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MOT fail rates

Porsche Boxster MOT fail rate by age

How often the Porsche Boxster fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 129,291 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 20 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 20 (n=10,237)24.4%
All cars at 20 years (n=1,845,952)42.8%
Median mileage at test78,331
All cars, median mileage103,393

9 of 201 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 20 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Porsche Boxster fails 5.0% of MOTs (2,353 tests), 7.0 points below the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 28.0% (4,188 tests), 8.3 points below the 36.3% average.
  • The gap is widest at 13 years: 29.2 points below all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 20 years: Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits, at 4.9 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 25 years 47.6%

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Porsche Boxster: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
AgeMOT fail rateTests (n)All carsDifferenceMedian mileage
3 years5.0%2,35312.1%−7.0 pts10,732 miles
4 years5.1%3,07713.4%−8.2 pts14,652 miles
5 years5.7%3,53315.3%−9.6 pts19,403 miles
6 years6.0%4,28317.8%−11.8 pts22,918 miles
7 years6.4%4,34120.6%−14.2 pts26,779 miles
8 years6.7%4,52923.8%−17.1 pts30,403 miles
9 years7.4%4,79227.1%−19.8 pts34,011 miles
10 years8.0%4,67030.3%−22.3 pts37,915 miles
11 years9.6%4,38233.3%−23.6 pts42,008 miles
12 years8.9%3,97436.0%−27.1 pts45,892 miles
13 years9.0%3,55638.3%−29.2 pts50,710 miles
14 years12.1%3,54040.3%−28.2 pts54,975 miles
15 years13.2%4,38141.6%−28.4 pts60,415 miles
16 years16.2%5,56342.6%−26.3 pts64,465 miles
17 years17.9%8,01643.1%−25.2 pts69,399 miles
18 years20.5%8,98743.3%−22.8 pts72,449 miles
19 years22.4%9,90643.2%−20.7 pts75,540 miles
20 years24.4%10,23742.8%−18.4 pts78,331 miles
21 years26.7%9,00642.1%−15.3 pts80,726 miles
22 years26.3%8,74841.0%−14.7 pts83,261 miles
23 years26.4%7,35639.6%−13.3 pts85,600 miles
24 years26.4%5,87337.8%−11.4 pts87,017 miles
25 years28.0%4,18836.3%−8.3 pts89,365 miles

Most common fail items at 20 years

Split into structural or mechanical items and wear items. Wear items (tyres, brake pads, wipers, bulbs) say more about upkeep than about the design.

Structural and mechanical

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Major4.9
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded Major4.6
Coil spring broken Major3
Driveshaft CV boot split Major1.4

Out of 10,237 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Side/position light not working Major2.5
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major2.4
Wipers not clearing screen Major2.2
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous1.9
Dipped headlight not working Major1.6
Headlight aimed too high Major1.5

Out of 10,237 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 20 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Porsche 91117.3%10,42042.8%
Porsche Cayenne28.4%2,92142.8%
Ford Fiesta45.7%71,65642.8%

MOT fail rate by first-use year

Each year has its own page: the fail rate for cars first used that year at each MOT from 2022 to 2025 with at least 1,000 tests, the most common faults at that age, and the car tax and ULEZ rules for that year.

First-use year data updated .

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First usedAge at testMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
199925 years in 202427.5%1,04836.3%
200025 years in 202527.3%1,87136.3%
200124 years in 202525.8%2,03937.8%
200223 years in 202525.6%2,10139.6%
200322 years in 202526.5%2,39741.0%
200421 years in 202524.0%2,01242.1%
200520 years in 202520.0%3,23442.8%
200619 years in 202517.5%1,85943.2%
200718 years in 202515.9%1,57843.3%
200817 years in 202513.9%1,05843.1%
201213 years in 20259.7%1,10238.3%
201312 years in 20257.9%1,26136.0%
201411 years in 20258.8%1,21033.3%
201510 years in 20258.5%1,08430.3%
20169 years in 20256.1%1,23927.1%
20187 years in 20255.5%1,01620.6%
20194 years in 20235.8%1,00913.4%

More on the Porsche Boxster

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

Looking at one Porsche Boxster?

These are figures for the model, not for one car. The VetTheCar Buying Report looks at a single car: its MOT tests, defects, advisories and mileage readings.

See an example report Browse the car tools

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources