Rover

Which year Rover 820 is most reliable?

Based on 23,797 vehicles (1988–1999) 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 820 at 80,000 miles is judged against a 2014 820 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 66.9% — the strongest performer across 1,576 820s
Below model average
1988–1991
Lower pass rate than other 820s — worth checking the MOT history before buying
See common failures for 1988 →
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Dataset
23,797
vehicles · 1988–1999 · millions of MOT records
CarHunch sweet spot — 1992–1994, 1996
These years hit the reliability-to-value sweet spot: a 63.0–65.7% 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
1999
66.9%
1,576
1998
66.0%
2,214
1997
66.6%
3,268
1996
65.7%
3,195
1995
62.8%
2,551
1994
63.0%
2,112
1993
64.8%
2,074
1992
64.3%
1,419
1991
48.3%
771 Below avg
1990
20.6%
1,175 Below avg
1989
5.9%
1,966 Below avg
1988
3.1%
1,476 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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