Skoda Octavia MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Skoda Octavia took 207,350 MOT tests in Britain and passed 76% of them first time, above the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.

MOT tests in 2023: 207,350
First-time pass rate: 76%
All cars: 71%

What the Octavia fails on

Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.

Lights and electrics8.7% (all cars 11.3%)
Suspension8.3% (all cars 9.0%)
Tyres6.4% (all cars 6.4%)
Brakes5.4% (all cars 6.8%)
Exhaust and emissions2.9% (all cars 3.1%)
Visibility2.3% (all cars 4.8%)
Body and structure2.2% (all cars 3.5%)
Seat belts and airbags1.2% (all cars 1.0%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Coil spring: fractured or broken 2.9%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.0%
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick 1.9%
Tyres, condition: has ply or cords exposed 1.7%
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction 1.7%
Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak 1.5%
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 1.4%
Position lamp: not working 1.4%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 17.8%
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil 12.0%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 8.9%
Brake pads: wearing thin 8.3%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 7.7%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 5.8%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 3.2%
Non-component advisories: Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt 2.6%

Pass rate by year of registration

Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare a car with others of the same age.

First registered	Tests	Pass rate
2001	737	56%
2002	1,220	59%
2003	1,767	56%
2004	2,309	56%
2005	3,543	54%
2006	5,814	55%
2007	6,747	58%
2008	6,251	58%
2009	7,281	62%
2010	9,998	63%
2011	11,835	66%
2012	11,540	67%
2013	11,337	73%
2014	17,233	78%
2015	19,581	80%
2016	20,863	82%
2017	18,560	85%
2018	16,744	87%
2019	20,194	87%
2020	12,148	90%
2021	888	94%

Typical mileage by age

Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.

Age at test	Average mileage
3 years	34,803 miles
4 years	47,766 miles
5 years	57,869 miles
6 years	71,000 miles
7 years	85,939 miles
8 years	98,639 miles
9 years	105,071 miles
10 years	113,103 miles
11 years	119,549 miles
12 years	114,761 miles
13 years	126,463 miles
14 years	127,403 miles
15 years	137,472 miles
16 years	140,759 miles
17 years	138,788 miles
18 years	141,649 miles
19 years	145,298 miles
20 years	146,839 miles

Check a particular Octavia

Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.

Other Skoda models

Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.