Pass rate
74.8%
Below average — 1.5 pts ahead of the 73.3% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 111 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £20–£65
2001 Alfa Romeo 166 MOT pass rate
- 2001
- typical 98,986 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
22.6% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2001 74.8% pass · this year
- Avoid 2003 66.7% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 8.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 69.2%
- Typical mileage
- 99k mi
The 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 MOT pass rate is 74.8% of its MOT tests — 1.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Alfa Romeo 166 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.4× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 13.1% of everything recorded on the 2001 Alfa Romeo 166, against 5.6% nationally — 7.5 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 22.6%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 68% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
- Based on a small sample. 111 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 166? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.3%, so this figure is 1.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 69.2%. The median 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 in this dataset had covered 98,986 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.0% of the time, April–September 74.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Position lamp not working", noted on 8.11% of tests.
- 111 recorded tests behind this page.
- 74.8% overall pass rate, 69.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Alfa Romeo 166, the average is 71.2% — best year 2001 (74.8%), worst 2003 (66.7%).
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
- 111
- Typical mileage (median)
- 98,986 mi
- Make and model
- Alfa Romeo 166
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 166 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 166
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 26 | 69.2% |
| East of England | 25 | 88.0% |
| South West | 17 | 70.6% |
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 2001 166
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 2001 166
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 8.1% of tests
“position lamp not working”
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 3.6% 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 the wipers and washers 3.6% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
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 2001 166 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £20–£65 — and 68% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £20–£65
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot split or…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 68%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 111 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 166, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2000 to 2005. Across them the pass rate runs from 66.7% to 74.8% — a spread of 8.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 66.9% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2001 74.8%position lamp not working
- 2002 71.3% position lamp not working
- 2003 66.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2004 73.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 72.4% coil spring fractured or broken
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 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 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 2001 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Discovery 74.8%
- Rover 25 74.8%
- Nissan Almera 74.7%
- Land Rover Defender 75.0%
- Audi A4 74.5%
- Toyota Rav-4 75.1%
Closest pass rates among 2001 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 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 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 278 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 64 | 22.60% | 20.89% | +1.71 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 46 | 16.30% | 12.21% | +4.09 |
| Suspension | 39 | 13.80% | 20.98% | −7.18 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 37 | 13.10% | 5.57% | +7.53 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 36 | 12.70% | 5.52% | +7.18 |
| Tyres | 32 | 11.30% | 19.76% | −8.46 |
| Visibility | 9 | 3.20% | 4.97% | −1.77 |
| Steering | 7 | 2.50% | 2.57% | −0.07 |
| Non-component advisories | 4 | 1.40% | 4.18% | −2.78 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4 | 1.40% | 0.82% | +0.58 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 8.1% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £40–150 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.6% | £5–20 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 3.6% | £3–12 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 3.6% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.7% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.7% | £5–25 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.7% | £80–250 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.7% | £3–12 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 2.7% | £60–150 |
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 | 22.5% | £200–700 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 17.1% | £45–120 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.2% | £80–180 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.7% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.8% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.8% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 100.0% | 25,931 mi |
| 30-60k | 13 | 84.6% | 46,107 mi |
| 60-90k | 26 | 73.1% | 71,685 mi |
| 90-120k | 37 | 75.7% | 104,488 mi |
| 120k+ | 33 | 69.7% | 136,915 mi |
Source: 111 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.
2001 166 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2001 Alfa Romeo 166?
74.8% of the 111 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.3% for cars first used in 2001. First-attempt pass rate: 69.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2001 Alfa Romeo 166?
The three most recorded items are position lamp not working (8.11%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (3.60%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.60%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 69.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 in this dataset had covered 98,986 mi.
Does the season affect the 2001 Alfa Romeo 166 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 74.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.