Common problems

Vauxhall Vivaro common problems

What MOT testers find on the Vauxhall Vivaro: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 739,286 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 8 years, the most tested age

Suspension fails per 100 MOTs (n=67,384)19.3

All cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457)6.1

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=67,384)22.4

All cars, same age (n=10,440,457)19.1

What stands out

Suspension fails show up on 19.3 of every 100 MOTs of a Vauxhall Vivaro at 8 years old (n=67,384), against 6.1 for all cars of that age (n=10,440,457).
The fail item testers record most often at 8 years: steering track rod end: ball joint play, on 12.5 per 100 MOTs (all cars 0.7).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 14.6 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 8 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 Vivaro at 8 years (n=67,384) against all cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Suspension	19.3	6.1	22.0	11.8
Steering	14.0	1.2	8.3	1.5
Lights and electrics	12.7	7.3	10.7	3.4
Brakes	8.4	4.8	22.4	19.1
Tyres	5.9	6.3	21.4	25.2
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	4.9	3.7	8.0	3.4
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.7	2.1	4.4	2.3
Body and structure	2.4	1.8	1.7	2.2
Seat belts and airbags	0.9	0.5	1.4	0.3
Number plates and VIN	0.5	0.3	2.0	1.4
Road wheels	0.2	0.3	0.8	0.7

What testers fail most on the Vivaro at 8 years

Fail items on the Vauxhall Vivaro at 8 years (n=67,384), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,440,457).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Steering track rod end: ball joint play	Steering	12.5	0.7	£54 to £128 per side (rough guide)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	6.1	2.1	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Anti-roll bar link worn	Suspension	5.3	0.3	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Shock absorber leaking	Suspension	4.0	0.6	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	3.7	2.0	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.1	0.6	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	2.7	1.3	£10 to £47 per lamp
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	2.6	2.3	£88 to £145 per tyre
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	2.5	1.2	£10 to £47 per lamp
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	2.4	0.8	£10 to £47 per lamp

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 8 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 Vivaro at 8 years (n=67,384), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,440,457).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	14.6	15.7	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	10.5	8.6	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	10.0	8.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	7.9	2.8	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Track rod end: ball joint has slight play	Steering	7.4	0.6	£54 to £128 per side (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	6.5	1.9
Windscreen: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.5	2.1
Linkage ball joints: ball joint has slight play	Suspension	5.5	0.5	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	4.9	8.6	£88 to £145 per tyre
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.8	1.8

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 8 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Suspension	Steering	Lights and electrics
3 years	43,056	1.4	0.1	11.0
4 years	44,362	3.9	0.6	10.5
5 years	45,134	7.7	2.3	9.8
6 years	54,356	12.8	6.1	9.8
7 years	66,524	17.4	11.0	10.5
8 years	67,384	19.3	14.0	12.7
9 years	64,425	20.8	15.6	15.6
10 years	53,727	22.6	15.8	19.4
11 years	43,211	24.1	14.8	25.5
12 years	36,720	25.8	14.0	27.5
13 years	30,328	26.9	14.0	27.5
14 years	30,894	26.6	13.7	28.0
15 years	29,873	25.9	13.4	27.6
16 years	30,724	26.9	13.6	28.7
17 years	31,574	27.3	13.1	29.6
18 years	26,534	27.2	12.8	29.5
19 years	19,428	27.5	12.6	30.4
20 years	12,263	26.9	12.0	30.0
21 years	6,338	25.4	11.1	29.6
22 years	2,431	25.5	10.2	27.6

Mileage

At 8 years, Vauxhall Vivaro cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 19.5% of MOTs (n=1,100); the band that failed most, 120,000 to 150,000 miles, failed 44.4% (n=10,544). For pass and fail rates by age, see Vauxhall Vivaro MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Vauxhall Vivaro, testers most often record steering track rod end: ball joint play; coil spring broken; anti-roll bar link worn. 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.

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.

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.

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 Vivaro?

At 8 years, the age with the most MOT tests (67,384), the fail items testers record most often on the Vauxhall Vivaro are steering track rod end: ball joint play (12.5 per 100 MOTs), coil spring broken (6.1 per 100 MOTs), anti-roll bar link worn (5.3 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (14.6) and brake pads: wearing thin (10.5).

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

At 8 years: suspension (19.3 per 100 MOTs against 6.1 for all cars); steering (14.0 per 100 MOTs against 1.2 for all cars); lights and electrics (12.7 per 100 MOTs against 7.3 for all cars). Compared with 10,440,457 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Vauxhall Vivaro 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 Vivaro?

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