Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Suzuki Vitara 2018: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 82 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2018 Suzuki Vitara were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Individual sidelight or tail light (front).

Summary

A 2018 Suzuki Vitara passed first time about 2 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2017 and 2019 model years.

At a glance

How 11,660 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
82 in every 100
Did not pass first time
18 in every 1002,055 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
7 yearsabout 48,057 miles
First tests counted
11,660

What failed most often

  1. Individual sidelight or tail light (front)18 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre tread depth (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Brake light11 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 2018 Suzuki Vitara 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.

Lamps and electrical

Two faults. The strongest is the individual sidelight or tail light (front): 12 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 2,055 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.

Individual sidelight or tail light (front)

Failed on 373 first tests12 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

A position lamp showing red light to the front or white light to the rear is Major. Rear lamps must show a steady red light, and front ones can show white, predominantly white with a blue tinge, or yellow if combined in a yellow headlamp. With a multiple light source, up to half not working is Minor and more than half is Major.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 230 first tests6.5 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

All stop lamps missing or not working is graded Dangerous, and so is a stop lamp that stays on when the brakes are released. A stop lamp that is missing or not working is Major. On some vehicles with LED rear lamps, part of the stop lamp can go out when the rear fog lamp is lit, which is not regarded as a defect.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Brakes

One fault: brake performance (roller test, rear), 3.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake performance (roller test, rear)

Failed on 68 first tests3.0 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A wheel with no recorded braking effort on the roller test is graded Dangerous. Inadequate effort, a brake grabbing severely, abnormal lag and excessive fluctuation in effort are each Major. So is significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied, which indicates a binding brake.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 90 first tests, 4.0 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.

Tyres

One wear pattern: tyre tread depth (rear), 2.9 times as often as on similar cars.

Tyre tread depth (rear)

Failed on 203 first tests2.9 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

Only primary grooves count when tread depth is assessed: those holding the wear indicators, or cut as deep as those when new. Shallower secondary grooves are ignored. Tread depth below the minimum for the vehicle is Dangerous, and so is a pattern not visible over the whole tread, but that second row applies only to vehicles that need the lower minimum.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

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 pedal

Noted on 59 first tests23 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Brake performance (plate test, rear)

Noted on 21 first tests5.4 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Non-component advisories

Noted on 100 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

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
82in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
7in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
11in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 82.4% of 11,660 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 88.9%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 7 fixed and the 11 not fixed make the 18 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

40608010020152016201720182019202020212022Older carsNewer cars
4060801002018Older carsNewer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 84 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
201579 in every 1005,419
201679 in every 10010,601
201781 in every 10011,073
2018 This car82 in every 10011,660
201988 in every 10012,284
202091 in every 1005,001
202193 in every 1006,091
202292 in every 1005,710

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2018 Vitara.

Of 2018 Vitara vehicles with under 33,000 miles, 91 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 66,000 miles or more, 71 in every 100 did.

Under 33,0002,370 tests
91
33,000–43,0002,257 tests
87
43,000–53,000 Typical car2,350 tests
83
53,000–66,0002,396 tests
79
66,000 and over2,287 tests
71

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 33,00043,000–53,00066,000 and over
Individual sidelight or tail light (front)0.22.38.0
Tyre tread depth (front)0.81.63.9
Brake light0.51.83.6
Brake pads (front)1.01.41.7
Tyre condition (front)1.00.91.4

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

When a car fails

51in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

19in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

5in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

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.

A 2018 Suzuki Vitara passed first time about 2 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2017 and 2019 model years. In 2025, 82.4% of 11,660 first MOTs on the 2018 Suzuki Vitara passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 88.9%. Among 2,055 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Individual sidelight or tail light (front) appears more often than on similar cars (18.2% of those tests; 373 observed failures; about 12× more often than similar cars). 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.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2018 Suzuki Vitara at the first attempt were Individual sidelight or tail light (front) (18.2%), Tyre tread depth (front) (11.8%) and Brake light (11.2%), 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.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Individual sidelight or tail light (front) (18.2% of those tests; 373 observed failures; about 12× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Individual sidelight or tail light (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (18.2% of those tests; 373 observed failures; about 12× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2018 Suzuki Vitara include Individual sidelight or tail light (front), Brake light (rear), Brake performance (roller test, rear). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
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.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2018 Suzuki Vitara (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.
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.

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