Pass rate
72.5%
Below average — 0.1 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 316 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £77–£208
2003 Daihatsu Copen MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 58,493 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
25.0% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2008 82.6% pass
- Avoid 2006 71.5% pass
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 11.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.0%
- Typical mileage
- 58k mi
The 2003 Daihatsu Copen MOT pass rate is 72.5% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.1× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 11.7% of everything recorded on the 2003 Daihatsu Copen, against 5.6% nationally — 6.1 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 25.0%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 15% 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. 316 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 Daihatsu Copen? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Daihatsu Copen compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 0.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.0%. The median 2003 Daihatsu Copen in this dataset had covered 58,493 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.9% of the time, April–September 72.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength", noted on 9.18% of tests.
- 316 recorded tests behind this page.
- 72.5% overall pass rate, 67.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Daihatsu Copen, the average is 77.4% — best year 2008 (82.6%), worst 2006 (71.5%).
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
- 316
- Typical mileage (median)
- 58,493 mi
- Make and model
- Daihatsu Copen
- 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 Copen MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 59% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Daihatsu Copen is most common
Across all Copen model years on record (2003–2009): 1,965 Daihatsu Copen cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 4,548 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 68 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 | Birmingham (B) | 68 | 80.4% |
| 2 | Norwich (NR) | 43 | 72.0% |
| 3 | Leicester (LE) | 41 | 90.5% |
| 4 | Bristol (BS) | 40 | 66.7% |
| 5 | Sheffield (S) | 38 | 79.5% |
| 6 | Nottingham (NG) | 35 | 73.4% |
| 7 | Portsmouth (PO) | 34 | 76.8% |
| 8 | Peterborough (PE) | 34 | 78.5% |
| 9 | Ipswich (IP) | 33 | 80.2% |
| 10 | Derby (DE) | 33 | 80.3% |
| 11 | Gloucester (GL) | 32 | 66.7% |
| 12 | Exeter (EX) | 31 | 75.3% |
| 13 | Ashford (TN) | 30 | 75.3% |
| 14 | Coventry (CV) | 30 | 81.6% |
| 15 | Cambridge (CB) | 30 | 77.3% |
| 16 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 29 | 82.1% |
| 17 | Canterbury (CT) | 28 | 75.0% |
| 18 | London (NW) | 27 | 88.5% |
| 19 | Cardiff (CF) | 26 | 71.2% |
| 20 | Chelmsford (CM) | 26 | 73.7% |
The twenty areas with the most Daihatsu Copen 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 Copen
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 57 | 84.2% |
| South West | 53 | 66.0% |
| North West | 48 | 75.0% |
| West Midlands | 35 | 71.4% |
| East of England | 26 | 69.2% |
| East Midlands | 25 | 76.0% |
| Yorkshire | 18 | 66.7% |
| London | 16 | 87.5% |
| Scotland | 16 | 43.8% |
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 Copen
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 Copen
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 9.2% 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 exhaust and emissions 4.8% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.8% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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.
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 Copen through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £77–£208 — and 15% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £77–£208
- 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
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 15%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 316 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 Copen, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2003 to 2009. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.5% to 82.6% — a spread of 11.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 72.5%component mounting prescribed…
- 2004 73.9% component mounting prescribed…
- 2005 73.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2006 71.5% component mounting prescribed…
- 2007 79.3% component mounting prescribed…
- 2008 82.6% component mounting prescribed…
- 2009 82.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
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 Daihatsu Copen 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
- Vauxhall Astra 72.5%
- Peugeot 106 72.5%
- Ford Fiesta 72.4%
- Honda Jazz 72.6%
- Audi Tt 72.4%
- Mitsubishi Shogun 72.6%
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 Daihatsu Copen 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 645 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 | 164 | 25.00% | 20.89% | +4.11 |
| Suspension | 130 | 19.80% | 20.98% | −1.18 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 77 | 11.70% | 5.57% | +6.13 |
| Tyres | 66 | 10.10% | 19.76% | −9.66 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 65 | 9.90% | 5.52% | +4.38 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 63 | 9.60% | 12.21% | −2.61 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 28 | 4.30% | 0.82% | +3.48 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 20 | 3.00% | 1.76% | +1.24 |
| Visibility | 18 | 2.70% | 4.97% | −2.27 |
| Steering | 14 | 2.10% | 2.57% | −0.47 |
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 | 9.2% | £180–450 |
| Prescribed areas prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 5.1% | £40–120 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.8% | £60–250 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.8% | £3–12 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.2% | £45–120 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £80–180 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.2% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £5–25 |
| Integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.9% | £180–450 |
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 | 16.5% | £80–180 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 14.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.8% | £45–110 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 8.9% | £180–450 |
| Flexible brake hoses ferrule excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 6.0% | £25–70 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.7% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 19 | 89.5% | 13,595 mi |
| 30-60k | 152 | 73.7% | 49,245 mi |
| 60-90k | 105 | 67.6% | 73,959 mi |
| 90-120k | 36 | 72.2% | 101,522 mi |
| 120k+ | 4 | 75.0% | 134,648 mi |
Source: 316 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 Copen MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Daihatsu Copen?
72.5% of the 316 2003 Daihatsu Copen tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 67.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Daihatsu Copen?
The three most recorded items are component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (9.18%), prescribed areas prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced (5.06%), catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (4.75%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Daihatsu Copen MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.5% of the time, falling to 75.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Daihatsu Copen in this dataset had covered 58,493 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Daihatsu Copen MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 72.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.