Suzuki Vitara 2021: reliability & common MOT faults

At a glance

How 6,091 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time: 93 in every 100
Did not pass first time: 7 in every 100421 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car: 4 yearsabout 27,753 miles
First tests counted: 6,091

What failed most often

Windscreen wipers (front)19 in every 100 failed tests
Tyre tread depth (front)14 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 2021 Suzuki Vitara vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Visibility

One fault: windscreen wipers, 2.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 421 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.

Windscreen wipers

Failed on 74 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Only a clearly damaged or worn windscreen wiper needs to be rejected. A wiper that is missing or not working is graded Major, and so is a blade that is missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen. A defective blade is graded Minor.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. 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 93.1% of 6,091 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 95.8%: 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.

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. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 92 in every 100 passed first time.

Year	Passed first time	First tests
2015	79 in every 100	5,419
2016	79 in every 100	10,601
2017	81 in every 100	11,073
2018	82 in every 100	11,660
2019	88 in every 100	12,284
2020	91 in every 100	5,001
2021 This car	93 in every 100	6,091
2022	92 in every 100	5,710

If you are buying one

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

Mileage makes a modest difference on a 2021 Vitara.

Of 2021 Vitara vehicles with under 18,000 miles, 96 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 40,000 miles or more, 91 in every 100 did.

Under 18,0001,262 tests

96

18,000–25,0001,267 tests

95

25,000–31,000 Typical car1,078 tests

92

31,000–40,0001,229 tests

91

40,000 and over1,255 tests

91

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 18,000	25,000–31,000	40,000 and over
Windscreen wipers (front)	0.7	1.4	1.6
Tyre tread depth (front)	0.2	1.3	1.4

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 2021 Suzuki Vitara reliable?

A 2021 Suzuki Vitara passed first time about 2 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2020 and 2022 model years. In 2025, 93.1% of 6,091 first MOTs on the 2021 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 95.8%. Among 421 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Windscreen wipers appears more often than on similar cars (17.6% of those tests; 74 observed failures; about 2.0× 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.

What is most likely to fail on a 2021 Suzuki Vitara?

Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2021 Suzuki Vitara at the first attempt were Windscreen wipers (front) (19.0%) and Tyre tread depth (front) (13.8%), 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.

What common MOT faults stand out on the Suzuki Vitara 2021?

Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Windscreen wipers (17.6% of those tests; 74 observed failures; about 2.0× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.

Why does Windscreen wipers stand out?

Windscreen wipers shows up more often than on similar cars (17.6% of those tests; 74 observed failures; about 2.0× 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.

What are common problems with the 2021 Suzuki Vitara?

Common MOT problem areas for the 2021 Suzuki Vitara include Windscreen wipers. These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.

What does this Suzuki Vitara 2021 MOT report cover?

This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2021 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.

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.