Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

MINI Hatch 2016: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 84 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2016 MINI Hatch were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

The 2016 MINI Hatch follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 44,778 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
84 in every 100
Did not pass first time
16 in every 1007,362 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
9 yearsabout 54,796 miles
First tests counted
44,778

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)16 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre tread depth (front)8 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Windscreen wipers (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 2016 MINI Hatch 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 wear pattern: brake pads, 2.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 7,360 of 7,362 failed first attempts 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.

Brake pads

Failed on 22 first tests2.8 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.

Visibility

One fault: windscreen wipers (front), 2.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Windscreen wipers (front)

Failed on 584 first tests2.2 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.

Wheel condition (front)

Noted on 176 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Wheel condition (rear)

Noted on 71 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Coil spring (front)

Noted on 95 first tests2.2 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
84in 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
13in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 83.6% of 44,778 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 87.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 13 not fixed make the 16 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol34,38151,007 miles8484
Diesel10,39768,902 miles8183

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.

4060801002005201020162020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020162020Older cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200150 in every 1001,394
200253 in every 1006,184
200355 in every 1009,883
200455 in every 10014,270
200555 in every 10017,836
200656 in every 10017,365
200756 in every 10020,625
200858 in every 10021,902
200960 in every 10024,970
201065 in every 10029,511
201166 in every 10028,014
201271 in every 10033,870
201373 in every 10040,211
201479 in every 10030,471
201581 in every 10044,312
2016 This car84 in every 10044,778
201785 in every 10044,384
201887 in every 10043,078
201988 in every 10048,093
202088 in every 10035,781
202188 in every 10036,233
202290 in every 10035,706

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2016 MINI Hatch.

Of 2016 MINI Hatch vehicles with under 37,000 miles, 89 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 76,000 miles or more, 77 in every 100 did.

Under 37,0009,161 tests
89
37,000–49,0008,730 tests
86
49,000–61,000 Typical car9,057 tests
84
61,000–76,0008,875 tests
82
76,000 and over8,943 tests
77

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Petrol51,007 miles8484
Diesel68,902 miles8183

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 68,902 against 51,007). 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 37,00049,000–61,00076,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)2.52.72.9
Tyre tread depth (front)0.51.42.3
Windscreen wipers (front)1.21.41.3
Brake pads (rear)0.51.01.6
Individual sidelight or tail light (front)0.10.82.3

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

When a car fails

58in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

15in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

5in 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 2016 MINI Hatch follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (front), about 16 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 83.6% of 44,778 first MOTs on the 2016 MINI Hatch passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 87.2%. Among 7,362 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Windscreen wipers (front) appears more often than on similar cars (7.9% of those tests; 584 observed failures; about 2.2× 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 2016 MINI Hatch at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (16.1%), Tyre tread depth (front) (8.3%) and Windscreen wipers (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: Windscreen wipers (front) (7.9% of those tests; 584 observed failures; about 2.2× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Windscreen wipers (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (7.9% of those tests; 584 observed failures; about 2.2× 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 2016 MINI Hatch include 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 2016 MINI Hatch (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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