The picture
80% pass rate, suspension dust covers, and windscreen chips
80.06% first-time pass from 82,159 tests is a solid result for a seven-seat SUV averaging 78,165 miles at test. Suspension joint dust cover deterioration leads the failure list — a wear item accelerated by the raised ride height and off-road-capable suspension geometry — followed by brake pad wear below 1.5mm and windscreen damage. The windscreen chip pattern has owner backing: one 2013 Outlander was reported as particularly vulnerable to stone damage, suggesting the screen angle and road height combine against it. More serious is the 2014 2.3 diesel timing chain failure at 45,000 miles: the knock developed a week before the warranty expired, but the owner couldn't book it in before the deadline, leaving them outside cover. On a diesel Outlander at this mileage, timing chain condition and brake pad thickness are the two checks that matter most before signing.
Top ten reasons for rejection.
- 01
A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated
2,395 occurrences · 2.9% of tests
- 02
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
2,136 occurrences · 2.6% of tests
- 03
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
1,887 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
- 04
Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated
1,861 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
- 05
A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources
1,743 occurrences · 2.1% of tests
- 06
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
1,513 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
- 07
A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play
1,472 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
- 08
A tyre seriously damaged
1,429 occurrences · 1.7% of tests
- 09
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
1,196 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
- 10
A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
1,174 occurrences · 1.4% of tests
Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.
Worst-case fix budget · top 4 failures
£248–£675
If every one of this Outlander's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →
Try the calculator
Build your own retest budget.
Tools that pre-empt a retest.
Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.
Item 01 · Amazon UK
Brake pad measurement gauge
Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.
Search Amazon UK
Item 02 · Amazon UK
H7 / W21W bulb pack
A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.
Search Amazon UK
Owner reports · Honest John
What owners actually report.
Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.
What's good
Easy to drive. Most variants have seven seats. Economical diesel engines. Large and practical boot. Decent safety kit.
Recent owner-reported faults
- 14 Dec 2018
Report of clutch failure on 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander after 6 months and 5,000 miles.
- 11 May 2018
Report of multiple chipping to windscreen of 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander, the screen of which seems to be especially vulnerable.
- 16 Mar 2017
Timing chain failure reported on 2014 Outlander 2.3 diesel at 45,000 miles: Developed a knocking sound from the engine a week before the warranty ran out at its MoT. Could not book it in to the Mitsubishi dealer until 2 weeks later so out of warranty. Told they would strip the engine as they suspected it was the crankshaft or timing chain. They then submitted their report to Mitsubishi to check if the warranty would cover it. They said this would depend on the services and if these had been kept up to date. The car had 3 services (one a year) but because it had done 45000 miles it should have had 5 (one per 9000 miles). Apparently this is a known fault on high mileage police traffic patrol cars. But because of the missed service Mitsubishi refused to contribute to the £3,000 cost of repairing the engine.
- 12 Aug 2015
Reader quoted £7,800 by Mitsubishi dealer to replace the satnav in a 2014 Outlander after a passenger accidentally cracked the screen.
Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 4 reports indexed
Buying or keeping a Outlander?
Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.
If you own a Outlander and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.