First
Mini · on record 2009 to 2025
MINI First was an entry level specification used on the modern hatchback, designed to lower the price of access to the brand with simpler equipment and modest engines. It was not a separate body or platform, but a defined derivative within the core MINI range. Registrations carrying First are useful for studying how lower specification cars survive compared with better equipped Cooper and performance versions of the same generation.
DECLINING
Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.
5,239
licensed vehicles
2025 census
2025 census
71.2% of the peak fleet remains licensed
510
declared SORN
total surviving
peak 7,358 in 2014 · −374 vehicles a year, five year trend
Population history
Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. The filters below apply to the family population, MOT and registration figures. They do not alter the generation history above.
Licensed
SORN
Latest census observation
At the average decline recorded over the latest five years, the licensed fleet would reach zero around 2038.
Illustrative projection only; vehicle populations rarely decline linearly. Late fleets typically flatten as surviving examples enter preservation.
Inside the surviving fleet
AutoCensus parses every DVLA variant description, so the fleet can be read by fuel and specification rather than as one number.
First registrations by year
When surviving examples first joined the British fleet.
New registrations
Vehicles first registered each year. A fleet still being sold shows here; a finished one shows only imports.
MOT reliability
DVSA test results for this family, 2007 to 2025.
Pass rate by year
| Failure reason | Failures | Share of all tests |
|---|---|---|
| A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources | 696 | 3.6% |
| Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view | 462 | 2.4% |
| Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen | 343 | 1.8% |
| Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements | 266 | 1.4% |
| A lamp missing, inoperative | 260 | 1.3% |
| Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning | 258 | 1.3% |
| A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm | 197 | 1.0% |
| A wiper blade insecure, missing or in such a condition that it does not clear the windscreen effectively to give the driver an adequate view of the road (through the windscreen) to the left and right sides of the vehicle, as well as to the front | 165 | 0.9% |
Counted across every recorded test, 2007 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.
Where the First remains
Based on MOT test locations, 2025. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.
| Postcode area | Vehicles tested | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| B | 50 | 88% |
| EH | 49 | 71% |
| NE | 43 | 77% |
| G | 39 | 77% |
| S | 33 | 88% |
| CV | 33 | 76% |
| M | 30 | 87% |
| NG | 28 | 86% |
| CF | 27 | 85% |
| CH | 27 | 70% |
| WA | 26 | 81% |
| LE | 26 | 85% |
| TN | 25 | 72% |
| RG | 24 | 83% |
| DE | 24 | 88% |
| ST | 24 | 75% |
| AB | 23 | 78% |
| KT | 23 | 74% |
| YO | 22 | 77% |
| BS | 22 | 77% |
| BH | 22 | 82% |
| SW | 22 | 91% |
| PO | 22 | 86% |
| NN | 21 | 67% |
| OX | 20 | 80% |
| L | 20 | 95% |
| LL | 20 | 75% |
| SO | 20 | 80% |
| SG | 20 | 75% |
| GU | 20 | 85% |
| EX | 19 | 84% |
| SK | 19 | 89% |
| SL | 19 | 95% |
| TA | 19 | 74% |
| LS | 18 | 78% |
| BN | 18 | 83% |
| SE | 18 | 67% |
| GL | 18 | 89% |
| CW | 18 | 72% |
| PE | 18 | 89% |
| CM | 17 | 76% |
| PL | 17 | 100% |
| TS | 17 | 82% |
| ME | 16 | 88% |
| TW | 15 | 80% |
| IP | 15 | 87% |
| PR | 15 | 80% |
| HU | 14 | 86% |
| SY | 14 | 71% |
| MK | 14 | 93% |
| CT | 14 | 79% |
| WR | 13 | 77% |
| DY | 13 | 85% |
| DN | 12 | 92% |
| SN | 12 | 83% |
| N | 12 | 92% |
| EN | 12 | 83% |
| NP | 11 | 73% |
| NR | 11 | 82% |
| RH | 11 | 91% |
| FY | 11 | 91% |
| CA | 11 | 82% |
| LN | 11 | 64% |
| LA | 10 | 80% |
| BD | 10 | 70% |
| KY | 10 | 80% |
| TQ | 10 | 80% |
| ML | 10 | 70% |
| BA | 10 | 100% |
| SS | 10 | 90% |
| KA | 10 | 70% |
| HP | 9 | 78% |
| DH | 9 | 67% |
| CR | 9 | 78% |
| CO | 9 | 89% |
| CB | 9 | 100% |
| HR | 8 | 62% |
| FK | 8 | 75% |
| PA | 8 | 100% |
| SA | 8 | 88% |
| BR | 8 | 75% |
| DD | 8 | 38% |
| BB | 8 | 100% |
| DA | 8 | 100% |
| WN | 7 | 86% |
| WV | 7 | 86% |
| OL | 7 | 86% |
| TF | 7 | 86% |
| PH | 7 | 43% |
| RM | 7 | 86% |
| NW | 7 | 100% |
| WS | 7 | 100% |
| DT | 6 | 100% |
| BL | 6 | 83% |
| IV | 5 | 80% |
| SM | 5 | 60% |
| WD | 5 | 80% |
| HG | 4 | 75% |
| HX | 4 | 75% |
| WF | 4 | 75% |
| UB | 4 | 75% |
| LU | 4 | 100% |
| HA | 4 | 100% |
| HD | 3 | 100% |
| DL | 3 | 67% |
| W | 3 | 100% |
| SR | 3 | 100% |
| HS | 3 | 67% |
| TR | 3 | 67% |
| E | 3 | 100% |
| DG | 2 | 50% |
| SP | 2 | 100% |
| KW | 2 | 50% |
| LD | 1 | 100% |
| IG | 1 | 100% |
| AL | 1 | 100% |
| TD | 1 | 100% |
How this record was calculated
LATEST CENSUS2025
POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 annual
HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013
MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2025
FAMILY DEFINITIONMINI FIRST
PROCESSED20 Sep 2026
Full methodology
Population history combines DVLA VEH0120 Q4 census observations through 2013 with the annual VEH0220 census from 2014 onward. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Historical VEH0120 is used only when its overlapping UK observations reconcile to the current canonical family definition. Vehicles are grouped into this family using the DVLA GenModel together with durable routing rules for known inconsistencies.
Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Configuration is only assigned where the model description explicitly identifies it; a blank configuration is not treated as a two door Wrangler. Blank transmission fields are shown as manual because DVLA records the field for automatic vehicles.
MOT figures count tests, not vehicles, and geographic figures count each vehicle at its most recent test location. The decline projection is a straight line fitted to the latest five years and is illustrative only.