Volvo XC60 2018: reliability & common MOT faults

At a glance

How 10,461 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time: 88 in every 100
Did not pass first time: 12 in every 1001,295 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car: 7 yearsabout 61,816 miles
First tests counted: 10,461

What failed most often

Tyre condition (rear)17 in every 100 failed tests
Brake pads (rear)16 in every 100 failed tests
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 2018 Volvo XC60 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.

Brakes

One wear pattern: brake pads (rear), 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,295 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.

Brake pads (rear)

Failed on 211 first tests2.6 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.

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.

Suspension arm ball joint (front)

Noted on 93 first tests6.9 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: 88in every 100; Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station: 1in every 100; Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed: 11in every 100; Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 87.6% of 10,461 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 89.1%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 1 fixed and the 11 not fixed make the 12 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage

Diesel6,54865,546 miles8788

Petrol3,10352,369 miles8887

Hybrid81067,144 miles8889

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.

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

Year	Passed first time	First tests
2009	66 in every 100	2,654
2010	66 in every 100	3,823
2011	68 in every 100	4,153
2012	70 in every 100	4,635
2013	73 in every 100	4,948
2014	72 in every 100	8,440
2015	74 in every 100	12,155
2016	77 in every 100	14,209
2017	80 in every 100	14,298
2018 This car	88 in every 100	10,461
2019	88 in every 100	10,930
2020	90 in every 100	7,610
2021	90 in every 100	9,486
2022	91 in every 100	6,791

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 2018 Volvo XC60.

Of 2018 Volvo XC60 vehicles with under 44,000 miles, 90 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 82,000 miles or more, 84 in every 100 did.

Under 44,0002,002 tests

90

44,000–56,0002,175 tests

89

56,000–67,000 Typical car2,054 tests

88

67,000–82,0002,182 tests

87

82,000 and over2,048 tests

84

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 44,000	56,000–67,000	82,000 and over
Tyre condition (rear)	2.2	2.2	2.2
Brake pads (rear)	1.5	1.9	2.5
Tyre tread depth (front)	0.4	1.1	1.5
Windscreen wipers (front)	1.0	0.6	1.0
Diesel engine warning light	0.2	0.6	1.3

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

When a car fails

62in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

13in 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.

Is the 2018 Volvo XC60 reliable?

A 2018 Volvo XC60 passed first time about 3 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2017 and 2019 model years. In 2025, 87.6% of 10,461 first MOTs on the 2018 Volvo XC60 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 89.1%. Among 1,295 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), we highlight MOT failure patterns that show up more often than on cars of a similar age and mileage when the sample is large enough to trust. 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.

What is most likely to fail on a 2018 Volvo XC60?

Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2018 Volvo XC60 at the first attempt were Tyre condition (rear) (16.7%), Brake pads (rear) (16.3%) and Tyre tread depth (front) (8.3%), 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.

How should I read advisories vs fails?

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.

What does this Volvo XC60 2018 MOT report cover?

This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2018 Volvo XC60 (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.

Does this include engine and gearbox problems?

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.