Repair costs · Toyota Corolla

Toyota Corolla headlight unit replacement: MOT fails on these items more often than other cars of the same age

At MOT, the Toyota Corolla (first used before 2019) fails on items fixed by headlight unit replacement at least 1.6 times as often as cars of the same ages and fuel. From 238,334 MOT tests at 13 ages (13 to 25 years), DVSA data 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

Toyota Corolla, at least, per 100 MOTs (n=238,334)1.32

Cars of the same ages and fuel, per 100 MOTs0.82

Times as often≥ 1.6

Ages compared13

What this shows

These are MOT fail items that headlight unit replacement fixes, as testers found them on the day of the test. Repairs done between MOTs never show up in MOT data, and mileage is not taken into account, so this is not how often owners pay for the repair.

These figures cover the Toyota Corolla first used before 2019, the generation with the most MOT tests. Generations are never pooled into one figure.

By age

Fail items fixed by headlight unit replacement, per 100 MOT tests, against cars of the same age and the same fuel mix. The model figure is a floor: DVSA data lists each model’s 25 most recorded items per age, and an item outside that list is counted as zero. The comparison figure is a ceiling: an item too rare to be listed for a fuel is counted at its highest possible value.

Toyota Corolla (first used before 2019): ages with at least 1,000 tests.
Age	Toyota Corolla per 100	Same age and fuel per 100	Tests (n)
13 years	0	0.11	1,660
14 years	0	0.17	5,812
15 years	0	0.29	11,233
16 years	1.26	0.52	25,937
17 years	1.40	0.79	36,928
18 years	1.61	0.99	39,864
19 years	1.73	1.06	38,839
20 years	1.79	1.03	28,873
21 years	1.53	0.93	18,833
22 years	1.43	0.83	12,428
23 years	0	0.68	8,203
24 years	0	0.49	5,730
25 years	0	0.33	3,994

How we decide: a page exists only when the main generation’s rate, weighted to its own mix of ages and fuels, is at least 1.5 times the rate of cars of the same ages and fuel, from at least 50,000 tests at 3 or more ages, with at least 100 expected items.

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.

What garages charge

Prices are national. They are not specific to the Toyota Corolla.

No public source records the price of this whole job, and the time it takes varies from car to car, so we do not publish a single figure. Garages charge by the hour, so ask for a quote that lists labour time and parts. The rates below are what UK garages charge per hour.

Local garage labour, per hour (65 shops)£78

Local garage, middle half£70 to £96

Main dealer labour, per hour (62 shops)£156

Main dealer, middle half£144 to £174

Median hourly rate charged for car repairs, from 1,058 local garage and 953 main dealer price quotes collected by the ONS, September 2025 to August 2026. The same shops are priced each month, so the number of shops is the real sample.

Headlight unit replacement: garage rates and all models

MOT defects this repair fixes

Headlamp lens seriously defective0.15 per 100, all cars

Other models that fail on these items more often

Model	Times as often	Tests (n)
Mazda 2	at least 3.2	509,644
Nissan Note	at least 2.3	620,623
Honda Accord	at least 2.1	111,371
Honda Civic	at least 2.1	1,140,581
Mitsubishi Outlander	at least 1.9	305,188
Toyota Yaris	at least 1.8	1,812,318
Ford C-Max	at least 1.8	527,219
Honda CR-V	at least 1.7	806,907
Honda Jazz	at least 1.6	1,350,206
Ford Fusion	at least 1.5	220,682

Looking at a Toyota Corolla?

These figures describe all cars, not any one car. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report would tell you.

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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, and the MOT inspection manual published on GOV.UK. Prices: ONS consumer price inflation price quotes, September 2025 to August 2026, UK.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026. Prices updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA or the Office for National Statistics. How we calculate these figures · Data sources