Pass rate
77.8%
Around average — 0.6 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 63 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£84
2012 Dacia Sandero MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 86,246 mi
Only 63 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
27.2% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£40 for Brake pads under 1.5 mm. What fitting it takes →
1.2 pts up across model years — 2.0% in 2013, 3.2% in 2021.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 90.3% pass
- Avoid 2014 72.9% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 17.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 72.0%
- Typical mileage
- 86k mi
The 2012 Dacia Sandero MOT pass rate is 77.8% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Dacia Sandero does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 27.2% of everything recorded on the 2012 Dacia Sandero, against 20.9% nationally — 6.3 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 29% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 63 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 Dacia Sandero? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Dacia Sandero compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 0.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.0%. The median 2012 Dacia Sandero in this dataset had covered 86,246 mi.
57% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 72.2% of the time.
The single most recorded failure item is "Horn not working", noted on 4.76% of tests.
- 63 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.8% overall pass rate, 72.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Dacia Sandero, the average is 79.9% — best year 2021 (90.3%), worst 2014 (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
- 63
- Typical mileage (median)
- 86,246 mi
- Make and model
- Dacia Sandero
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Horn
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Sandero MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 54% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (57% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Sandero
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 22 | 72.7% |
| South East | 16 | 81.3% |
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 2012 Sandero
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 2012 Sandero
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 horn 4.8% of tests
“horn not working”
Press it. That is the whole check, and a surprising number of cars fail on it.
-
Check the brakes 3.2% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
-
Check the lights 3.2% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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.
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 2012 Sandero through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£84 — and 29% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£84
- Cheapest common item: wipers does not clear the windscreen…
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 29%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 63 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 Sandero, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2012 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 72.9% to 90.3% — a spread of 17.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2012 77.8%horn not working
- 2013 75.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2014 72.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2015 73.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 78.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2017 81.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 85.3% headlamp aim too low
- 2019 87.5% wipers does not clear the…
- 2020 89.5% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 90.3% wipers does not clear the…
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 2012 Dacia Sandero 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Abarth 500 77.8%
- Vauxhall Astra 77.7%
- Skoda Octavia 77.7%
- Vauxhall Agila 77.7%
- Skoda Superb 77.7%
- Vauxhall Meriva 77.9%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Dacia Sandero 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 133 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 | 37 | 27.20% | 20.89% | +6.31 |
| Tyres | 28 | 20.60% | 19.76% | +0.84 |
| Suspension | 23 | 16.90% | 20.98% | −4.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 15 | 11.00% | 12.21% | −1.21 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 7 | 5.10% | 5.52% | −0.42 |
| Visibility | 5 | 3.70% | 4.97% | −1.27 |
| Steering | 5 | 3.70% | 2.57% | +1.13 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 5 | 3.70% | 1.76% | +1.94 |
| Road Wheels | 5 | 3.70% | 0.75% | +2.95 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 2.20% | 4.18% | −1.98 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.8% | £8–25 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.2% | £30–80 |
| Linkage insecurely attached Suspension | Major | 3.2% | £40–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.2% | £80–200 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 3.2% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.6% | £18–45 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.6% | £60–140 |
| Brake fluid contaminated Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 1.6% | £25–65 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 22.2% | £45–95 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 15.9% | £60–150 |
| Linkage pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.1% | £40–150 |
| Transmission oil leaks leaking excessively from transmission Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 11.1% | £200–700 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.5% | £45–95 |
| Badly distorted Road Wheels | Advisory | 7.9% | £20–55 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 16 | 93.8% | 44,202 mi |
| 60-90k | 18 | 83.3% | 77,462 mi |
| 90-120k | 13 | 69.2% | 100,101 mi |
| 120k+ | 16 | 62.5% | 135,023 mi |
Source: 63 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.
2012 Sandero MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Dacia Sandero?
77.8% of the 63 2012 Dacia Sandero tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 72.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Dacia Sandero?
The three most recorded items are horn not working (4.76%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (3.17%), headlamp aim too low (3.17%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Dacia Sandero MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.8% of the time, falling to 62.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Dacia Sandero in this dataset had covered 86,246 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Dacia Sandero?
Diesel: 72.2% pass rate across 36 tests. Petrol: 85.2% pass rate across 27 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.