 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 86.3%. Among 1,063 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Diesel engine warning light appears more often than on similar cars (5.2% of those tests; 55 observed failures; about 3.2× 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.

What is most likely to fail on a 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport?

Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (28.0%), Windscreen wipers (front) (15.7%) and Brake pads (rear) (8.4%), 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.

What common MOT faults stand out on the Land Rover Discovery Sport 2021?

Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Diesel engine warning light (5.2% of those tests; 55 observed failures; about 3.2× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.

Why does Diesel engine warning light stand out?

Diesel engine warning light shows up more often than on similar cars (5.2% of those tests; 55 observed failures; about 3.2× 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.

What are common problems with the 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport?

Common MOT problem areas for the 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport include 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.

How should I read advisories vs fails?

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.

What does this Land Rover Discovery Sport 2021 MOT report cover?

This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2021 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.

Does this include engine and gearbox problems?

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.