Pass rate
96.0%
Above average — 22.9 pts ahead of the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 50 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £64–£247
2008 Ariel Atom MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 18,950 mi
Only 50 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.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Emissions & leaks
75.0% of faults · 5.5% nationally
Which year to buy
- Best 2008 96.0% pass · this year
- Avoid 2010 95.6% pass
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 0.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 95.8%
- Typical mileage
- 19k mi
The 2008 Ariel Atom MOT pass rate is 96.0% of its MOT tests — 22.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Emissions & leaks is the biggest single reason it fails, at 75.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 13.6× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 75.0% of everything recorded on the 2008 Ariel Atom, against 5.5% nationally — 69.5 points above. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 73.1% and this one manages 96.0% — 22.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 0% 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 Ariel Atom? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Ariel Atom compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 22.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 95.8%. The median 2008 Ariel Atom in this dataset had covered 18,950 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits", noted on 2.00% of tests.
- 50 recorded tests behind this page.
- 96.0% overall pass rate, 95.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ariel Atom, the average is 95.8% — best year 2008 (96.0%), worst 2010 (95.6%).
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
- 50
- Typical mileage (median)
- 18,950 mi
- Make and model
- Ariel Atom
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Emissions Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Atom MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 77% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2008 Atom
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 2008 Atom
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 exhaust and emissions 2.0% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
-
Check the lights 2.0% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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.
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 2008 Atom through its MOT
Across the 7 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £64–£247 — and 0% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 7 common items
- £64–£247
- Cheapest common item: headlamp aim too low
- £30–£80
- Dearest common item: catalytic converter missing where one was…
- £120–£400
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 0%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 0%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 50 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 Atom, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2008 to 2010. Across them the pass rate runs from 95.6% to 96.0% — a spread of 0.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2008 96.0%catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2010 95.6% steering rack gaiter damaged or…
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 2008 Ariel Atom 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Bentley Continental 91.4%
- Porsche 911 91.0%
- BMW M3 90.0%
- Porsche Boxster 89.4%
- Audi A8 87.0%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 86.7%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Ariel Atom 7 failure items · 1 advisories · 2 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 6 | 75.00% | 5.52% | +69.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2 | 25.00% | 12.21% | +12.79 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalytic converter missing where one was fitted as standard Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £120–400 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.0% | £30–80 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual direction indicators incorrect colour Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Advisory | 2.0% | £3–12 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 43 | 97.7% | 16,299 mi |
| 30-60k | 7 | 85.7% | 31,882 mi |
Source: 50 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.
2008 Atom MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Ariel Atom?
96.0% of the 50 2008 Ariel Atom tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 95.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Ariel Atom?
The three most recorded items are catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (2.00%), catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits (2.00%), catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits (2.00%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Ariel Atom MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 97.7% of the time, falling to 85.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Ariel Atom in this dataset had covered 18,950 mi.