Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volvo XC70 2016: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 79 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2016 Volvo XC70 were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Coil spring (rear).

Summary

With 988 first tests, there are too few to say whether the 2016 Volvo XC70 differs from the model years either side. Treat the faults below as a checklist.

At a glance

How 988 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
79 in every 100
Did not pass first time
21 in every 100210 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
9 yearsabout 82,719 miles
First tests counted
988

What failed most often

  1. Coil spring (rear)29 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 Volvo XC70 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: coil spring (rear), 5.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 210 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.

Coil spring (rear)

Failed on 61 first tests5.6 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A missing bump stop rubber is not a reason to fail a coil spring. When the vehicle is jacked and lowered, a spring that does not correctly locate as the suspension returns to its normal running position is rejected as insecurely attached. A missing spring is Major, and graded Dangerous where directional control is affected.

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
79in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
3in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
18in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 78.7% of 988 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 82.3%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 18 not fixed make the 21 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

406080100200520102016Older cars
40608010020102016Older 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, 75 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200352 in every 100359
200456 in every 100586
200559 in every 1001,028
200658 in every 100973
200760 in every 1001,092
200869 in every 100897
200968 in every 100951
201069 in every 1001,314
201167 in every 1001,722
201270 in every 1001,267
201375 in every 1001,508
201478 in every 1001,681
201579 in every 1001,561
2016 This car79 in every 100988

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

With 988 first tests, there are too few to say whether the 2016 Volvo XC70 differs from the model years either side. Treat the faults below as a checklist. In 2025, 78.7% of 988 first MOTs on the 2016 Volvo XC70 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 82.3%. Among 210 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Coil spring (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (29.0% of those tests; 61 observed failures; about 5.6× 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 Volvo XC70 at the first attempt were Coil spring (rear) (29.0%), 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: Coil spring (rear) (29.0% of those tests; 61 observed failures; about 5.6× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Coil spring (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (29.0% of those tests; 61 observed failures; about 5.6× 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 Volvo XC70 include Coil spring (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 2016 Volvo XC70 (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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