Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Lexus IS 2008: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 74 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2008 Lexus IS were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Individual sidelight or tail light (front).

Summary

The 2008 Lexus IS follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 2,328 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
74 in every 100
Did not pass first time
26 in every 100610 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
17 yearsabout 112,278 miles
First tests counted
2,328

What failed most often

  1. Individual sidelight or tail light (front)21 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Headlight aim11 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Headlight10 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 2008 Lexus IS 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.

Brakes

One fault and one wear pattern. The strongest is the electronic stability control: 6.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 608 of 610 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.

Electronic stability control

Failed on 29 first tests6.2 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

An ESC warning lamp is failed only when the tester is certain it indicates an ESC malfunction, because the lamp takes various forms and the owner's handbook may need checking. The system is also called ESP, VDC or DSC, among many other names. Every failure row is Major, covering the lamp, wheel speed sensors, wiring, other components and the switch.

Brake pads (rear)

Failed on 47 first tests2.6 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.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 50 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.

Tyres

One wear pattern: tyre tread depth (rear), 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Tyre tread depth (rear)

Failed on 46 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

Only primary grooves count when tread depth is assessed: those holding the wear indicators, or cut as deep as those when new. Shallower secondary grooves are ignored. Tread depth below the minimum for the vehicle is Dangerous, and so is a pattern not visible over the whole tread, but that second row applies only to vehicles that need the lower minimum.

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

Visibility

One fault: windscreen wipers (front), 2.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Windscreen wipers (front)

Failed on 33 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Only a clearly damaged or worn windscreen wiper needs to be rejected. A wiper that is missing or not working is graded Major, and so is a blade that is missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen. A defective blade is graded Minor.

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.

Headlight (front)

Noted on 35 first tests2.4 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
74in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
6in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
20in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 73.8% of 2,328 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 80.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 6 fixed and the 20 not fixed make the 26 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol1,609105,419 miles7675
Diesel718126,149 miles7073

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.

40608010020002005200820152020Older carsNewer cars
406080100200020082020Older 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, 72 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200065 in every 100305
200171 in every 100613
200266 in every 100864
200366 in every 1001,069
200465 in every 1001,218
200566 in every 1001,295
200669 in every 1002,272
200770 in every 1002,839
2008 This car74 in every 1002,328
200973 in every 1002,138
201075 in every 1002,076
201178 in every 1001,397
201282 in every 100855
201383 in every 1001,609
201485 in every 1002,925
201586 in every 1002,603
201685 in every 1001,827
201790 in every 1001,457
201891 in every 1001,338
201989 in every 1001,075
202092 in every 100516

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2008 Lexus IS.

Of 2008 Lexus IS vehicles with under 79,000 miles, 86 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 145,000 miles or more, 64 in every 100 did.

Under 79,000458 tests
86
79,000–103,000482 tests
79
103,000–122,000 Typical car456 tests
72
122,000–145,000458 tests
68
145,000 and over472 tests
64

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Petrol105,419 miles7675
Diesel126,149 miles7073

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 126,149 against 105,419). 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 79,000103,000–122,000145,000 and over
Individual sidelight or tail light (front)1.76.68.5
Headlight aim2.02.44.0
Headlight1.13.34.7
Tyre condition (front)3.12.22.1

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

When a car fails

28in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

47in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

8in 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 2008 Lexus IS follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Individual sidelight or tail light (front), about 21 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 73.8% of 2,328 first MOTs on the 2008 Lexus IS passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 80.2%. Among 610 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Electronic stability control appears more often than on similar cars (4.8% of those tests; 29 observed failures; about 6.2× 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.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2008 Lexus IS at the first attempt were Individual sidelight or tail light (front) (21.4%), Headlight aim (10.7%) and Headlight (9.5%), 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: Electronic stability control (4.8% of those tests; 29 observed failures; about 6.2× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Electronic stability control shows up more often than on similar cars (4.8% of those tests; 29 observed failures; about 6.2× 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.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2008 Lexus IS include Electronic stability control, Windscreen wipers (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 2008 Lexus IS (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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