Pass rate
73.7%
Below average — 0.3 pts behind the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 895 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £27–£81
2009 Chevrolet Cruze MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 89,350 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
20.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2014 76.8% pass
- Avoid 2010 73.7% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 3.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 66.0%
- Typical mileage
- 89k mi
The 2009 Chevrolet Cruze MOT pass rate is 73.7% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 20.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Chevrolet Cruze does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.3× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 12.6% of everything recorded on the 2009 Chevrolet Cruze, against 5.5% nationally — 7.1 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 20.2%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
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 Chevrolet Cruze? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Chevrolet Cruze compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 0.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 66.0%. The median 2009 Chevrolet Cruze in this dataset had covered 89,350 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 76% of tests, with a 73.5% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.9% of the time, April–September 73.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 8.60% of tests.
- 895 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.7% overall pass rate, 66.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Chevrolet Cruze, the average is 75.9% — best year 2014 (76.8%), worst 2010 (73.7%).
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
- 895
- Typical mileage (median)
- 89,350 mi
- Make and model
- Chevrolet Cruze
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Cruze MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (76% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Cruze
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 187 | 77.5% |
| South West | 109 | 69.7% |
| North West | 95 | 65.3% |
| East of England | 85 | 76.5% |
| Scotland | 79 | 70.9% |
| West Midlands | 77 | 84.4% |
| East Midlands | 75 | 73.3% |
| Yorkshire | 62 | 72.6% |
| London | 47 | 80.9% |
| Wales | 40 | 62.5% |
| North East | 39 | 71.8% |
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 2009 Cruze
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 2009 Cruze
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 8.6% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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 coil springs 4.8% 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 exhaust and emissions 2.6% of tests
“exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases”
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 2009 Cruze through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £27–£81 — and 46% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £27–£81
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 46%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 895 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 Cruze, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2009 to 2014. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.7% to 76.8% — a spread of 3.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2009 73.7%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 73.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 76.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 76.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 75.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 76.8% 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 2009 Chevrolet Cruze 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- Peugeot 107 73.8%
- Honda Civic 73.5%
- Skoda Fabia 73.9%
- Jaguar X-Type 73.5%
- Hyundai Tucson 73.5%
- Ford Mondeo 74.0%
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.
The full DVSA record for the 2009 Chevrolet Cruze 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 2,477 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 509 | 20.20% | 20.98% | −0.78 |
| Brakes | 465 | 18.40% | 20.89% | −2.49 |
| Tyres | 353 | 14.00% | 19.76% | −5.76 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 317 | 12.60% | 5.52% | +7.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 267 | 10.60% | 12.21% | −1.61 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 245 | 9.70% | 5.57% | +4.13 |
| Visibility | 96 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Non-component advisories | 96 | 3.80% | 4.18% | −0.38 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 68 | 2.70% | 1.76% | +0.94 |
| Steering | 61 | 2.40% | 2.57% | −0.17 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 8.6% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 7.5% | £80–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.4% | £5–25 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.8% | £25–65 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.5% | £45–110 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.4% | £3–12 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.6% | £45–120 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.5% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 26.8% | £200–700 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 15.5% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.2% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 15.1% | £25–65 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.4% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.2% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 13 | 92.3% | 19,598 mi |
| 30-60k | 103 | 86.4% | 47,526 mi |
| 60-90k | 339 | 73.2% | 76,002 mi |
| 90-120k | 260 | 71.5% | 102,224 mi |
| 120k+ | 175 | 69.7% | 146,209 mi |
Source: 895 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.
2009 Cruze MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Chevrolet Cruze?
73.7% of the 895 2009 Chevrolet Cruze tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 66.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Chevrolet Cruze?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.60%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (7.49%), position lamp not working (5.36%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Chevrolet Cruze MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.3% of the time, falling to 69.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Chevrolet Cruze in this dataset had covered 89,350 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2009 Chevrolet Cruze?
Petrol: 73.5% pass rate across 680 tests. Diesel: 74.4% pass rate across 215 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2009 Chevrolet Cruze MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 73.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.