Pass rate
75.4%
Around average — 2.8 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 851 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £46–£133
2003 Alfa Romeo 156 MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 99,406 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
23.7% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2006 76.3% pass
- Avoid 2007 68.3% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 70.2%
- Typical mileage
- 99k mi
The 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 MOT pass rate is 75.4% of its MOT tests — 2.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Alfa Romeo 156 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.2× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 12.2% of everything recorded on the 2003 Alfa Romeo 156, against 5.6% nationally — 6.6 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 23.7%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 28% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Alfa Romeo 156? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 2.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 70.2%. The median 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 in this dataset had covered 99,406 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 84% of tests, with a 76.8% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 74.7% of the time, April–September 76.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect", noted on 4.35% of tests.
- 851 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.4% overall pass rate, 70.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Alfa Romeo 156, the average is 73.3% — best year 2006 (76.3%), worst 2007 (68.3%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 851
- Typical mileage (median)
- 99,406 mi
- Make and model
- Alfa Romeo 156
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Alignment
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the 156 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (84% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 156
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 234 | 78.2% |
| South West | 146 | 69.2% |
| East of England | 118 | 78.8% |
| West Midlands | 67 | 70.1% |
| East Midlands | 63 | 66.7% |
| North West | 58 | 74.1% |
| London | 53 | 84.9% |
| Scotland | 41 | 75.6% |
| Yorkshire | 29 | 75.9% |
| North East | 22 | 77.3% |
| Wales | 20 | 90.0% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2003 156
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2003 156
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the lights 4.3% of tests
“headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.1% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check corrosion 2.4% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2003 156 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £46–£133 — and 28% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £46–£133
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 28%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 851 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the 156, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2000 to 2007. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.3% to 76.3% — a spread of 8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 68.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 74.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2002 75.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 75.4%headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2004 71.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 71.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 76.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 68.3% position lamp not working
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2003 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz Clk 75.5%
- Toyota Avensis 75.6%
- BMW 316 75.6%
- Land Rover Defender 75.7%
- Rover 25 75.7%
- SEAT Leon 75.8%
Closest pass rates among 2003 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 2,053 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 496 | 23.70% | 20.98% | +2.72 |
| Brakes | 377 | 18.00% | 20.89% | −2.89 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 288 | 13.80% | 12.21% | +1.59 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 256 | 12.20% | 5.57% | +6.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 207 | 9.90% | 5.52% | +4.38 |
| Tyres | 200 | 9.60% | 19.76% | −10.16 |
| Visibility | 84 | 4.00% | 4.97% | −0.97 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 58 | 2.80% | 0.82% | +1.98 |
| Non-component advisories | 53 | 2.50% | 4.18% | −1.68 |
| Steering | 34 | 1.60% | 2.57% | −0.97 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.3% | £30–80 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.9% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.3% | £5–20 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.1% | £40–150 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.8% | £3–12 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.5% | £18–45 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £180–450 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £80–200 |
| Prescribed areas prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 2.2% | £40–120 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.1% | £5–25 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 14.9% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.8% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.2% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.3% | £25–65 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 8.3% | £80–180 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 100.0% | 22,895 mi |
| 30-60k | 103 | 78.6% | 48,803 mi |
| 60-90k | 224 | 84.8% | 75,459 mi |
| 90-120k | 275 | 74.2% | 104,360 mi |
| 120k+ | 244 | 66.4% | 147,251 mi |
Source: 851 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2003 156 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Alfa Romeo 156?
75.4% of the 851 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 70.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Alfa Romeo 156?
The three most recorded items are headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.35%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (3.88%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.29%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 66.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 in this dataset had covered 99,406 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Alfa Romeo 156?
Petrol: 76.8% pass rate across 719 tests. Diesel: 69.0% pass rate across 129 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 74.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.