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MOT fail rates

Skoda Octavia MOT fail rate by age

How often the Skoda Octavia fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 817,089 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 8 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 8 (n=76,093)19.0%
All cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457)23.8%
Median mileage at test82,272
All cars, median mileage60,745

101 of 315 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 8 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Skoda Octavia fails 10.8% of MOTs (48,780 tests), 1.2 points below the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 23 years it fails 39.8% (1,666 tests), about the same as the 39.6% average.
  • The gap is widest at 9 years: 5.8 points below all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 8 years: Coil spring broken, at 1.6 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 23 years 49.1%

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

Skoda Octavia: 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 years10.8%48,78012.1%−1.2 pts30,046 miles
4 years12.1%59,27113.4%−1.3 pts39,477 miles
5 years13.3%67,34515.3%−2.1 pts48,511 miles
6 years15.7%76,01317.8%−2.1 pts59,678 miles
7 years17.5%75,87320.6%−3.2 pts71,069 miles
8 years19.0%76,09323.8%−4.7 pts82,272 miles
9 years21.3%68,20427.1%−5.8 pts92,458 miles
10 years25.3%59,07830.3%−5.0 pts101,935 miles
11 years28.7%51,42733.3%−4.5 pts107,095 miles
12 years33.3%43,66936.0%−2.7 pts111,929 miles
13 years36.2%39,00538.3%−2.1 pts116,729 miles
14 years38.0%33,57740.3%−2.3 pts122,098 miles
15 years40.0%28,79141.6%−1.6 pts130,350 miles
16 years42.2%24,85042.6%−0.4 pts134,350 miles
17 years44.1%20,54743.1%+1.0 pts137,969 miles
18 years44.7%16,07343.3%+1.4 pts140,185 miles
19 years44.1%11,35543.2%+0.9 pts139,921 miles
20 years42.8%7,42742.8%0.0 pts142,367 miles
21 years41.6%4,95842.1%−0.5 pts140,892 miles
22 years42.1%3,08741.0%+1.2 pts139,281 miles
23 years39.8%1,66639.6%+0.2 pts135,458 miles

Most common fail items at 8 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
Coil spring broken Major1.6
Shock absorber leaking Major1.5
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction Major1.1

Out of 76,093 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major2.6
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous2.4
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous2.2
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous1.8
Tyre condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Major1.6
Headlamp aim: too low Major1.2
Headlight aimed too high Major0.9

Out of 76,093 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 8 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Skoda Fabia22.2%70,60923.8%
Skoda Yeti18.5%49,62923.8%
Skoda Citigo20.6%31,56923.8%

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
200221 years in 202340.5%1,23242.1%
200322 years in 202542.3%1,08141.0%
200421 years in 202541.3%1,38542.1%
200520 years in 202544.2%2,31142.8%
200619 years in 202544.1%3,86343.2%
200718 years in 202543.8%4,77043.3%
200817 years in 202542.5%4,67743.1%
200916 years in 202540.1%5,83142.6%
201015 years in 202537.5%8,21941.6%
201114 years in 202535.9%10,13540.3%
201213 years in 202535.3%9,85838.3%
201312 years in 202528.9%10,20536.0%
201411 years in 202524.2%16,25133.3%
201510 years in 202522.7%18,49330.3%
20169 years in 202519.4%20,00527.1%
20178 years in 202517.6%18,17323.8%
20187 years in 202516.9%16,56020.6%
20196 years in 202517.2%19,74717.8%
20205 years in 202513.5%11,99015.3%
20214 years in 202511.5%9,67613.4%
20223 years in 202511.1%6,25112.1%

More on the Skoda Octavia

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 Skoda Octavia?

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