Rover

Which year Rover 214 is most reliable?

Based on 183,903 vehicles (1989–2000) and millions of DVLA MOT records.

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Not just "newer is more reliable"
These rankings compare each year at the same mileage point — a 2003 214 at 80,000 miles is judged against a 2014 214 at 80,000 miles, not its full lifetime average. Verdicts are also relative to this model's own average, not a universal scale. That's the difference between "old cars wear out" and "this year is genuinely more or less reliable."
Best year in dataset
1999
Highest pass rate at 72.2% — the strongest performer across 20,566 214s
Below model average
1989
Lower pass rate than other 214s — worth checking the MOT history before buying
See common failures for 1989 →
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Dataset
183,903
vehicles · 1989–2000 · millions of MOT records
CarHunch sweet spot — 1992, 1994–1997
These years hit the reliability-to-value sweet spot: a 68.5–70.1% pass rate, well above this model's median, but old enough to have depreciated significantly from peak price. If budget matters alongside reliability, start your search here.

Pass rate by year

Year Pass rate Vehicles
2000
71.2%
1,657
1999
72.2%
20,566
1998
70.4%
29,388
1997
68.5%
29,090
1996
68.7%
20,917
1995
70.1%
25,436
1994
68.5%
21,918
1993
68.3%
14,506
1992
69.4%
9,934
1991
67.3%
6,230
1990
66.2%
3,973
1989
61.4%
288 Below avg

Click any year to see full MOT history, common faults and comparisons for those cars. Verdicts are relative to this model's own average — a good Land Rover year is judged differently from a good Toyota year.

How each year holds up at higher mileage

Each line is a different model year. The mileage ranges are divided into 5 equal groups based on how this model is actually driven in the real world — so you're comparing like-for-like, not arbitrary round numbers.

Only years with enough data across at least 3 mileage ranges are shown. Newer years appear in blue; older years in amber.

How is this measured?

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What "pass rate" means

The percentage of all MOT tests that resulted in a pass — counted across a car's whole life, not just its first test. Higher means fewer failures over time.

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Mileage groups built from real data

We split this model's real-world mileage history into 5 equal groups — so each slice contains the same number of cars, not an arbitrary round number like "0–30,000 miles."

Does age still matter?

Yes. A low-mileage 20-year-old car has still had 20 years of weather, perishing rubber, and ageing electrics. Comparing at the same mileage narrows the gap between old and new — but doesn't erase it entirely.

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Why this beats surveys

Our figures come from the DVLA's national MOT database — over 50 million real test results from accredited garages, with no opinions involved. Most reliability guides are based on owner surveys with a few hundred responses per model.

What next?
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