Common problems

Vauxhall Zafira common problems

What MOT testers find on the Vauxhall Zafira: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 861,172 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 10 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=90,028)13.3

All cars at 10 years (n=9,049,507)11.2

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=90,028)30.9

All cars, same age (n=9,049,507)26.4

What stands out

Exhaust, emissions and leaks fails show up on 5.3 of every 100 MOTs of a Vauxhall Zafira at 10 years old (n=90,028), against 2.8 for all cars of that age (n=9,049,507).
Steering fails are less common: 1.0 per 100 MOTs against 2.1 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 10 years: coil spring broken, on 4.8 per 100 MOTs (all cars 3.2).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 21.0 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 10 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 Zafira at 10 years (n=90,028) against all cars at 10 years (n=9,049,507). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	13.3	11.2	9.4	5.9
Suspension	9.5	9.7	16.2	18.2
Tyres	8.3	6.9	30.9	26.4
Brakes	7.5	6.5	25.5	21.6
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.4	4.4	4.0	3.9
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	5.3	2.8	11.3	4.0
Body and structure	2.8	2.9	7.4	3.9
Steering	1.0	2.1	1.0	2.4
Seat belts and airbags	0.5	0.7	1.1	0.4
Road wheels	0.4	0.4	0.8	0.8
Number plates and VIN	0.3	0.3	2.9	2.0

What testers fail most on the Zafira at 10 years

Fail items on the Vauxhall Zafira at 10 years (n=90,028), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,049,507).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	4.8	3.2	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	3.7	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	3.0	2.7	£88 to £145 per tyre
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.9	0.8	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	2.4	2.4	£10 to £47 per lamp
Tyre with cords exposed	Tyres	2.3	1.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	2.2	1.7	£18 to £86 per lamp
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	Lights and electrics	1.8	1.0	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	1.8	2.0	£10 to £47 per lamp
Individual direction indicators: incorrect colour	Lights and electrics	1.7	0.4	£10 to £47 per lamp

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 10 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 Zafira at 10 years (n=90,028), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,049,507).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	21.0	17.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	11.8	9.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	11.1	8.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	10.4	3.4
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	9.3	8.6	£88 to £145 per tyre
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases	Body and structure	6.2	1.6	£182 to £263 per section
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	5.1	5.8	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	4.1	3.2
Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt	Other	3.9	2.2
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	3.7	2.9

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 10 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Tyres
4 years	5,144	3.1	0.8	5.8
5 years	17,206	3.4	1.2	6.4
6 years	29,384	4.7	2.2	7.4
7 years	44,126	6.0	3.6	7.8
8 years	67,929	8.6	5.8	8.2
9 years	85,329	11.1	7.8	8.1
10 years	90,028	13.3	9.5	8.3
11 years	87,946	15.6	11.3	8.8
12 years	78,647	17.9	15.2	9.1
13 years	60,182	19.1	17.4	9.7
14 years	61,017	20.0	20.1	10.0
15 years	60,344	20.6	21.1	10.0
16 years	50,712	21.1	21.3	10.1
17 years	41,624	22.3	20.8	9.4
18 years	31,073	21.7	20.1	8.6
19 years	20,918	21.0	19.5	8.1
20 years	14,062	20.7	18.4	7.3
21 years	8,585	19.8	17.3	6.8
22 years	4,667	22.2	17.9	6.4
23 years	2,249	19.7	17.1	6.9

Mileage

At 10 years, Vauxhall Zafira cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 14.4% of MOTs (n=1,810); the band that failed most, 120,000 to 150,000 miles, failed 42.2% (n=7,155). For pass and fail rates by age, see Vauxhall Zafira MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Vauxhall Zafira, testers most often record coil spring broken; brake pads under 1.5 mm; tyre tread below 1.6 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.

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 Zafira?

At 10 years, the age with the most MOT tests (90,028), the fail items testers record most often on the Vauxhall Zafira are coil spring broken (4.8 per 100 MOTs), brake pads under 1.5 mm (3.7 per 100 MOTs), tyre tread below 1.6 mm (3.0 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (21.0) and brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (11.8).

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

At 10 years: exhaust, emissions and leaks (5.3 per 100 MOTs against 2.8 for all cars); lights and electrics (13.3 per 100 MOTs against 11.2 for all cars); tyres (8.3 per 100 MOTs against 6.9 for all cars). Compared with 9,049,507 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Vauxhall Zafira 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 Zafira?

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