Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Vauxhall Viva 2017: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 81 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2017 Vauxhall Viva were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front).

Summary

The 2017 Vauxhall Viva follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 9,422 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
81 in every 100
Did not pass first time
19 in every 1001,815 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
8 yearsabout 37,837 miles
First tests counted
9,422

What failed most often

  1. Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)14 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre pressure monitoring system13 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre condition (rear)10 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 Viva 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.

Suspension

Three faults. The strongest is the anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front): 15 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,815 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.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 247 first tests15 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

A suspension joint dust cover that is severely deteriorated is Minor. It becomes Major once it is missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, so what matters is whether it still keeps dirt out. DVSA words this for any suspension joint dust cover, and files it here under anti-roll bars.

Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 100 first tests14 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

A missing anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover is Major, and so is one that no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A cover that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. DVSA uses one wording for the dust cover on any suspension joint.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front)

Failed on 55 first tests3.0 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Excessive wear on an anti-roll bar linkage ball joint is Major. A joint likely to become detached is graded Dangerous.

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

Body and structure

One fault: exhaust system (front), 9.9 times as often as on similar cars.

Exhaust system (front)

Failed on 90 first tests9.9 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Exhaust fumes causing a danger to health of persons on board are graded Dangerous, and so is a silencer likely to become detached. Fumes entering the cabin are Major. One or more missing or defective mountings does not necessarily make the exhaust insecure, since testers assess the overall security of the system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 180 first tests, 12 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 pressure monitoring system, 4.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Tyre pressure monitoring system

Failed on 235 first tests4.3 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

One fault: individual sidelight or tail light (front), 3.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Individual sidelight or tail light (front)

Failed on 104 first tests3.5 times as often as similar carsLikely 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.

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.

Seat belt condition (rear)

Noted on 24 first tests5.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Individual direction indicators (rear)

Noted on 22 first tests4.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Wheel condition (front)

Noted on 29 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
81in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
4in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
15in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 80.7% of 9,422 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 85.3%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 15 not fixed make the 19 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

40608010020152016201720182019Older carsNewer cars
40608010020152016201720182019Older 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
201572 in every 1004,952
201675 in every 10013,314
2017 This car81 in every 1009,422
201884 in every 1005,302
201985 in every 1003,964

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 Vauxhall Viva.

Of 2017 Vauxhall Viva vehicles with under 22,000 miles, 91 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 58,000 miles or more, 68 in every 100 did.

Under 22,0001,839 tests
91
22,000–33,0002,005 tests
86
33,000–44,000 Typical car1,881 tests
82
44,000–58,0001,832 tests
76
58,000 and over1,864 tests
68

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 22,00033,000–44,00058,000 and over
Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)0.12.15.7
Tyre pressure monitoring system0.81.76.0
Tyre condition (rear)1.81.82.0
Windscreen wipers (front)1.41.82.1
Tyre tread depth (front)0.11.23.6

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.

21in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

4in 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.

The 2017 Vauxhall Viva follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front), about 14 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 80.7% of 9,422 first MOTs on the 2017 Vauxhall Viva passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 85.3%. Among 1,815 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front) appears more often than on similar cars (13.6% of those tests; 247 observed failures; about 15× 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 Viva at the first attempt were Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front) (13.6%), Tyre pressure monitoring system (12.9%) and Tyre condition (rear) (10.1%), 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: Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front) (13.6% of those tests; 247 observed failures; about 15× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (13.6% of those tests; 247 observed failures; about 15× 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 Viva include Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front), Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover (front), Exhaust system (front). 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 Viva (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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