2016 Renault Kadjar 1.5L Diesel · FA65 AHU

The 2016 Renault Kadjar passed its most recent MOT on 9 December 2025 at 125,642 miles, but the maintenance trend is not reassuring. The pass came just four days after a failure on 5 December 2025 at 125,495 miles, where the tester flagged an offside track rod end ball joint with excessive play, both front tyres below the 1.6mm legal limit, and a persistent spanner warning light on the dashboard. That spanner light appeared again at the retest, suggesting the underlying fault was not diagnosed or repaired. The car has a pattern of borderline passes and failures, with recurring issues in steering, suspension, and braking components, indicating a vehicle that has been kept running rather than properly maintained. The mileage accumulation is high for a ten-year-old car, averaging roughly 12,564 miles per year. Between December 2023 at 101,485 miles and December 2024 at 113,454 miles, the car covered nearly 12,000 miles in twelve months, and then added another 12,000 miles in the following year to reach 125,642 miles by late 2025. There are no significant gaps in the MOT record to suggest long periods of inactivity, so the wear on consumables and mechanical components is consistent with sustained high-mileage use rather than neglect through standing. A buyer should focus their inspection on the front suspension and steering linkage. The offside lower suspension arm ball joint was flagged as excessively worn in December 2024 and only slightly worn a year earlier, suggesting progressive deterioration. The offside track rod end ball joint had excessive play at the December 2025 failure, and play in the steering rack inner joint was noted in both 2024 tests. These are not minor advisories. They point to a front end that has been running with degraded components for some time. The front brake pads were wearing thin in 2024, and the braking system was imbalanced, which, combined with the repeated tyre wear issues, raises questions about whether the car has had any meaningful brake or suspension work done recently. The tyre condition is another concern. Both front tyres were below the legal limit in December 2025, and the offside rear tyre was worn on an edge, indicating possible misalignment or worn suspension geometry. A car covering this kind of mileage should have had multiple sets of tyres and likely some suspension work by now. The persistent spanner light on the dashboard, present at both the failed and passed tests in December 2025, remains unexplained in the record and could relate to a service interval reminder or an active engine management fault. Any prospective buyer should have the front suspension, steering rack, and braking system inspected on a ramp before purchase, and should request evidence of recent component replacements.