2011 Chevrolet Cruze MOT pass rate

Pass rate

76.7%

Around average — 0.8 pts ahead of the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 3,680 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £23–£65

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
70.7%
Typical mileage
80k mi

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze MOT pass rate is 76.7% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 16.7% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze on the real record

76.7% of 2011 Chevrolet Cruze MOTs passed — 3,680 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Chevrolet Cruze does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Emissions & leaks: 2.6× the national share

Emissions & leaks make up 14.4% of everything recorded on the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, against 5.5% nationally — 8.9 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 16.7%, but at 20.9% 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 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 0.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 70.7%. The median 2011 Chevrolet Cruze in this dataset had covered 80,464 mi.

91% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 77.4% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 77.2% of the time, April–September 76.2%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 8.70% of tests.

  • 3,680 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 76.7% overall pass rate, 70.7% 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
3,680
Typical mileage (median)
80,464 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?

0-30k 88.0%
30-60k 83.0%
60-90k 76.4%
90-120k 74.4%
120k+ 69.1%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Petrol 77.4%
Diesel 70.2%

Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (91% of tests).

Regional pass rates for the Cruze

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 964 77.9%
East of England 402 75.6%
North West 380 75.8%
West Midlands 370 78.4%
Yorkshire 309 77.7%
Scotland 285 73.0%
London 257 84.0%
South West 236 73.3%
East Midlands 224 75.9%
North East 149 65.8%
Wales 104 81.7%

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 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.

Brakes 16.7%
−4.2 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Tyres 16.5%
−3.3 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Lamps & electrics 14.9%
+2.7 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Suspension 14.6%
−6.4 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Emissions & leaks 14.4%
  • Body & chassis 7.5%
  • Advisories 5.1%
  • Visibility 4.0%
  • Identification 2.5%
  • Steering 2.5%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2011 Chevrolet Cruze tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 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.

  1. Check the lights 8.7% 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.

  2. Check the coil springs 6.1% 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.

  3. Check the windscreen 2.1% 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 Cruze through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £23–£65 — and 58% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£23–£65
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
70%
Repairs that still cost under £30
58%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,680 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.

  1. 2009 73.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
  2. 2010 73.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
  3. 2011 76.7%
    registration plate lamp(s)…
  4. 2012 76.2% coil spring fractured or broken
  5. 2013 75.9% coil spring fractured or broken
  6. 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 2011 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.

Compare 2011 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2011 cars with a similar record

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 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 8,938 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 1,508 16.70% 20.89% −4.19
Tyres 1,496 16.50% 19.76% −3.26
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1,349 14.90% 12.21% +2.69
Suspension 1,321 14.60% 20.98% −6.38
Noise, emissions and leaks 1,306 14.40% 5.52% +8.88
Body, chassis, structure 680 7.50% 5.57% +1.93
Non-component advisories 463 5.10% 4.18% +0.92
Visibility 364 4.00% 4.97% −0.97
Identification of the vehicle 229 2.50% 1.76% +0.74
Steering 222 2.50% 2.57% −0.07

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 3,680 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 8.7% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension Major 6.1% £25–65 Coil Spring →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks Major 3.3% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 3.0% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure Minor 2.1% £80–250 Body Panel Repair →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 2.1% £80–200 Windscreen →
Wipers blade defective Visibility Minor 2.0% £8–22 Wiper Blade →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 2.0% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes Major 1.9% £45–110 Brake Discs and Pads Set →
Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure Major 1.8% £45–120 Exhaust →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 24.1% £200–700
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 17.4% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 14.0% £45–95
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 12.6% £45–110
Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure Advisory 10.2% £45–120
Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension Advisory 9.4% £25–65

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 83 88.0% 24,216 mi
30-60k 755 83.0% 48,328 mi
60-90k 1,468 76.4% 75,486 mi
90-120k 967 74.4% 102,914 mi
120k+ 398 69.1% 141,417 mi

Source: 3,680 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 Cruze MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze?

76.7% of the 3,680 2011 Chevrolet Cruze tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 70.7%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze?

The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.70%), coil spring fractured or broken (6.06%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (3.26%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.0% of the time, falling to 69.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Chevrolet Cruze in this dataset had covered 80,464 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze?

Petrol: 77.4% pass rate across 3,343 tests. Diesel: 70.2% pass rate across 332 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 77.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.