Mazda 2 2022: reliability & common MOT faults

At a glance

How 5,054 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time: 93 in every 100
Did not pass first time: 7 in every 100368 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car: 3 yearsabout 16,758 miles
First tests counted: 5,054

What failed most often

Tyre condition (front)18 in every 100 failed tests
Headlight aim17 in every 100 failed tests
Brake pads (front)17 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2022 Mazda 2 vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Brakes

One wear pattern: brake pads (front), 5.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 368 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Brake pads (front)

Failed on 62 first tests5.6 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A pad worn down to its wear indicator, or contaminated with oil or grease, is Major. A pad worn below the set thickness limit, missing or incorrectly mounted is Dangerous. The manual treats an illuminated brake wear indicator as no reason for failure, although DVSA also lists an illuminated indicator as a Major row.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 32 first tests, 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Brake discs (front)

Noted on 43 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time: 93in every 100; Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station: 3in every 100; Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed: 4in every 100; Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 92.7% of 5,054 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 95.5%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 4 not fixed make the 7 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage

Petrol3,93416,602 miles9292

Hybrid1,12017,144 miles9595

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb.

Year	Passed first time	First tests
2004	55 in every 100	635
2005	58 in every 100	849
2006	56 in every 100	977
2007	57 in every 100	2,229
2008	50 in every 100	6,549
2009	53 in every 100	10,599
2010	54 in every 100	11,103
2011	59 in every 100	9,850
2012	61 in every 100	8,360
2013	63 in every 100	8,158
2014	67 in every 100	8,119
2015	75 in every 100	9,634
2016	78 in every 100	9,742
2017	82 in every 100	7,483
2018	86 in every 100	7,889
2019	87 in every 100	8,177
2020	90 in every 100	4,036
2021	91 in every 100	3,566
2022 This car	93 in every 100	5,054

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2022 Mazda 2.

Of 2022 Mazda 2 vehicles with under 10,000 miles, 97 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 26,000 miles or more, 87 in every 100 did.

Under 10,0001,084 tests

97

10,000–14,000881 tests

95

14,000–19,000 Typical car1,026 tests

94

19,000–26,0001,061 tests

91

26,000 and over1,002 tests

87

Which fuel?

	Typical mileage	Passed first time, as tested	Passed first time, same mileage
Petrol	16,602 miles	92	92
Hybrid	17,144 miles	95	95

Figures are in every 100 first tests. At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

	Under 10,000	14,000–19,000	26,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)	0.1	1.0	2.2
Headlight aim	0.9	1.5	1.2
Brake pads (front)	0.0	1.0	2.7

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

Is the 2022 Mazda 2 reliable?

The 2022 Mazda 2 follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (front), about 18 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 92.7% of 5,054 first MOTs on the 2022 Mazda 2 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 95.5%. Among 368 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), we highlight MOT failure patterns that show up more often than on cars of a similar age and mileage when the sample is large enough to trust. There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.

What is most likely to fail on a 2022 Mazda 2?

Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2022 Mazda 2 at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (17.7%), Headlight aim (17.1%) and Brake pads (front) (16.8%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.

How should I read advisories vs fails?

Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.

What does this Mazda 2 2022 MOT report cover?

This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2022 Mazda 2 (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.

Does this include engine and gearbox problems?

No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.