Bentley Continental common problems and MOT failures
What goes wrong on a used Bentley Continental, year by year: known faults from UK buying guides, the parts flagged at MOT more than on other cars (from 14,368 MOTs done during 2025), and what to check before you buy one.
Pick the year
Most years have their own guide. The year is when the car was first registered (it’s on the logbook, or check the reg below).
2026202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993
What usually goes wrong with a Bentley Continental?
We haven’t found widely reported faults for the Bentley Continental in the UK buying guides we use yet. That doesn’t mean it has none, so check the car carefully and look at the MOT weak spots below.
Bentley Continental MOT pass rate by year
Of the years since 2005 with plenty of MOT tests, the 2008 Bentley Continental did best (91% passed first time, 34 points above all 2008 cars) and the 2020 did worst (97%, 11 points above all 2020 cars). Older cars fail more, so compare each year with all cars registered the same year.
| Year | Pass first time | All cars that year | MOT tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 96% | 89% +7 | 447 (small sample) |
| 2021 | 96% | 87% +9 | 404 (small sample) |
| 2020 | 97% | 86% +11 | 634 |
| 2019 | 97% | 84% +13 | 813 |
| 2018 | 96% | 81% +15 | 593 |
| 2017 | 95% | 78% +17 | 653 |
| 2016 | 94% | 75% +19 | 860 |
| 2015 | 95% | 72% +23 | 803 |
| 2014 | 93% | 69% +24 | 752 |
| 2013 | 91% | 66% +25 | 729 |
| 2012 | 92% | 63% +29 | 738 |
| 2011 | 90% | 61% +29 | 553 |
| 2010 | 90% | 59% +31 | 546 |
| 2009 | 91% | 58% +33 | 417 (small sample) |
| 2008 | 91% | 57% +34 | 882 |
| 2007 | 90% | 57% +33 | 1,342 |
| 2006 | 88% | 57% +31 | 1,062 |
| 2005 | 88% | 58% +30 | 1,107 |
| 2004 | 85% | 58% +27 | 1,033 |
Looking at a Bentley Continental?
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Where this comes from: MOT figures are the DVSA’s anonymised results for every MOT test done in Great Britain during 2025, grouped by the year each car was first registered. How many are on the road is from the Department for Transport’s vehicle licensing statistics. Known faults are from UK buying guides, in our own words, with links. How we score