Common problems

Vauxhall Zafira brake problems

How often MOT testers find brake faults on the Vauxhall Zafira at each age, against all cars of the same age, and which items come up most. From 861,172 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 10 years, the most tested age

Brakes fails per 100 MOTs (n=90,028)7.5

All cars at 10 years (n=9,049,507)6.5

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=90,028)25.5

All cars, same age (n=9,049,507)21.6

What stands out

At 10 years, 7.5 of every 100 MOTs of the Vauxhall Zafira found a brake fail (n=90,028), against 6.5 for all cars of that age (n=9,049,507).
It is above the all-car rate at every age with at least 1,000 tests (20 ages).
The gap is widest at 19 years: 17.2 per 100 MOTs against 13.3 for all cars.
The brake fail item recorded most often at 10 years: brake pads under 1.5 mm, on 3.7 per 100 MOTs.
The most common brake advisory or minor defect: brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened, on 11.8 per 100 MOTs.

Brakes fails by age

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Vauxhall Zafira: brakes fails and advisories per 100 MOTs, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
4 years	5,144	2.7	2.2	10.7	12.0
5 years	17,206	3.9	2.8	15.0	15.1
6 years	29,384	4.7	3.5	17.4	16.9
7 years	44,126	5.3	4.1	18.4	17.9
8 years	67,929	5.8	4.8	20.3	19.1
9 years	85,329	6.6	5.6	23.3	20.3
10 years	90,028	7.5	6.5	25.5	21.6
11 years	87,946	7.9	7.3	28.0	22.8
12 years	78,647	8.6	8.2	29.8	24.0
13 years	60,182	9.2	9.1	30.6	25.0
14 years	61,017	10.5	9.9	32.7	26.4
15 years	60,344	12.0	10.7	33.9	27.8
16 years	50,712	13.7	11.6	35.7	29.5
17 years	41,624	15.1	12.3	39.2	31.1
18 years	31,073	16.7	12.9	42.5	32.3
19 years	20,918	17.2	13.3	45.7	33.3
20 years	14,062	17.2	13.5	47.7	33.7
21 years	8,585	16.3	13.3	47.0	33.7
22 years	4,667	16.8	13.1	46.3	33.2
23 years	2,249	15.3	12.7	47.1	32.2

Brakes fail items at 10 years

Brakes 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	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	3.7	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Handbrake too weak	1.0	1.0
Brake discs: significantly and obviously worn	0.9	0.7	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)

Brakes 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).

Brakes 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	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	11.8	9.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	11.1	8.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively	3.7	2.7	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	2.0	2.8	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Service brake performance: binding but not excessively	1.2	1.3	£55 to £267 per wheel (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.

What to check on a viewing

On the Vauxhall Zafira, the brake items testers fail most are brake pads under 1.5 mm; handbrake too weak; brake discs: significantly and obviously worn.

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: a brake advisory that repeats from year to year has not been fixed. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the common brake problems on the Vauxhall Zafira?

At 10 years (90,028 MOTs), the brake fail items testers record most often are brake pads under 1.5 mm (3.7 per 100 MOTs), handbrake too weak (1.0 per 100 MOTs), brake discs: significantly and obviously worn (0.9 per 100 MOTs). The most common brake advisories or minor defects are brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (11.8) and brake pads: wearing thin (11.1).

Does the Vauxhall Zafira have more brake problems than other cars?

At 10 years it has 7.5 brake fails per 100 MOTs against 6.5 for all cars of the same age (1.0 more). It is above the all-car rate at every age with enough tests (20 ages).

What does a brake repair cost on the Vauxhall Zafira?

For brake pads under 1.5 mm, an independent garage estimate is £72 to £174 per axle (rough guide). This is a guide built from the national median garage labour rate and estimated labour hours, not a quote.

Brake problems on other Vauxhall models

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