Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Toyota Corolla 2019: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 88 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2019 Toyota Corolla were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

A 2019 Toyota Corolla passed first time about 1 in every 100 less often than the 2020 model year next to it.

At a glance

How 14,253 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
88 in every 100
Did not pass first time
12 in every 1001,662 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
6 yearsabout 51,373 miles
First tests counted
14,253

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)16 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Windscreen wipers (front)11 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre tread depth (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 2019 Toyota Corolla 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.

Visibility

One fault: windscreen wipers (front), 2.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,661 of 1,662 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.

Windscreen wipers (front)

Failed on 189 first tests2.3 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.

Lamps and electrical

One fault: number plate lights (rear), 2.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Number plate lights (rear)

Failed on 91 first tests2.2 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.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. 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
88in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
4in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
8in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 88.3% of 14,253 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 91.9%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 8 not fixed make the 12 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as tested
Hybrid13,29952,984 miles88
Petrol95135,005 miles89

Figures are in every 100 first tests.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
2019 This car88 in every 10014,253
202089 in every 10017,123
202189 in every 10018,029
202290 in every 10017,287

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

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 2019 Corolla.

Of 2019 Corolla vehicles with under 31,000 miles, 92 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 97,000 miles or more, 85 in every 100 did.

Under 31,0002,841 tests
92
31,000–44,0002,930 tests
90
44,000–61,000 Typical car2,753 tests
88
61,000–97,0002,873 tests
87
97,000 and over2,854 tests
85

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 31,00044,000–61,00097,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)2.12.61.1
Windscreen wipers (front)1.41.60.6
Tyre tread depth (front)0.50.91.3
Headlight aim0.60.80.9
Number plate lights0.00.12.4

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

When a car fails

61in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

15in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

3in 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.

A 2019 Toyota Corolla passed first time about 1 in every 100 less often than the 2020 model year next to it. In 2025, 88.3% of 14,253 first MOTs on the 2019 Toyota Corolla passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 91.9%. Among 1,662 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Windscreen wipers (front) appears more often than on similar cars (11.4% of those tests; 189 observed failures; about 2.3× 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 2019 Toyota Corolla at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (16.5%), Windscreen wipers (front) (11.4%) and Tyre tread depth (front) (8.2%), 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) (11.4% of those tests; 189 observed failures; about 2.3× 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 (11.4% of those tests; 189 observed failures; about 2.3× 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 2019 Toyota Corolla include Windscreen wipers (front), Number plate lights (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.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2019 Toyota Corolla (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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