Pass rate
68.3%
Below average — 4.3 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 700 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £49–£128
2003 Daewoo Matiz MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 48,755 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
25.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2003 68.3% pass · this year
- Avoid 2005 60.9% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 7.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 58.3%
- Typical mileage
- 49k mi
The 2003 Daewoo Matiz MOT pass rate is 68.3% of its MOT tests — 4.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 11.0% 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 72.6%; this one manages 68.3% — 4.3 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 34% 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.
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 Daewoo Matiz? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Daewoo Matiz compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 4.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 58.3%. The median 2003 Daewoo Matiz in this dataset had covered 48,755 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 66.9% of the time, April–September 69.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength", noted on 8.43% of tests.
- 700 recorded tests behind this page.
- 68.3% overall pass rate, 58.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Daewoo Matiz, the average is 66.2% — best year 2003 (68.3%), worst 2005 (60.9%).
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
- 700
- Typical mileage (median)
- 48,755 mi
- Make and model
- Daewoo Matiz
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Corrosion Welding Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Matiz MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 51% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Daewoo Matiz is most common
Across all Matiz model years on record (2000–2005): 1,387 Daewoo Matiz cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 3,502 tests. Poole (BH) has the most, with 66 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poole (BH) | 66 | 65.2% |
| 2 | Bristol (BS) | 52 | 57.6% |
| 3 | Exeter (EX) | 48 | 61.6% |
| 4 | Newton Abbot (TQ) | 42 | 59.5% |
| 5 | Brighton (BN) | 40 | 62.7% |
| 6 | Southampton (SO) | 36 | 65.7% |
| 7 | Leicester (LE) | 36 | 68.9% |
| 8 | Birmingham (B) | 34 | 69.5% |
| 9 | Plymouth (PL) | 30 | 67.1% |
| 10 | Norwich (NR) | 29 | 58.4% |
| 11 | Ashford (TN) | 27 | 64.9% |
| 12 | Gloucester (GL) | 27 | 62.3% |
| 13 | Taunton (TA) | 25 | 63.5% |
| 14 | Derby (DE) | 25 | 78.0% |
| 15 | Sheffield (S) | 24 | 58.8% |
| 16 | Cardiff (CF) | 23 | 63.6% |
| 17 | Portsmouth (PO) | 22 | 63.9% |
| 18 | Peterborough (PE) | 21 | 63.8% |
| 19 | Maidstone (ME) | 21 | 70.0% |
| 20 | Coventry (CV) | 21 | 60.9% |
The twenty areas with the most Daewoo Matiz cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Matiz
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 215 | 60.5% |
| South East | 154 | 72.1% |
| East of England | 74 | 71.6% |
| North West | 72 | 66.7% |
| East Midlands | 58 | 77.6% |
| West Midlands | 48 | 68.8% |
| Wales | 29 | 62.1% |
| London | 29 | 82.8% |
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 2003 Matiz
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 2003 Matiz
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 corrosion 8.4% 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 6.6% of tests
“ball joint 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 the lights 6.4% 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.
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 2003 Matiz through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £49–£128 — and 34% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £49–£128
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- 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
- 34%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 700 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 Matiz, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2000 to 2005. Across them the pass rate runs from 60.9% to 68.3% — a spread of 7.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 67.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2001 66.4% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 67.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 68.3%component mounting prescribed…
- 2004 65.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 60.9% component mounting prescribed…
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 2003 Daewoo Matiz 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen Polo 68.3%
- Citroen C3 68.2%
- Vauxhall Corsa 68.4%
- Citroen Xsara 68.4%
- Ford Ka 68.0%
- Ford Galaxy 68.0%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Daewoo Matiz 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 2,286 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 | 584 | 25.00% | 20.98% | +4.02 |
| Brakes | 462 | 19.80% | 20.89% | −1.09 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 307 | 13.10% | 12.21% | +0.89 |
| Tyres | 258 | 11.00% | 19.76% | −8.76 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 212 | 9.10% | 5.57% | +3.53 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 187 | 8.00% | 5.52% | +2.48 |
| Visibility | 89 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 70 | 3.00% | 1.76% | +1.24 |
| Steering | 65 | 2.80% | 2.57% | +0.23 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 52 | 2.20% | 0.82% | +1.38 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 8.4% | £180–450 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 8.4% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 6.6% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.4% | £5–25 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 5.9% | £45–120 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.1% | £30–80 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 5.1% | £3–12 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.7% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.4% | £80–250 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 3.4% | £8–22 |
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 | 17.4% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 17.4% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 12.3% | £200–700 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.0% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.1% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 114 | 78.1% | 21,865 mi |
| 30-60k | 366 | 68.6% | 44,832 mi |
| 60-90k | 174 | 63.2% | 72,120 mi |
| 90-120k | 44 | 59.1% | 101,578 mi |
| 120k+ | 2 | 100.0% | 121,333 mi |
Source: 700 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.
2003 Matiz MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Daewoo Matiz?
68.3% of the 700 2003 Daewoo Matiz tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 58.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Daewoo Matiz?
The three most recorded items are component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (8.43%), service brake imbalance across an axle (8.43%), ball joint excessively worn (6.57%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Daewoo Matiz MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 78.1% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Daewoo Matiz in this dataset had covered 48,755 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Daewoo Matiz MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 66.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 69.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.