Vauxhall Vivaro MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Vauxhall Vivaro took 184,492 MOT tests in Britain and passed 57% of them first time, below 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: 184,492
First-time pass rate: 57%
All cars: 71%

What the Vivaro fails on

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

Suspension19.7% (all cars 9.0%)
Lights and electrics19.2% (all cars 11.3%)
Brakes14.3% (all cars 6.8%)
Steering10.9% (all cars 1.8%)
Visibility8.0% (all cars 4.8%)
Tyres6.1% (all cars 6.4%)
Body and structure5.1% (all cars 3.5%)
Exhaust and emissions5.0% (all cars 3.1%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Track rod end: ball joint has excessive play 9.2%
Position lamp: not working 5.1%
Suspension arms, ball joint: ball joint excessively worn 4.8%
Coil spring: fractured or broken 4.2%
Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements 3.8%
Stop lamp: not working 3.8%
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps 3.8%
Linkage ball joints: ball joint excessively worn 3.7%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 17.0%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 12.6%
Brake pads: wearing thin 9.9%
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material 9.9%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 9.1%
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil 5.9%
Track rod end: ball joint has slight play 5.5%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 5.4%

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
2002	966	47%
2003	2,455	47%
2004	4,754	47%
2005	6,727	48%
2006	8,334	46%
2007	9,479	46%
2008	9,317	47%
2009	4,490	46%
2010	6,912	46%
2011	11,234	45%
2012	9,105	47%
2013	10,419	49%
2014	13,026	53%
2015	22,401	60%
2016	19,636	63%
2017	12,538	67%
2018	11,677	73%
2019	10,125	73%
2020	10,261	75%
2021	485	88%

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	46,743 miles
4 years	58,580 miles
5 years	67,897 miles
6 years	82,742 miles
7 years	88,353 miles
8 years	102,808 miles
9 years	111,963 miles
10 years	127,906 miles
11 years	134,543 miles
12 years	140,238 miles
13 years	143,685 miles
14 years	144,615 miles
15 years	151,281 miles
16 years	150,054 miles
17 years	150,392 miles
18 years	152,925 miles
19 years	157,743 miles
20 years	160,095 miles

Check a particular Vivaro

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

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.