Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Toyota Yaris 2016: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 81 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2016 Toyota Yaris were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Side repeater indicators.

Summary

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

At a glance

How 27,852 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
81 in every 100
Did not pass first time
19 in every 1005,424 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
9 yearsabout 48,814 miles
First tests counted
27,852

What failed most often

  1. Side repeater indicators9 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (front)8 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Coil spring (front)7 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 Yaris 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

One fault: wheel bearings (rear), 21 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 5,424 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

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.

Wheel bearings (rear)

Failed on 292 first tests21 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Excessive play in a wheel bearing, or a bearing that is excessively rough, is Major. Play so excessive that the bearing is likely to break up or directional control is impaired is Dangerous, and so is a bearing so rough that it is likely to overheat or break up.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 70 first tests, 8.7 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.

Lamps and electrical

Two faults and one wear pattern. The strongest is the side repeater indicators (front): 7.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Side repeater indicators (front)

Failed on 497 first tests7.3 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Sequential or dynamic direction indicators are not a reason to fail. Where a side repeater is required, it is allowed to be part of the front direction indicator if it has a marked wraparound lens, or an amber light coming through the front lens when viewed from a set distance to the side of the rear bumper. A lens defect with no effect on the emitted light is Minor, and one that adversely affects the light is Major.

Headlight aim not tested (front)

Failed on 49 first tests2.4 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.

Headlight (front)

Failed on 278 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

On vehicles first used on or after a set date, a halogen headlamp unit converted to take HID or LED bulbs fails for light source and lamp not compatible, which is Major. A complete unit built with those light sources is not failed for that. The precise position of the lamps is not part of the inspection beyond a visual look to see that they sit at about the same height and distance from each side.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 27 first tests, 5.4 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 wear pattern: brake discs (rear), 2.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake discs (rear)

Failed on 170 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A brake disc or drum must be significantly worn before it is rejected, and being worn below the manufacturer's recommended limits is not a reason in itself. Significantly and obviously worn is Major, as is contamination with oil or grease. A disc or drum that is fractured, insecure, seriously weakened or missing is graded Dangerous.

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 376 first tests21 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Brake cable (rear)

Noted on 45 first tests20 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Macpherson strut (front)

Noted on 111 first tests11 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension mounting area (rear)

Noted on 21 first tests5.0 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Wheel bearings (front)

Noted on 84 first tests4.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Flexible brake hoses (front)

Noted on 25 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
81in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
5in 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 80.5% of 27,852 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 86.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 5 fixed and the 14 not fixed make the 19 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol17,36247,250 miles8180
Hybrid9,70449,888 miles8080
Diesel77985,786 miles7783

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.

40608010020002005201020162020Older carsNewer cars
4060801002000201020162020Older 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, 83 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
199952 in every 100789
200055 in every 1002,689
200155 in every 1005,605
200256 in every 1007,169
200353 in every 1009,228
200454 in every 10011,038
200554 in every 10013,843
200654 in every 10014,734
200755 in every 10018,423
200856 in every 10020,176
200963 in every 10023,051
201062 in every 10017,516
201166 in every 10015,471
201267 in every 10026,595
201369 in every 10028,189
201472 in every 10028,423
201579 in every 10030,019
2016 This car81 in every 10027,852
201781 in every 10026,164
201884 in every 10027,274
201986 in every 10027,244
202088 in every 10020,094
202191 in every 10023,209
202292 in every 10020,982

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 Yaris.

Of 2016 Yaris vehicles with under 31,000 miles, 89 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 72,000 miles or more, 71 in every 100 did.

Under 31,0005,719 tests
89
31,000–43,0005,536 tests
84
43,000–55,000 Typical car5,293 tests
82
55,000–72,0005,711 tests
77
72,000 and over5,593 tests
71

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 31,00043,000–55,00072,000 and over
Side repeater indicators1.21.72.5
Tyre condition (front)1.01.51.9
Coil spring (front)0.81.51.4
Windscreen wipers (front)1.41.31.0
Tyre tread depth (front)0.31.12.0

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

When a car fails

54in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

20in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

4in 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 Yaris follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Side repeater indicators, about 9 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 80.5% of 27,852 first MOTs on the 2016 Toyota Yaris passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 86.2%. Among 5,424 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Wheel bearings (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (5.4% of those tests; 292 observed failures; about 21× 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 Yaris at the first attempt were Side repeater indicators (9.2%), Tyre condition (front) (7.9%) and Coil spring (front) (7.1%), 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: Wheel bearings (rear) (5.4% of those tests; 292 observed failures; about 21× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Wheel bearings (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (5.4% of those tests; 292 observed failures; about 21× 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 Yaris include Wheel bearings (rear), Side repeater indicators (front), Headlight (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 Toyota Yaris (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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