At a glance
How 545 first tests went in 2025.
- Passed first time
- 59 in every 100
- Did not pass first time
- 41 in every 100224 failed first-attempt tests
- The typical car
- 23 yearsabout 76,692 miles
- First tests counted
- 545
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.
These are patterns across 2002 Vauxhall Agila 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.
Lamps and electrical
One fault: number plate lights, 3.6 times as often as on similar cars.
Figures below are measured across the 222 of 224 failed first attempts (99.1%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.
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.
Number plate lights
What it means
Registration plate lamps must light up the rear registration plate and operate at the same time as the position lamps. A missing or inoperative lamp is Major when the plate has only one lamp or all its lamps are not working, and Minor when the plate has several lamps or light sources and not all have failed. A lamp throwing direct white light to the rear is also Minor.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Suspension
One fault: suspension arm ball joint (front), 2.9 times as often as on similar cars.
Suspension arm ball joint (front)
What it means
A suspension arm ball joint is failed under the general suspension pin, bush or joint wording. Excessively worn is Major, and likely to become detached is graded Dangerous.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Brakes
One fault: rigid brake pipes (rear), 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.
Rigid brake pipes (rear)
What it means
Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.
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.
Suspension arm (rear)
Flexible brake hoses (front)
Coil spring (front)
Rigid brake pipes
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
- 59in every 100
- Passed on the first test.
- Fixed at the station
- 10in every 100
- Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
- Failed
- 31in every 100
- Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.
First-attempt pass 58.9% of 545 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 68.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 10 fixed and the 31 not fixed make the 41 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, 55 in every 100 passed first time.
| Year | Passed first time | First tests |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 56 in every 100 | 437 |
| 2002 This car | 59 in every 100 | 545 |
| 2003 | 59 in every 100 | 1,053 |
| 2004 | 59 in every 100 | 925 |
| 2005 | 60 in every 100 | 997 |
| 2006 | 59 in every 100 | 958 |
| 2007 | 62 in every 100 | 882 |
| 2008 | 51 in every 100 | 2,620 |
| 2009 | 54 in every 100 | 4,933 |
| 2010 | 58 in every 100 | 3,497 |
| 2011 | 59 in every 100 | 3,994 |
| 2012 | 62 in every 100 | 3,792 |
| 2013 | 67 in every 100 | 3,332 |
| 2014 | 72 in every 100 | 3,347 |
FAQs
Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.
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.
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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