Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Toyota Auris 2016: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 79 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2016 Toyota Auris were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Brake light (rear).

Summary

The 2016 Toyota Auris follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 14,103 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
79 in every 100
Did not pass first time
21 in every 1002,987 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
9 yearsabout 68,068 miles
First tests counted
14,103

What failed most often

  1. Brake light (rear)12 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (rear)8 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)6 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 Toyota Auris 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

Two faults and one wear pattern. The strongest is the brake light (rear): 4.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 2,984 of 2,987 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.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 344 first tests4.0 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

All stop lamps missing or not working is graded Dangerous, and so is a stop lamp that stays on when the brakes are released. A stop lamp that is missing or not working is Major. On some vehicles with LED rear lamps, part of the stop lamp can go out when the rear fog lamp is lit, which is not regarded as a defect.

Number plate lights (rear)

Failed on 141 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Registration plate lamps must light up the rear registration plate and operate at the same time as the position lamps. A missing or inoperative lamp is Major when the plate has only one lamp or all its lamps are not working, and Minor when the plate has several lamps or light sources and not all have failed. A lamp throwing direct white light to the rear is also Minor.

Headlight aim not tested (front)

Failed on 23 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

Headlamp aim recorded as not tested, or unable to be tested, is a Major failure. These results must only be used where it becomes apparent during the test that the item cannot be tested, and this could not have been identified before starting. The reason must be included in the additional information box.

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

Suspension

Three faults. The strongest is the anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover (front): 3.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 80 first tests3.7 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A missing anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover is Major, and so is one that no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A cover that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. DVSA uses one wording for the dust cover on any suspension joint.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 142 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A suspension joint dust cover that is severely deteriorated is Minor. It becomes Major once it is missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, so what matters is whether it still keeps dirt out. DVSA words this for any suspension joint dust cover, and files it here under anti-roll bars.

Shock absorbers (rear)

Failed on 136 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Slight seepage that leaves a film of fluid on a shock absorber does not fail it. Severe leakage, or damage so that it does not function, is Major. A shock absorber missing or likely to become detached is graded Dangerous, though a missing one is only rejected if shock absorbers were fitted as standard.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 309 first tests, 4.8 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.

Brakes

One fault: handbrake performance (roller test, rear), 3.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Handbrake performance (roller test, rear)

Failed on 69 first tests3.1 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.

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.

Macpherson strut (front)

Noted on 51 first tests11 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Suspension arm (front)

Noted on 47 first tests4.7 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Brake performance (plate test, rear)

Noted on 30 first tests3.0 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)

Noted on 69 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Suspension sub-frame (rear)

Noted on 41 first tests2.0 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
79in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
7in 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 78.8% of 14,103 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 85.6%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 7 fixed and the 14 not fixed make the 21 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Hybrid9,33174,855 miles7879
Petrol3,32752,516 miles8278
Diesel1,43177,868 miles7576

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.

40608010020102016Older carsNewer cars
40608010020102016Older cars

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

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200758 in every 1008,906
200859 in every 1009,819
200962 in every 1009,720
201063 in every 1008,943
201163 in every 1008,904
201266 in every 1008,069
201375 in every 10013,056
201476 in every 10015,606
201577 in every 10015,711
2016 This car79 in every 10014,103
201780 in every 10012,550
201880 in every 10011,953
201979 in every 1001,013

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 Auris.

Of 2016 Auris vehicles with under 42,000 miles, 88 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 123,000 miles or more, 73 in every 100 did.

Under 42,0002,775 tests
88
42,000–59,0002,814 tests
82
59,000–79,000 Typical car2,905 tests
79
79,000–123,0002,787 tests
73
123,000 and over2,818 tests
73

Which fuel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Hybrid74,855 miles7879
Petrol52,516 miles8278

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because hybrid cars have done more miles (typically 74,855 against 52,516). 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 42,00059,000–79,000123,000 and over
Brake light (rear)1.32.72.8
Tyre condition (rear)1.51.61.4
Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)0.41.62.2
Headlight aim0.91.21.8
Headlight (front)0.11.52.2

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

When a car fails

40in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

32in 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 Toyota Auris follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Brake light (rear), about 12 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 78.8% of 14,103 first MOTs on the 2016 Toyota Auris passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 85.6%. Among 2,987 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Brake light (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (11.5% of those tests; 344 observed failures; about 4.0× 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 Toyota Auris at the first attempt were Brake light (rear) (11.5%), Tyre condition (rear) (7.6%) and Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test) (6.4%), 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.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Brake light (rear) (11.5% of those tests; 344 observed failures; about 4.0× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Brake light (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (11.5% of those tests; 344 observed failures; about 4.0× 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 Toyota Auris include Brake light (rear), Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover (front), 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 2016 Toyota Auris (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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