Vauxhall Ampera MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Vauxhall Ampera took 1,199 MOT tests in Britain and passed 72% of them first time, close to 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

1,199

First-time pass rate

72%

All cars

71%

What the Ampera fails on

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

• Lights and electrics9.8% (all cars 11.3%)
• Tyres7.4% (all cars 6.4%)
• Exhaust and emissions6.3% (all cars 3.1%)
• Body and structure5.5% (all cars 3.5%)
• Suspension5.3% (all cars 9.0%)
• Brakes4.7% (all cars 6.8%)
• Visibility2.1% (all cars 4.8%)
• Number plates and VIN0.3% (all cars 0.4%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

1. Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction 6.3%
2. Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 5.2%
3. Coil spring: fractured or broken 3.4%
4. Side repeaters: not working 3.2%
5. Tyres, condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords 2.5%
6. Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.2%
7. Tyres, condition: has ply or cords exposed 1.8%
8. Headlamp: not working on dipped beam 1.7%

Most common advisories

1. Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 20.8%
2. Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 19.9%
3. Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 9.3%
4. Macpherson strut, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 2.7%
5. Service brake performance: fluctuating, but not excessively 2.5%
6. Brake pads: wearing thin 2.3%
7. Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread 2.0%
8. Service brake performance: binding but not excessively 1.8%

Pass rate by year of registration

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

Typical mileage by age

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

Check a particular Ampera

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

Other Vauxhall models

• Vauxhall Corsa
• Vauxhall Astra
• Vauxhall Zafira
• Vauxhall Mokka
• Vauxhall Insignia
• Vauxhall Vivaro
• Vauxhall Combo
• Vauxhall Meriva
• Vauxhall Adam
• Vauxhall Grandland
• Vauxhall Crossland
• Vauxhall Vectra
• Vauxhall Viva
• Vauxhall Agila
• Vauxhall Antara
• Vauxhall Astravan
• Vauxhall Tigra
• Vauxhall Movano
• Vauxhall Corsavan
• Vauxhall Cascada
• Vauxhall Signum
• Vauxhall Omega
• Vauxhall Cavalier

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.