Pass rate
91.8%
Above average — 15.9 pts ahead of the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 61 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £55–£145
2011 Caterham Super MOT pass rate
- 2011
- typical 10,535 mi
Only 61 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
20.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2007 95.5% pass
- Avoid 2003 83.8% pass
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 11.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 91.2%
- Typical mileage
- 11k mi
The 2011 Caterham Super MOT pass rate is 91.8% of its MOT tests — 15.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 20.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Caterham Super does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Steering: 5.3× the national share
Steering accounts for 13.6% of everything recorded on the 2011 Caterham Super, against 2.6% nationally — 11.0 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 20.5%, 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.
- 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 75.9% and this one manages 91.8% — 15.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 31% 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 Caterham Super? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2011 Caterham Super compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 15.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 91.2%. The median 2011 Caterham Super in this dataset had covered 10,535 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 8.20% of tests.
- 61 recorded tests behind this page.
- 91.8% overall pass rate, 91.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Caterham Super, the average is 92.0% — best year 2007 (95.5%), worst 2003 (83.8%).
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
- 61
- Typical mileage (median)
- 10,535 mi
- Make and model
- Caterham Super
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Super MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 82% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Super
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 17 | 94.1% |
| North West | 15 | 86.7% |
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 2011 Super
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 2011 Super
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 8.2% 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 horn 3.3% of tests
“horn not working”
Press it. That is the whole check, and a surprising number of cars fail on it.
-
Check the windscreen 3.3% 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.
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 2011 Super through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £55–£145 — and 31% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £55–£145
- Cheapest common item: rear fog lamp does not emit a steady red light
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 31%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 61 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 Super, side by side
12 model years on record, from 2001 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 83.8% to 95.5% — a spread of 11.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 91.1% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2002 95.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 83.8% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2004 90.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 84.6% position lamp not working
- 2006 94.1% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2007 95.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 93.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 93.7% headlamp aim too low
- 2010 93.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 91.8%steering rack gaiter damaged or…
- 2012 94.2% 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 2011 Caterham Super 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 2011 cars with a similar record
- Porsche Boxster 91.5%
- BMW M3 90.9%
- Audi A8 90.3%
- Porsche 911 93.4%
- Honda Fit 86.9%
- Porsche Cayenne 86.8%
Closest pass rates among 2011 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 2011 Caterham Super 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 8 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 44 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 | 9 | 20.50% | 20.89% | −0.39 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 7 | 15.90% | 12.21% | +3.69 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 7 | 15.90% | 5.52% | +10.38 |
| Steering | 6 | 13.60% | 2.57% | +11.03 |
| Suspension | 5 | 11.40% | 20.98% | −9.58 |
| Visibility | 4 | 9.10% | 4.97% | +4.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 4 | 9.10% | 4.18% | +4.92 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 4.50% | 1.76% | +2.74 |
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 | 8.2% | £120–300 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £8–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.3% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £30–80 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.6% | £8–25 |
| Mirrors insecure Visibility | Major | 1.6% | £20–80 |
| Mirrors missing Visibility | Major | 1.6% | £20–80 |
| Rear fog lamp does not emit a steady red light Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £3–15 |
| Rear fog lamp light intensity significantly reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.6% | £3–15 |
| Registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements Identification of the vehicle | Major | 1.6% | £20–80 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-component advisories Coolant leak Non-component advisories | Advisory | 6.6% | £20–80 |
| Transmission oil leaks leaking excessively from transmission Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 6.6% | £200–700 |
| Service brake performance excessively fluctuating Brakes | Advisory | 4.9% | £60–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 3.3% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 3.3% | £200–700 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 1.6% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 55 | 90.9% | 10,924 mi |
| 30-60k | 3 | 100.0% | 33,952 mi |
| 60-90k | 3 | 100.0% | 64,327 mi |
Source: 61 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.
2011 Super MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 Caterham Super?
91.8% of the 61 2011 Caterham Super tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 91.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 Caterham Super?
The three most recorded items are steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (8.20%), horn not working (3.28%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.28%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 Caterham Super MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.9% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Caterham Super in this dataset had covered 10,535 mi.