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MOT fail rates

Vauxhall Zafira MOT fail rate by age

How often the Vauxhall Zafira fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 861,172 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 10 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 10 (n=90,028)33.9%
All cars at 10 years (n=9,049,507)30.3%
Median mileage at test80,510
All cars, median mileage75,043

215 of 309 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 10 years.

What stands out

  • At 4 years the Vauxhall Zafira fails 18.8% of MOTs (5,144 tests), 5.4 points above the 13.4% for all cars that age. At 23 years it fails 46.1% (2,249 tests), 6.5 points above the 39.6% average.
  • The gap is widest at 22 years: 7.1 points above all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 10 years: Coil spring broken, at 5.3 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

4 years 23 years 54.1%

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

Vauxhall Zafira: 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
4 years18.8%5,14413.4%+5.4 pts28,196 miles
5 years19.5%17,20615.3%+4.2 pts36,347 miles
6 years22.5%29,38417.8%+4.6 pts45,528 miles
7 years24.6%44,12620.6%+3.9 pts54,847 miles
8 years28.1%67,92923.8%+4.3 pts64,420 miles
9 years31.1%85,32927.1%+4.0 pts73,023 miles
10 years33.9%90,02830.3%+3.6 pts80,510 miles
11 years36.9%87,94633.3%+3.6 pts87,882 miles
12 years40.6%78,64736.0%+4.6 pts93,961 miles
13 years43.2%60,18238.3%+5.0 pts98,938 miles
14 years46.0%61,01740.3%+5.8 pts104,044 miles
15 years47.6%60,34441.6%+6.0 pts106,697 miles
16 years48.4%50,71242.6%+5.9 pts109,320 miles
17 years49.2%41,62443.1%+6.1 pts111,266 miles
18 years48.8%31,07343.3%+5.5 pts112,678 miles
19 years48.8%20,91843.2%+5.6 pts112,941 miles
20 years48.1%14,06242.8%+5.3 pts112,455 miles
21 years47.1%8,58542.1%+5.1 pts112,943 miles
22 years48.1%4,66741.0%+7.1 pts114,195 miles
23 years46.1%2,24939.6%+6.5 pts115,229 miles

Most common fail items at 10 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 Major5.3
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction Major2.9
Suspension arm bush worn Major2.4

Out of 90,028 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous4.2
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous4.1
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous2.8
Side/position light not working Major2.6
Individual direction indicators: incorrect colour Major2.6
Dipped headlight not working Major2.3
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major2

Out of 90,028 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 10 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Vauxhall Corsa39.3%318,39930.3%
Vauxhall Astra32.9%215,95230.3%
Vauxhall Insignia33.6%99,61830.3%

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
200223 years in 202546.0%1,05839.6%
200322 years in 202546.8%1,73841.0%
200421 years in 202546.9%2,96042.1%
200520 years in 202548.2%3,88642.8%
200619 years in 202546.6%5,45743.2%
200718 years in 202548.7%8,59643.3%
200817 years in 202547.5%10,25243.1%
200916 years in 202546.7%7,55342.6%
201015 years in 202544.6%13,57241.6%
201114 years in 202543.4%10,80140.3%
201213 years in 202539.2%14,48138.3%
201312 years in 202537.6%25,75136.0%
201411 years in 202534.7%26,33633.3%
201510 years in 202530.2%14,06430.3%
20169 years in 202529.3%11,64927.1%
20178 years in 202526.1%11,93023.8%
20187 years in 202522.8%4,84520.6%

More on the Vauxhall Zafira

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 Vauxhall Zafira?

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