Pass rate
66.1%
Below average — 7.0 pts behind the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,613 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £37–£103
2008 Chevrolet Kalos MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 59,645 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
24.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2007 68.0% pass
- Avoid 2005 65.7% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 2.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 53.5%
- Typical mileage
- 60k mi
The 2008 Chevrolet Kalos MOT pass rate is 66.1% of its MOT tests — 7.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Chevrolet Kalos does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 11.5% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.1%; this one manages 66.1% — 7.0 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
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 Kalos? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Chevrolet Kalos compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 7.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 53.5%. The median 2008 Chevrolet Kalos in this dataset had covered 59,645 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 66.3% of the time, April–September 65.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 7.92% of tests.
- 2,613 recorded tests behind this page.
- 66.1% overall pass rate, 53.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Chevrolet Kalos, the average is 67.0% — best year 2007 (68.0%), worst 2005 (65.7%).
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
- 2,613
- Typical mileage (median)
- 59,645 mi
- Make and model
- Chevrolet Kalos
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Kalos MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 51% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Kalos
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 479 | 68.1% |
| South West | 418 | 62.7% |
| North West | 356 | 65.2% |
| West Midlands | 323 | 71.5% |
| East of England | 262 | 66.0% |
| East Midlands | 205 | 68.8% |
| Wales | 190 | 60.5% |
| Yorkshire | 162 | 64.2% |
| London | 123 | 71.5% |
| Scotland | 68 | 57.4% |
| North East | 27 | 63.0% |
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 2008 Kalos
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 2008 Kalos
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 7.9% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 suspension joints 6.8% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check corrosion 5.0% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
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 2008 Kalos through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £37–£103 — and 40% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £37–£103
- Cheapest common item: anti-lock braking system warning lamp…
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 40%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,613 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 Kalos, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2005 to 2008. Across them the pass rate runs from 65.7% to 68.0% — a spread of 2.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 65.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 67.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 68.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 66.1%headlamp lens slightly defective
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 2008 Chevrolet Kalos 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Nissan Qashqai 66.0%
- Ford Ka 66.2%
- Renault Grand Scenic 66.6%
- Mazda Bongo 64.9%
- Fiat Bravo 67.3%
- Volkswagen Beetle 68.1%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Chevrolet Kalos 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 8,563 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 | 2,099 | 24.00% | 20.98% | +3.02 |
| Brakes | 1,795 | 20.50% | 20.89% | −0.39 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,253 | 14.30% | 12.21% | +2.09 |
| Tyres | 1,010 | 11.50% | 19.76% | −8.26 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 684 | 7.80% | 5.52% | +2.28 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 598 | 6.80% | 5.57% | +1.23 |
| Steering | 394 | 4.50% | 2.57% | +1.93 |
| Visibility | 313 | 3.60% | 4.97% | −1.37 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 211 | 2.40% | 1.76% | +0.64 |
| Non-component advisories | 206 | 2.40% | 4.18% | −1.78 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.9% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 6.8% | £40–150 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 5.9% | £18–45 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £180–450 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 4.8% | £60–150 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.6% | £5–20 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 3.9% | £3–15 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.5% | £30–80 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 21.5% | £80–180 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 21.4% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 17.6% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 17.3% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 13.6% | £45–95 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 10.1% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 215 | 75.8% | 23,174 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,042 | 67.1% | 46,572 mi |
| 60-90k | 914 | 64.7% | 73,132 mi |
| 90-120k | 281 | 63.3% | 100,432 mi |
| 120k+ | 37 | 59.5% | 129,773 mi |
Source: 2,613 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.
2008 Kalos MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Chevrolet Kalos?
66.1% of the 2,613 2008 Chevrolet Kalos tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 53.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Chevrolet Kalos?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (7.92%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (6.81%), track rod end ball joint has excessive play (5.86%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Chevrolet Kalos MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 75.8% of the time, falling to 59.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Chevrolet Kalos in this dataset had covered 59,645 mi.
Does the season affect the 2008 Chevrolet Kalos MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 66.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 65.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.