2010 Ford Fiesta 1.2L Petrol · CE10 RKO

The most recent MOT in October 2025 was a pass, but this followed a failure just two days earlier with six serious defects. While the car is currently legal to drive, the sheer number of critical issues found immediately before passing suggests repairs were rushed to meet the test deadline rather than addressing long-term reliability. A worrying pattern of deterioration has emerged between 2024 and 2025. In 2024, the vehicle showed worn suspension bushes and brake imbalance. By late 2025, these issues escalated into structural corrosion on the offside rear sill, excessively binding rear brakes, and a completely inoperative parking brake on one side. This indicates the vehicle's condition is actively worsening, moving from minor wear items to significant safety and structural failures within a single year. The mileage of roughly 8,177 miles per year is typical for a sixteen-year-old car, suggesting average usage rather than extreme hard work or long periods of standing still. However, the rapid onset of severe corrosion and brake binding despite this moderate mileage implies potential neglect in maintenance or exposure to harsh conditions that have accelerated decay beyond what the odometer alone would suggest. The jump in recorded mileage between March 2023 and May 2024 shows an increase of nearly 9,000 miles in just over a year, which is higher than the annual average, yet the subsequent year saw almost no mileage gain. This irregularity, combined with the sudden appearance of major faults, points to inconsistent care where the vehicle may have been driven hard without proper servicing before sitting idle while problems developed.