Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volvo V40 2012: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 62 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2012 Volvo V40 were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Coil spring (front).

Summary

A 2012 Volvo V40 passed first time about 4 in every 100 less often than the 2013 model year next to it.

At a glance

How 2,169 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
62 in every 100
Did not pass first time
38 in every 100834 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
13 yearsabout 110,014 miles
First tests counted
2,169

What failed most often

  1. Coil spring (front)13 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Anti-lock braking system (ABS)12 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre condition (front)9 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 2012 Volvo V40 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.

Suspension

One fault: anti-roll bar linkage (rear), 20 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 830 of 834 failed first attempts (99.5%) 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 linkage (rear)

Failed on 67 first tests20 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

An anti-roll bar linkage is graded Dangerous when a suspension component is missing, likely to become detached, fractured or likely to fail. Insecure attachment that impairs directional stability is graded Dangerous too. Excessive damage or corrosion that seriously weakens the part is Major, and so is plain insecure attachment to the chassis or axle.

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

Brakes

Two faults. The strongest is the anti-lock braking system (ABS): 8.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-lock braking system (ABS)

Failed on 100 first tests8.1 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

ABS is failed as removed only where it has obviously been removed, because not every vehicle in the age range where removal is not permitted has ABS. A warning lamp that does not light or shows an ABS fault is Major, as is a missing or excessively damaged wheel speed sensor. Every failure row for this component is Major.

Electronic stability control

Failed on 33 first tests4.0 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

An ESC warning lamp is failed only when the tester is certain it indicates an ESC malfunction, because the lamp takes various forms and the owner's handbook may need checking. The system is also called ESP, VDC or DSC, among many other names. Every failure row is Major, covering the lamp, wheel speed sensors, wiring, other components and the switch.

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

Lamps and electrical

One fault: individual direction indicators (rear), 3.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Individual direction indicators (rear)

Failed on 67 first tests3.8 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Direction indicators must be amber, though vehicles first used before a set date may have white at the front and red at the rear when the indicators are combined with stop or position lamps, and sequential or dynamic ones are not a reason to fail. A lamp that is missing, inoperative or has more than half of a multiple light source not functioning is graded Major. A flashing rate outside the permitted range is graded Minor.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 56 first tests, 3.9 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.

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/07/2008), 3.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/07/2008)

Failed on 45 first tests3.6 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

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 pins and bushes (rear)

Noted on 76 first tests4.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Coil spring (front)

Noted on 47 first tests3.0 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Wheel condition (front)

Noted on 24 first tests2.5 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
62in 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
34in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 61.5% of 2,169 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 66.3%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 34 not fixed make the 38 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

40608010020122013201420152016201720182019Newer cars
4060801002012Newer 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, 63 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
2012 This car62 in every 1002,169
201365 in every 10010,636
201467 in every 10015,156
201567 in every 10014,702
201673 in every 10014,762
201778 in every 10013,056
201879 in every 10012,527
201980 in every 1007,917

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2012 Volvo V40.

Of 2012 Volvo V40 vehicles with under 78,000 miles, 71 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 144,000 miles or more, 58 in every 100 did.

Under 78,000438 tests
71
78,000–101,000432 tests
63
101,000–120,000 Typical car421 tests
60
120,000–144,000441 tests
58
144,000 and over432 tests
58

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 78,000101,000–120,000144,000 and over
Coil spring (front)4.35.94.9
Anti-lock braking system (ABS)3.45.24.2
Tyre condition (front)2.32.63.5
Anti-roll bar linkage (rear)0.74.54.2
Individual direction indicators (rear)2.72.42.8

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

When a car fails

39in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

34in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

13in 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 2012 Volvo V40 passed first time about 4 in every 100 less often than the 2013 model year next to it. In 2025, 61.5% of 2,169 first MOTs on the 2012 Volvo V40 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 66.3%. Among 834 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Anti-lock braking system (ABS) appears more often than on similar cars (12.0% of those tests; 100 observed failures; about 8.1× 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 2012 Volvo V40 at the first attempt were Coil spring (front) (13.0%), Anti-lock braking system (ABS) (12.0%) and Tyre condition (front) (9.3%), 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-lock braking system (ABS) (12.0% of those tests; 100 observed failures; about 8.1× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Anti-lock braking system (ABS) shows up more often than on similar cars (12.0% of those tests; 100 observed failures; about 8.1× 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 2012 Volvo V40 include Anti-lock braking system (ABS), Anti-roll bar linkage (rear), Electronic stability control. 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 2012 Volvo V40 (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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