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Ford Escort MOT Check

MOT pass rates, common failures, and reliability data for the Ford Escort. Check any Escort by registration number below.

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86.0%

Avg Pass Rate

+0.8%

vs Ford Avg

42

Year Ranges

Excellent

Reliability

Ford Escort — MOT Reliability Overview

The Ford Escort has an average MOT pass rate of 86.0%, which is 0.8 percentage points above the Ford brand average of 85.1%. This is a strong result, indicating that the Escort is well-engineered and tends to age well mechanically. Owners can expect fewer surprises at MOT time.

The most common reasons a Ford Escort fails its MOT are the strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, body, cab or chassis corroded at mounting points to the extent that overall security or stability is impaired, body, cab or chassis excessively corroded at a mounting point. If you are preparing your Escort for its MOT, checking these areas first could save you a retest fee. Our detailed fault analysis includes estimated repair costs for each failure type.

Typical mileage for the Escort is around 105,503 miles at 5 years. When evaluating a used Escort, compare the odometer reading against these benchmarks. Significantly lower mileage than expected could indicate a clocked vehicle — run a free mileage check to verify.

Before buying a used Ford Escort, we recommend checking the full MOT history, write-off status, outstanding finance, and stolen vehicle status. These checks can be done for free using the registration number.

MOT Pass Rate by Year

How the Ford Escort performs at MOT across different model years.

2019

Based on 51 vehicles

98.0%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.0%

Mileage at 5yr

54k mi

2016

Based on 46 vehicles

100.0%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.0%

2015

Based on 40 vehicles

87.5%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.0%

Retest Rate

9.7%

2009

Based on 77 vehicles

81.8%Good
Ford average: 85.1%

2008

Based on 766 vehicles

83.9%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Mileage at 3yr

95k mi

Mileage at 5yr

96k mi

2007

Based on 942 vehicles

81.1%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Mileage at 3yr

103k mi

Mileage at 5yr

106k mi

Mileage at 10yr

63k mi

2006

Based on 768 vehicles

78.6%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Mileage at 3yr

82k mi

Mileage at 5yr

104k mi

Mileage at 10yr

65k mi

2005

Based on 851 vehicles

82.8%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Mileage at 3yr

104k mi

Mileage at 5yr

90k mi

Mileage at 10yr

100k mi

2004

Based on 839 vehicles

79.7%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Mileage at 5yr

96k mi

Mileage at 10yr

100k mi

2003

Based on 1,676 vehicles

81.5%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Mileage at 5yr

97k mi

Mileage at 10yr

91k mi

2002

Based on 796 vehicles

70.0%Average
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

5.5%

Retest Rate

19.3%

2001

Based on 1,002 vehicles

66.0%Average
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

5.5%

Retest Rate

26.4%

2000

Based on 1,176 vehicles

63.4%Below Average
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

5.8%

Retest Rate

21.7%

1999

Based on 11,338 vehicles

83.2%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

3.7%

Retest Rate

25.8%

Mileage at 10yr

96k mi

1998

Based on 28,366 vehicles

83.5%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.8%

Retest Rate

19.6%

Mileage at 10yr

90k mi

1997

Based on 33,352 vehicles

82.7%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

2.8%

Retest Rate

26.9%

1996

Based on 25,181 vehicles

81.3%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.7%

Retest Rate

19.1%

1995

Based on 15,350 vehicles

81.0%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.6%

Retest Rate

14.7%

1994

Based on 6,362 vehicles

82.0%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

2.5%

Retest Rate

13.0%

1993

Based on 1,296 vehicles

82.3%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.9%

Retest Rate

16.0%

1992

Based on 970 vehicles

86.7%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.5%

Retest Rate

8.1%

1991

Based on 978 vehicles

83.8%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.4%

Retest Rate

9.7%

1990

Based on 3,275 vehicles

83.3%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.3%

Retest Rate

12.5%

1989

Based on 3,070 vehicles

84.3%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.3%

Retest Rate

11.6%

1988

Based on 2,015 vehicles

84.4%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.5%

Retest Rate

11.1%

1987

Based on 1,189 vehicles

82.4%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.4%

Retest Rate

11.6%

1986

Based on 942 vehicles

86.1%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.3%

Retest Rate

9.6%

1985

Based on 1,478 vehicles

88.4%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.9%

Retest Rate

9.0%

1984

Based on 518 vehicles

82.4%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

2.1%

Retest Rate

13.0%

1983

Based on 554 vehicles

91.3%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.3%

Retest Rate

3.6%

1982

Based on 217 vehicles

92.2%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.3%

Retest Rate

6.7%

1981

Based on 165 vehicles

92.1%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.0%

Retest Rate

5.0%

1980

Based on 850 vehicles

96.8%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.0%

Retest Rate

2.8%

1979

Based on 662 vehicles

96.2%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.8%

Retest Rate

3.5%

1978

Based on 515 vehicles

95.0%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.0%

Retest Rate

5.6%

1977

Based on 322 vehicles

97.8%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.5%

Retest Rate

1.5%

1976

Based on 373 vehicles

97.6%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.0%

Retest Rate

0.9%

1975

Based on 292 vehicles

96.2%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.1%

Retest Rate

5.0%

1974

Based on 312 vehicles

93.3%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

1.2%

Retest Rate

2.9%

1973

Based on 242 vehicles

94.6%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.7%

Retest Rate

6.3%

1972

Based on 363 vehicles

95.0%Excellent
Ford average: 85.1%
Dangerous Defects

0.9%

Retest Rate

1.8%

0

Based on 12,782 vehicles

81.1%Good
Ford average: 85.1%
Mileage at 5yr

58k mi

Top MOT Failures — Ford Escort

The most common reasons a Ford Escort fails its MOT, aggregated across all year ranges.

1

The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired

4.7%
2

Body, cab or chassis corroded at mounting points to the extent that overall security or stability is impaired

3.7%
3

Body, cab or chassis excessively corroded at a mounting point

3.6%
4

Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded

3.4%
5

Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer

3.3%
Ford Escort Common Faults & Repair Costs

Typical Mileage — Ford Escort

Average mileage readings recorded at MOT tests for the 2007 model year range. Use these benchmarks to evaluate a used Escort.

At 3 Years

102,771

miles

At 5 Years

105,503

miles

At 10 Years

63,177

miles

Other Ford Models

Compare MOT reliability across Ford models.

Ford Grand Tourneo Connect

75.7% pass rate

Ford Puma St-line

95.4% pass rate

Ford Tourneo Connect

89.9% pass rate

Ford Focus Active Edition Mhev

93.1% pass rate

Ford Mondeo

67.1% pass rate

Ford Focus C - Max

96.1% pass rate

Useful MOT Guides

Common MOT Failures

The most common reasons UK vehicles fail their MOT — and how to prepare.

MOT Checklist

Pre-MOT checklist to improve your chances of passing first time.

Advisory vs Failure

Understanding the difference between MOT advisories and failures.

See detailed fault analysis for Ford Escort

Ford Escort — Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about the Ford Escort MOT and reliability.

What is the MOT pass rate for the Ford Escort?
The average MOT pass rate for the Ford Escort is 86.0% compared to the Ford average of 85.1%. Pass rates vary by year — check the year-by-year breakdown on this page for details.
What are the most common MOT failures on a Ford Escort?
The most common MOT failures on the Ford Escort are: The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired (4.7%), Body, cab or chassis corroded at mounting points to the extent that overall security or stability is impaired (3.7%), Body, cab or chassis excessively corroded at a mounting point (3.6%). These are the components most likely to cause an MOT failure.
Is the Ford Escort reliable?
With an average MOT pass rate of 86.0%, the Ford Escort is rated as "Excellent" for reliability. This is a strong result suggesting good build quality and fewer common defects.
How do I check the MOT history of a Ford Escort?
Enter the vehicle's registration number in the search box at the top of this page. You will instantly see the complete MOT history including every test result, mileage readings, advisories, and dangerous defects — completely free.
What mileage should I expect on a Ford Escort?
Typical mileage for the Ford Escort: 53,591 miles at 5 years. Use these benchmarks when evaluating a used Escort to spot vehicles with unusually high or low mileage.

Check Your Ford Escort's MOT History

Enter the registration number for the full MOT history — free and instant.

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