Common problems

Vauxhall Corsa common problems

What MOT testers find on the Vauxhall Corsa: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 3,740,055 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 9 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=318,680)12.2

All cars at 9 years (n=9,949,012)9.2

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=318,680)28.3

All cars, same age (n=9,949,012)25.8

What stands out

Steering fails show up on 9.1 of every 100 MOTs of a Vauxhall Corsa at 9 years old (n=318,680), against 1.8 for all cars of that age (n=9,949,012).
The fail item testers record most often at 9 years: coil spring broken, on 7.2 per 100 MOTs (all cars 2.7).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 15.7 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 9 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 Corsa at 9 years (n=318,680) against all cars at 9 years (n=9,949,012). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	12.2	9.2	6.1	4.5
Suspension	11.1	7.9	18.0	14.9
Steering	9.1	1.8	11.3	2.1
Brakes	6.8	5.6	17.1	20.3
Tyres	6.7	6.7	28.3	25.8
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.7	4.0	2.6	3.7
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.9	2.4	5.0	3.1
Body and structure	2.2	2.3	3.8	2.9
Seat belts and airbags	0.7	0.6	0.3	0.4
Number plates and VIN	0.2	0.3	1.6	1.7
Road wheels	0.2	0.4	0.6	0.7

What testers fail most on the Corsa at 9 years

Fail items on the Vauxhall Corsa at 9 years (n=318,680), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,949,012).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	7.2	2.7	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Track rod end: ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt	Steering	6.5	0.4	£54 to £128 per side (rough guide)
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	3.3	1.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.6	0.8	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	2.5	1.5	£18 to £86 per lamp
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.5	1.3	£2 to £14 per car (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	2.5	2.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.0	1.7	£15 to £30 per blade
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	1.7	1.0	£10 to £47 per lamp
Shock absorber leaking	Suspension	1.7	0.7	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 9 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 Corsa at 9 years (n=318,680), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,949,012).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	15.7	16.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	13.3	8.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Track rod end: ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt	Steering	10.5	0.8
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	8.8	9.2	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	8.1	3.1	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	5.8	8.3	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.6	2.5
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	4.1	2.5
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	3.5	2.0
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases	Body and structure	2.9	1.2	£182 to £263 per section

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 9 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Steering
3 years	179,235	3.0	0.7	0.1
4 years	194,153	3.1	1.5	0.2
5 years	205,384	3.6	2.9	0.4
6 years	236,535	4.6	5.7	1.5
7 years	272,589	5.6	7.6	4.8
8 years	295,833	9.0	9.3	7.9
9 years	318,680	12.2	11.1	9.1
10 years	318,399	15.4	13.2	7.4
11 years	291,017	18.9	14.7	4.6
12 years	271,123	20.2	16.4	2.0
13 years	248,653	21.4	18.2	1.4
14 years	223,335	22.8	19.6	1.7
15 years	195,842	23.7	20.9	1.7
16 years	152,796	23.2	20.7	2.4
17 years	111,979	23.7	20.6	3.4
18 years	75,438	23.3	20.6	4.5
19 years	49,920	22.6	20.3	6.4
20 years	36,090	22.8	20.7	6.3
21 years	25,817	22.4	20.5	6.2
22 years	16,797	21.7	20.3	5.4
23 years	10,228	21.6	19.9	4.6
24 years	6,345	19.5	16.5	3.8
25 years	3,867	18.6	13.3	2.5

Mileage

At 9 years, Vauxhall Corsa cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 23.6% of MOTs (n=27,543); the band that failed most, 90,000 to 120,000 miles, failed 43.8% (n=33,646). For pass and fail rates by age, see Vauxhall Corsa MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Vauxhall Corsa, testers most often record coil spring broken; track rod end: ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt; brake light not working. 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.

Steering

The steering should feel tight with no clunks when you turn from lock to lock.
On a straight road the car should hold its line without constant correction.
Look for split rubber gaiters on the steering rack and track rod ends.

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 Corsa?

At 9 years, the age with the most MOT tests (318,680), the fail items testers record most often on the Vauxhall Corsa are coil spring broken (7.2 per 100 MOTs), track rod end: ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.5 per 100 MOTs), brake light not working (3.3 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (15.7) and tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing (13.3).

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

At 9 years: steering (9.1 per 100 MOTs against 1.8 for all cars); suspension (11.1 per 100 MOTs against 7.9 for all cars); lights and electrics (12.2 per 100 MOTs against 9.2 for all cars). Compared with 9,949,012 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Vauxhall Corsa 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 Corsa?

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