Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Vauxhall Astra 2017: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 78 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2017 Vauxhall Astra were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre pressure monitoring system.

Summary

A 2017 Vauxhall Astra passed first time about 1 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2016 and 2018 model years.

At a glance

How 43,869 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
78 in every 100
Did not pass first time
22 in every 1009,867 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
8 yearsabout 63,088 miles
First tests counted
43,869

What failed most often

  1. Tyre pressure monitoring system13 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Brake pads (rear)10 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre condition (front)9 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 2017 Vauxhall Astra 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.

Tyres

Two wear patterns. The strongest is the tyre pressure monitoring system (rear): 15 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 9,862 of 9,867 failed first attempts (99.9%) 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.

Tyre pressure monitoring system (rear)

Failed on 56 first tests15 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A tyre pressure monitoring system that is obviously inoperative is graded Major, and so is one listed as malfunctioning or obviously inoperative. The Minor row uses the word malfunctioning too, but its detail is a warning lamp indicating a fault, and it also covers a tyre that is obviously under-inflated.

Tyre pressure monitoring system (front)

Failed on 1,329 first tests4.5 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A tyre pressure monitoring system that is obviously inoperative is graded Major, and so is one listed as malfunctioning or obviously inoperative. The Minor row uses the word malfunctioning too, but its detail is a warning lamp indicating a fault, and it also covers a tyre that is obviously under-inflated.

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

Lamps and electrical

Three faults. The strongest is the individual direction indicators (rear): 6.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Individual direction indicators (rear)

Failed on 258 first tests6.1 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Direction indicators must be amber, though vehicles first used before a set date may have white at the front and red at the rear when the indicators are combined with stop or position lamps, and sequential or dynamic ones are not a reason to fail. A lamp that is missing, inoperative or has more than half of a multiple light source not functioning is graded Major. A flashing rate outside the permitted range is graded Minor.

Individual sidelight or tail light (rear)

Failed on 581 first tests5.1 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 640 first tests2.7 times as often as similar carsPossible 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.

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.

Steering column

Noted on 83 first tests66 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Brake pedal

Noted on 94 first tests5.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Steering rack play

Noted on 26 first tests3.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Brake fluid reservoir

Noted on 20 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Flexible brake hoses (rear)

Noted on 69 first tests2.3 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
78in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
5in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
17in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 77.5% of 43,869 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 83.0%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 5 fixed and the 17 not fixed make the 22 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol30,16455,857 miles7978
Diesel13,70582,479 miles7377

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.

40608010020002005201020172020Older carsNewer cars
4060801002000201020172020Older 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, 79 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
199759 in every 100419
199861 in every 100424
199956 in every 100739
200056 in every 1001,248
200157 in every 1002,356
200255 in every 1004,206
200357 in every 1005,631
200456 in every 1005,960
200553 in every 10010,854
200651 in every 10016,611
200753 in every 10027,312
200855 in every 10028,455
200955 in every 10029,686
201059 in every 10040,145
201161 in every 10037,568
201264 in every 10044,619
201365 in every 10052,491
201466 in every 10048,410
201567 in every 10044,368
201673 in every 10053,101
2017 This car78 in every 10043,869
201880 in every 10028,645
201983 in every 10020,311
202083 in every 1005,926
202187 in every 1005,634
202289 in every 1002,817

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2017 Astra.

Of 2017 Astra vehicles with under 43,000 miles, 86 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 88,000 miles or more, 69 in every 100 did.

Under 43,0008,712 tests
86
43,000–57,0009,176 tests
81
57,000–70,000 Typical car8,428 tests
77
70,000–88,0008,866 tests
74
88,000 and over8,678 tests
69

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Petrol55,857 miles7978
Diesel82,479 miles7377

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 82,479 against 55,857). 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 43,00057,000–70,00088,000 and over
Tyre pressure monitoring system0.92.57.0
Brake pads (rear)1.82.03.1
Tyre condition (front)1.42.32.5
Tyre tread depth (front)0.62.02.9
Windscreen washers0.91.82.1

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

When a car fails

49in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

24in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

7in 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 2017 Vauxhall Astra passed first time about 1 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2016 and 2018 model years. In 2025, 77.5% of 43,869 first MOTs on the 2017 Vauxhall Astra passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 83.0%. Among 9,867 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Individual direction indicators (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (2.6% of those tests; 258 observed failures; about 6.1× 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 2017 Vauxhall Astra at the first attempt were Tyre pressure monitoring system (13.5%), Brake pads (rear) (10.3%) and Tyre condition (front) (9.3%), 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 direction indicators (rear) (2.6% of those tests; 258 observed failures; about 6.1× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Individual direction indicators (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (2.6% of those tests; 258 observed failures; about 6.1× 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 2017 Vauxhall Astra include Individual direction indicators (rear), Individual sidelight or tail light (rear), Brake light (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 2017 Vauxhall Astra (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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