Pass rate
Above average — 20.9 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 99 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £28–£70
Only 99 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.
Pass rate
Above average — 20.9 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 99 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £28–£70
Most common fault
Brakes
26.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 7.9 points. See every year →
The 2009 Bentley Arnage MOT pass rate is 94.9% of its MOT tests — 20.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Steering accounts for 19.2% of everything recorded on the 2009 Bentley Arnage, against 2.6% nationally — 16.6 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 26.9%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
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 Bentley Arnage? Get an email when these numbers change .
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, 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 94.7%. The median 2009 Bentley Arnage in this dataset had covered 32,743 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 93.6% of the time, April–September 96.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure", noted on 2.02% of tests.
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 75% so small gaps stay visible.
Across all Arnage model years on record (2000–2009): 1,968 Bentley Arnage cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 3,803 tests. London (W) has the most, with 85 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London (W) | 85 | 87.4% |
| 2 | Birmingham (B) | 63 | 92.5% |
| 3 | Crawley (RH) | 52 | 90.7% |
| 4 | Ashford (TN) | 48 | 91.0% |
| 5 | Guildford (GU) | 44 | 88.8% |
| 6 | Chelmsford (CM) | 43 | 93.0% |
| 7 | Reading (RG) | 42 | 86.3% |
| 8 | Nottingham (NG) | 39 | 90.8% |
| 9 | Worcester (WR) | 39 | 89.9% |
| 10 | Leeds (LS) | 39 | 92.5% |
| 11 | Leicester (LE) | 37 | 97.3% |
| 12 | Slough (SL) | 36 | 91.5% |
| 13 | Gloucester (GL) | 33 | 84.2% |
| 14 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 32 | 91.5% |
| 15 | Maidstone (ME) | 32 | 91.4% |
| 16 | Peterborough (PE) | 31 | 85.9% |
| 17 | London (SW) | 31 | 78.1% |
| 18 | Bolton (BL) | 31 | 81.1% |
| 19 | Norwich (NR) | 30 | 84.4% |
| 20 | Hounslow (TW) | 27 | 96.4% |
The twenty areas with the most Bentley Arnage cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 36 | 97.2% |
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.
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
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 brakes 1.0% of tests
“brake discs significantly and obviously worn”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
Check the coil springs 1.0% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
Check the lights 1.0% of tests
“headlamp cleaning device inoperative”
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.
Across the 9 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £28–£70 — and 40% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 99 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 →
10 model years on record, from 2000 to 2009. Across them the pass rate runs from 87.0% to 94.9% — a spread of 7.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
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.
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Closest pass rates among 2009 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.
Shares of the 26 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 | 7 | 26.90% | 20.89% | +6.01 |
| Tyres | 5 | 19.20% | 19.76% | −0.56 |
| Steering | 5 | 19.20% | 2.57% | +16.63 |
| Suspension | 3 | 11.50% | 20.98% | −9.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2 | 7.70% | 12.21% | −4.51 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2 | 7.70% | 5.57% | +2.13 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1 | 3.80% | 5.52% | −1.72 |
| Visibility | 1 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 2.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 1.0% | £25–65 |
| Headlamp cleaning device inoperative Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.0% | £5–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.0% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.0% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £45–110 |
| Service brake performance excessively fluctuating Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £60–150 |
| Washers not working Visibility | Major | 1.0% | £5–15 |
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flexible brake hoses ferrule excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 2.0% | £25–70 |
| Other components leaking Steering | Advisory | 2.0% | £60–200 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Advisory | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 1.0% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 1.0% | £45–120 |
| Exhaust system system insecure Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 1.0% | £45–120 |
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 42 | 97.6% | 15,632 mi |
| 30-60k | 47 | 93.6% | 41,284 mi |
| 60-90k | 6 | 83.3% | 84,002 mi |
| 90-120k | 3 | 100.0% | 101,869 mi |
Source: 99 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.
94.9% of the 99 2009 Bentley Arnage tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 94.7%.
The three most recorded items are has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (2.02%), brake discs significantly and obviously worn (1.01%), coil spring fractured or broken (1.01%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 97.6% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Bentley Arnage in this dataset had covered 32,743 mi.
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 93.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 96.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.