Common problems

Vauxhall Meriva common problems

What MOT testers find on the Vauxhall Meriva: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 385,594 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 12 years, the most tested age

Suspension fails per 100 MOTs (n=44,514)16.0

All cars at 12 years (n=7,303,151)13.4

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=44,514)30.6

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

What stands out

Suspension fails show up on 16.0 of every 100 MOTs of a Vauxhall Meriva at 12 years old (n=44,514), against 13.4 for all cars of that age (n=7,303,151).
Lights and electrics fails are less common: 11.6 per 100 MOTs against 15.4 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 12 years: coil spring broken, on 9.6 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 18.4 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 Meriva at 12 years (n=44,514) against all cars at 12 years (n=7,303,151). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Suspension	16.0	13.4	22.3	24.9
Lights and electrics	11.6	15.4	5.6	9.3
Tyres	7.8	7.1	30.6	27.7
Brakes	7.5	8.2	24.4	24.0
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.0	5.2	4.1	4.4
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.5	3.7	17.5	6.9
Body and structure	3.3	4.3	8.5	6.5
Steering	2.7	2.8	3.7	3.1
Seat belts and airbags	1.1	1.0	1.0	0.6
Number plates and VIN	0.3	0.4	3.3	2.8
Road wheels	0.2	0.5	0.7	1.1

What testers fail most on the Meriva at 12 years

Fail items on the Vauxhall Meriva at 12 years (n=44,514), 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	9.6	3.9	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	Lights and electrics	2.6	1.5	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	2.6	2.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	2.6	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.5	1.0	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Tyre with cords exposed	Tyres	2.4	1.7	£88 to £145 per tyre
Suspension arm bush worn	Suspension	2.1	1.8	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.0	1.8	£2 to £14 per car (rough guide)
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	1.9	2.0	£15 to £30 per blade
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	1.9	2.8	£10 to £47 per lamp

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 Meriva at 12 years (n=44,514), 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	18.4	18.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	16.0	6.0
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	12.9	8.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	10.4	10.4	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	7.9	7.6	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases	Body and structure	6.6	2.6	£182 to £263 per section
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	6.6	4.7
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	Brakes	6.2	4.5	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	4.7	7.3	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Suspension arm: corroded but not seriously weakened	Suspension	4.6	1.7	£92 to £237 per arm (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)	Suspension	Lights and electrics	Tyres
5 years	4,529	4.2	3.3	4.6
6 years	11,155	6.7	3.9	5.4
7 years	19,510	8.2	4.9	5.9
8 years	27,196	9.7	5.5	6.7
9 years	30,861	12.6	6.5	6.9
10 years	33,744	14.1	7.5	7.2
11 years	41,716	14.7	8.8	7.4
12 years	44,514	16.0	11.6	7.8
13 years	41,075	16.7	14.3	7.9
14 years	36,551	18.8	18.0	8.0
15 years	26,975	20.6	22.3	8.6
16 years	21,693	22.2	25.4	8.5
17 years	18,036	22.9	24.9	8.7
18 years	14,082	23.1	24.2	9.1
19 years	8,419	23.8	24.5	8.7
20 years	3,954	24.1	23.4	8.2
21 years	1,584	25.3	23.3	8.3

Mileage

At 12 years, Vauxhall Meriva cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 19.9% of MOTs (n=1,169); the band that failed most, 120,000 to 150,000 miles, failed 45.8% (n=2,521). For pass and fail rates by age, see Vauxhall Meriva MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Vauxhall Meriva, testers most often record coil spring broken; headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect; tyre tread below 1.6 mm. Look at these first, then the areas below.

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.

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.

Tyres

Check the tread across the full width of all four tyres, and the spare if there is one.
Look for cuts, bulges and cracking in the sidewalls.
Wear on one edge only can point to worn suspension or the tracking being out.

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 Meriva?

At 12 years, the age with the most MOT tests (44,514), the fail items testers record most often on the Vauxhall Meriva are coil spring broken (9.6 per 100 MOTs), headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect (2.6 per 100 MOTs), tyre tread below 1.6 mm (2.6 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (18.4) and engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive (16.0).

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

At 12 years: suspension (16.0 per 100 MOTs against 13.4 for all cars). Compared with 7,303,151 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Vauxhall Meriva 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 Meriva?

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