Pass rate
95.6%
Above average — 20.9 pts ahead of the 74.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 68 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £50–£152
2010 Ariel Atom MOT pass rate
- 2010
- 2 trims combined
- typical 16,885 mi
Only 68 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
Tyres
30.4% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2008 96.0% pass
- Avoid 2010 95.6% pass · this year
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 0.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 95.4%
- Typical mileage
- 17k mi
The 2010 Ariel Atom MOT pass rate is 95.6% of its MOT tests — 20.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.4% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 2.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 30.4% of everything recorded on the 2010 Ariel Atom, against 12.2% nationally — 18.2 points above. Tyres are still the single largest share at 30.4%, but at 19.8% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- 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 74.7% and this one manages 95.6% — 20.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 25% 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 .
Every Ariel Atom first registered in 2010 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2010 Ariel Atom compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.7%, so this figure is 20.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 95.4%. The median 2010 Ariel Atom in this dataset had covered 16,885 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 2.94% of tests.
- 68 recorded tests behind this page.
- 95.6% overall pass rate, 95.4% 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
- 68
- Typical mileage (median)
- 16,885 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
Steering Rack
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 84% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2010 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 2010 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 steering 2.9% of tests
“steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
-
Check the lights 2.9% of tests
“stop 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 exhaust and emissions 1.5% 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.
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 2010 Atom through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £50–£152 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £50–£152
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 30%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 68 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 2010 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 2010 cars with a similar record
- Porsche 911 92.7%
- Porsche Boxster 91.8%
- BMW M3 90.8%
- Nissan 370 Z 86.6%
- Porsche Cayenne 86.5%
- Toyota Estima 85.9%
Closest pass rates among 2010 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 2010 Ariel Atom 10 failure items · 1 advisories · 6 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 7 | 30.40% | 19.76% | +10.64 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 7 | 30.40% | 12.21% | +18.19 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3 | 13.00% | 5.52% | +7.48 |
| Brakes | 2 | 8.70% | 20.89% | −12.19 |
| Steering | 2 | 8.70% | 2.57% | +6.13 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 8.70% | 1.76% | +6.94 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.9% | £120–300 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £3–12 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.5% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.5% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions hydrocarbon content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.5% | £60–250 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.5% | £30–80 |
| Lever missing Brakes | Major | 1.5% | £45–110 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 1.5% | £60–150 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £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 | 10.3% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 53 | 96.2% | 14,258 mi |
| 30-60k | 13 | 92.3% | 31,610 mi |
Source: 68 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.
2010 Atom MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2010 Ariel Atom?
95.6% of the 68 2010 Ariel Atom tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.7% for cars first used in 2010. First-attempt pass rate: 95.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2010 Ariel Atom?
The three most recorded items are steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.94%), stop lamp not working (2.94%), catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (1.47%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2010 Ariel Atom MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 96.2% of the time, falling to 92.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2010 Ariel Atom in this dataset had covered 16,885 mi.