Pass rate
66.7%
Below average — 5.9 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 66 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £48–£137
2003 Alfa Romeo 166 MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 86,908 mi
Only 66 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Brakes
20.3% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2001 74.8% pass
- Avoid 2003 66.7% pass · this year
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 8.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 56.0%
- Typical mileage
- 87k mi
The 2003 Alfa Romeo 166 MOT pass rate is 66.7% of its MOT tests — 5.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 20.3% 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: 2.2× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 12.0% of everything recorded on the 2003 Alfa Romeo 166, against 5.6% nationally — 6.4 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 20.3%, 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.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 72.6%; this one manages 66.7% — 5.9 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- 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 166? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Alfa Romeo 166 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 5.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 56.0%. The median 2003 Alfa Romeo 166 in this dataset had covered 86,908 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 12.12% of tests.
- 66 recorded tests behind this page.
- 66.7% overall pass rate, 56.0% 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
- 66
- Typical mileage (median)
- 86,908 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
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the 166 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 42% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 166
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 20 | 70.0% |
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 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 2003 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 10.6% of tests
“srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault”
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 windscreen 9.1% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the brake pipes 7.6% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
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 166 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £48–£137 — and 28% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £48–£137
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- 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 66 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 2003 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen Beetle 67.1%
- Volvo V40 67.3%
- Vauxhall Combo 65.8%
- Ford Ka 68.0%
- Ford Galaxy 68.0%
- Citroen C3 68.2%
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 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 232 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 | 49 | 20.30% | 20.89% | −0.59 |
| Suspension | 45 | 18.70% | 20.98% | −2.28 |
| Tyres | 32 | 13.30% | 19.76% | −6.46 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 29 | 12.00% | 5.57% | +6.43 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 26 | 10.80% | 12.21% | −1.41 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 17 | 7.10% | 5.52% | +1.58 |
| Visibility | 14 | 5.80% | 4.97% | +0.83 |
| Steering | 7 | 2.90% | 2.57% | +0.33 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 7 | 2.90% | 0.82% | +2.08 |
| Non-component advisories | 6 | 2.50% | 4.18% | −1.68 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 12.1% | £80–250 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 10.6% | £3–12 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 9.1% | £80–200 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 7.6% | £80–180 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 6.1% | £25–65 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 6.1% | £80–250 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.5% | £30–80 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.5% | £40–150 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.5% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.5% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 30.3% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 16.7% | £25–65 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.6% | £45–110 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 13.6% | £45–120 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 13.6% | £80–180 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.1% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 6 | 50.0% | 51,880 mi |
| 60-90k | 31 | 61.3% | 76,644 mi |
| 90-120k | 19 | 84.2% | 104,088 mi |
| 120k+ | 10 | 60.0% | 160,105 mi |
Source: 66 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 166 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Alfa Romeo 166?
66.7% of the 66 2003 Alfa Romeo 166 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 56.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Alfa Romeo 166?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (12.12%), srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault (10.61%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (9.09%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Alfa Romeo 166 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 50.0% of the time, falling to 60.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Alfa Romeo 166 in this dataset had covered 86,908 mi.