Common problems

Vauxhall Astra common problems

What MOT testers find on the Vauxhall Astra: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 2,724,083 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 12 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=218,927)13.3

All cars at 12 years (n=7,303,151)15.4

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=218,927)30.9

All cars, same age (n=7,303,151)27.7

What stands out

Exhaust, emissions and leaks fails show up on 5.4 of every 100 MOTs of a Vauxhall Astra at 12 years old (n=218,927), against 3.7 for all cars of that age (n=7,303,151).
Steering fails are less common: 0.4 per 100 MOTs against 2.8 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 12 years: coil spring broken, on 7.3 per 100 MOTs (all cars 3.9).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 19.2 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 12 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Vauxhall Astra at 12 years (n=218,927) against all cars at 12 years (n=7,303,151). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	13.3	15.4	8.5	9.3
Suspension	12.7	13.4	20.3	24.9
Brakes	9.4	8.2	25.6	24.0
Tyres	7.6	7.1	30.9	27.7
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.5	5.2	3.7	4.4
Body and structure	5.4	4.3	9.0	6.5
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	5.4	3.7	17.9	6.9
Seat belts and airbags	0.6	1.0	0.6	0.6
Number plates and VIN	0.4	0.4	3.9	2.8
Steering	0.4	2.8	0.6	3.1
Road wheels	0.4	0.5	0.5	1.1

What testers fail most on the Astra at 12 years

Fail items on the Vauxhall Astra at 12 years (n=218,927), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=7,303,151).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	7.3	3.9	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	3.4	4.1	£10 to £47 per lamp
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	3.4	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	3.1	2.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Exhaust system: has a major leak of exhaust gases	Body and structure	2.5	1.0	£182 to £263 per section
Handbrake too weak	Brakes	2.2	1.5
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	2.1	2.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.0	1.0	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	1.9	1.8	£2 to £14 per car (rough guide)
Tyre with cords exposed	Tyres	1.9	1.7	£88 to £145 per tyre

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 12 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Vauxhall Astra at 12 years (n=218,927), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=7,303,151).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	19.2	18.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	16.8	6.0
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	11.8	8.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	11.0	10.4	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	9.3	7.6	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	8.0	4.7
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases	Body and structure	6.7	2.6	£182 to £263 per section
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	4.3	7.3	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	4.2	4.6
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread	Number plates and VIN	3.8	2.8	£23 to £63 per plate (rough guide)

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 12 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Brakes
3 years	37,394	3.2	0.3	2.7
4 years	64,768	4.1	0.4	3.7
5 years	105,212	5.1	0.7	4.2
6 years	156,300	5.8	1.3	4.6
7 years	182,741	6.9	3.2	4.9
8 years	205,573	8.1	6.4	5.3
9 years	218,838	9.3	9.0	6.2
10 years	215,952	10.7	10.9	7.3
11 years	216,250	12.2	11.2	8.2
12 years	218,927	13.3	12.7	9.4
13 years	197,340	14.7	15.5	10.1
14 years	186,790	16.8	18.4	11.2
15 years	181,492	18.3	20.1	12.8
16 years	153,429	20.6	21.6	14.3
17 years	125,477	21.9	21.3	15.2
18 years	89,709	23.6	20.8	15.8
19 years	58,909	24.2	19.5	16.0
20 years	40,355	23.8	18.7	15.6
21 years	27,192	23.2	17.7	14.8
22 years	19,128	23.3	17.6	14.0
23 years	11,904	22.3	17.1	12.9
24 years	6,538	21.2	16.0	12.4
25 years	3,865	19.9	16.7	11.9

Mileage

At 12 years, Vauxhall Astra cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 19.0% of MOTs (n=2,827); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 42.7% (n=15,344). For pass and fail rates by age, see Vauxhall Astra MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Vauxhall Astra, testers most often record coil spring broken; side/position light not working; brake pads under 1.5 mm. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Vauxhall Astra?

At 12 years, the age with the most MOT tests (218,927), the fail items testers record most often on the Vauxhall Astra are coil spring broken (7.3 per 100 MOTs), side/position light not working (3.4 per 100 MOTs), brake pads under 1.5 mm (3.4 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (19.2) and engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive (16.8).

Which parts of the Vauxhall Astra fail more often than on other cars?

At 12 years: exhaust, emissions and leaks (5.4 per 100 MOTs against 3.7 for all cars); brakes (9.4 per 100 MOTs against 8.2 for all cars); body and structure (5.4 per 100 MOTs against 4.3 for all cars). Compared with 7,303,151 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Vauxhall Astra problems by area

Other Vauxhall models

All Vauxhall models · Common problems by make

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.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Vauxhall Astra?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

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 28 September 2026.

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