Mitsubishi ASX 2015: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 75 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2015 Mitsubishi ASX were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test).

Summary

The 2015 Mitsubishi ASX follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 4,293 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
75 in every 100
Did not pass first time
25 in every 1001,087 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
10 yearsabout 76,218 miles
First tests counted
4,293

What failed most often

  1. Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)12 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Brake pads (rear)11 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Track rod end (front)10 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 Mitsubishi ASX 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 pins and bushes (rear): 51 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,086 of 1,087 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.

Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear)

Failed on 46 first tests51 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

An anti-roll bar pin or bush that is excessively worn is Major, and one likely to become detached is graded Dangerous. The wording is DVSA's general rule for a suspension pin, bush or joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 32 first tests, 24 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front)

Failed on 53 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsPossible 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.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Brakes

Four faults and one wear pattern. The strongest is the rigid brake pipes (rear): 10 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Failed on 80 first tests10 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 145 first tests, 6.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (front)

Failed on 31 first tests5.7 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 96 first tests, 5.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Handbrake performance (roller test, rear)

Failed on 34 first tests4.7 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A parking brake that is inoperative on one side is Major. When tested on the road, the failure is the vehicle deviating excessively from a straight line. Vehicles whose parking brake was already tested as the secondary brake are not tested again for this.

Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)

Failed on 135 first tests3.3 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A parking brake with efficiency below the minimum requirement is Major, and graded Dangerous where efficiency is less than half of the required value. On a roller brake tester, the requirement counts as met if more than half of the wheels of a brake system lock. The check applies only to vehicles whose parking brake was not already tested as the secondary brake.

Brake pads (rear)

Failed on 117 first tests2.5 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 134 first tests, 2.3 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.

Steering

One fault: track rod end (front), 2.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Track rod end (front)

Failed on 108 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play is Major, and one worn to the extent there is a serious risk of detachment is graded Dangerous. A dust cover that is damaged but still keeps dirt out is Minor, and one missing or no longer keeping dirt out is Major. Testers must tell wear from a joint's built-in clearance or spring loading.

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.

Suspension arm (front)

Noted on 24 first tests4.6 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension sub-frame (rear)

Noted on 60 first tests4.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Coil spring (front)

Noted on 34 first tests3.9 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension sub-frame (front)

Noted on 38 first tests3.0 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
75in 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
22in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 74.7% of 4,293 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 78.1%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 22 not fixed make the 25 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel2,68580,948 miles7475
Petrol1,60769,696 miles7573

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.

406080100201020152020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020152020Older 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, 77 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
201060 in every 1001,330
201162 in every 1001,815
201266 in every 1001,909
201364 in every 1002,247
201468 in every 1003,515
2015 This car75 in every 1004,293
201678 in every 1003,059
201779 in every 1003,837
201884 in every 1002,125
201990 in every 1001,551
202090 in every 1001,428
202190 in every 100490

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2015 Mitsubishi ASX.

Of 2015 Mitsubishi ASX vehicles with under 55,000 miles, 86 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 101,000 miles or more, 64 in every 100 did.

Under 55,000851 tests
86
55,000–70,000880 tests
78
70,000–83,000 Typical car818 tests
73
83,000–101,000905 tests
72
101,000 and over838 tests
64

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 55,00070,000–83,000101,000 and over
Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)1.22.95.4
Brake pads (rear)1.13.33.9
Track rod end (front)0.52.84.3
Rigid brake pipes (rear)1.11.72.5
Suspension arm ball joint (front)0.12.23.3

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


When a car fails

41in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

33in 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 2015 Mitsubishi ASX follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test), about 12 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 74.7% of 4,293 first MOTs on the 2015 Mitsubishi ASX passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 78.1%. Among 1,087 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (4.2% of those tests; 46 observed failures; about 51× 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 Mitsubishi ASX at the first attempt were Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test) (12.4%), Brake pads (rear) (10.8%) and Track rod end (front) (9.9%), 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: Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear) (4.2% of those tests; 46 observed failures; about 51× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (4.2% of those tests; 46 observed failures; about 51× 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 Mitsubishi ASX include Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear), Rigid brake pipes (rear), Handbrake performance (roller test, rear). 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 Mitsubishi ASX (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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