2013 Chevrolet Spark MOT pass rate

Pass rate

73.2%

Below average — 5.4 pts behind the 78.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 14,838 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £27–£69

Most common fault

Brakes

30.4% of faults · 20.9% nationally

mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.

Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →

2.7 pts up across model years — 11.0% in 2010, 13.7% in 2014.

Every failure, with what it costs →

Which year to buy

  • Best 2014 75.0% pass
  • Avoid 2012 72.9% pass

Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 2.1 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
64.5%
Typical mileage
64k mi

The 2013 Chevrolet Spark MOT pass rate is 73.2% of its MOT tests — 5.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.4% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2013 Chevrolet Spark on the real record

73.2% of 2013 Chevrolet Spark MOTs passed — 14,838 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 Spark does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Brakes: 1.5× the national share

Brakes make up 30.4% of everything recorded on the 2013 Chevrolet Spark, against 20.9% nationally — 9.5 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.

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 Spark? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2013 Chevrolet Spark compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 78.6%, so this figure is 5.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 64.5%. The median 2013 Chevrolet Spark in this dataset had covered 64,398 mi.

Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.7% of the time, April–September 73.7%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 9.59% of tests.

  • 14,838 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 73.2% overall pass rate, 64.5% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Chevrolet Spark, the average is 73.3% — best year 2014 (75.0%), worst 2012 (72.9%).

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
14,838
Typical mileage (median)
64,398 mi
Make and model
Chevrolet Spark
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 Spark MOT pass rate?

0-30k 78.6%
30-60k 74.8%
60-90k 72.0%
90-120k 70.2%
120k+ 72.8%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.

Regional pass rates for the Spark

Region Tests Pass rate
Scotland 2,085 68.8%
South East 2,067 77.2%
North West 1,936 73.5%
West Midlands 1,721 75.8%
Yorkshire 1,651 70.5%
Wales 1,159 71.1%
East of England 1,128 75.7%
South West 1,103 72.4%
East Midlands 932 73.3%
North East 765 70.6%
London 291 81.4%

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 2013 Spark

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 30.4%
+9.5 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Suspension 19.6%
−1.4 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Tyres 14.8%
−5.0 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Lamps & electrics 13.1%
+0.9 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Body & chassis 6.7%
  • Emissions & leaks 4.2%
  • Visibility 4.1%
  • Advisories 2.0%
  • Steering 1.8%
  • Identification 1.6%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2013 Chevrolet Spark 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 2013 Spark

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 9.6% 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.

  2. Check the brake pipes 5.5% of tests

    “rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”

    Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.

  3. Check the coil springs 4.6% 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.

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 2013 Spark through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £27–£69 — and 56% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£27–£69
Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
£3–£12
Dearest common item: rigid brake pipes excessively corroded
£80–£180
Common items a careful owner can do at home
80%
Repairs that still cost under £30
56%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 14,838 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 Spark, side by side

5 model years on record, from 2010 to 2014. Across them the pass rate runs from 72.9% to 75.0% — a spread of 2.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2010 73.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  2. 2011 73.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
  3. 2012 72.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
  4. 2013 73.2%
    registration plate lamp(s)…
  5. 2014 75.0% service brake performance…

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 2013 Chevrolet Spark 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 2013 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2013 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2013 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 2013 Chevrolet Spark 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 35,730 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 11,041 30.40% 20.89% +9.51
Suspension 7,107 19.60% 20.98% −1.38
Tyres 5,376 14.80% 19.76% −4.96
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4,771 13.10% 12.21% +0.89
Body, chassis, structure 2,439 6.70% 5.57% +1.13
Noise, emissions and leaks 1,519 4.20% 5.52% −1.32
Visibility 1,502 4.10% 4.97% −0.87
Non-component advisories 717 2.00% 4.18% −2.18
Steering 659 1.80% 2.57% −0.77
Identification of the vehicle 599 1.60% 1.76% −0.16

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 14,838 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 9.6% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes Major 5.5% £80–180 Brake Pipe →
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension Major 4.6% £25–65 Coil Spring →
Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes Major 4.6% £60–150 Brake Servicing →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 4.3% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes Major 2.9% £45–110 Brake Discs and Pads Set →
Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility Major 2.5% £8–22 Wiper Blade →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 2.1% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 1.9% £3–12 Stop Light Bulb →
Wipers blade defective Visibility Minor 1.9% £8–22 Wiper Blade →

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
Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes Advisory 32.0% £80–180
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 16.3% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 12.4% £45–95
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 11.5% £40–150
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 7.1% £200–700
Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes Advisory 6.6% £60–150

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 1,015 78.6% 21,776 mi
30-60k 5,350 74.8% 47,383 mi
60-90k 6,028 72.0% 73,757 mi
90-120k 2,035 70.2% 101,351 mi
120k+ 371 72.8% 134,355 mi

Source: 14,838 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.

2013 Spark MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2013 Chevrolet Spark?

73.2% of the 14,838 2013 Chevrolet Spark tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 78.6% for cars first used in 2013. First-attempt pass rate: 64.5%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2013 Chevrolet Spark?

The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (9.59%), rigid brake pipes excessively corroded (5.51%), coil spring fractured or broken (4.60%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2013 Chevrolet Spark MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 78.6% of the time, falling to 72.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2013 Chevrolet Spark in this dataset had covered 64,398 mi.

Does the season affect the 2013 Chevrolet Spark MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 73.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.