Pass rate
66.1%
Below average — 6.5 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 601 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £77–£216
2003 Daihatsu Terios MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 83,114 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
30.6% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2009 78.6% pass
- Avoid 2004 64.9% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 13.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 56.3%
- Typical mileage
- 83k mi
The 2003 Daihatsu Terios MOT pass rate is 66.1% of its MOT tests — 6.5 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Daihatsu Terios does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 3.7× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 20.6% of everything recorded on the 2003 Daihatsu Terios, against 5.6% nationally — 15.0 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 30.6%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 72.6%; this one manages 66.1% — 6.5 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 22% 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 Daihatsu Terios? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Daihatsu Terios compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 6.5 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 56.3%. The median 2003 Daihatsu Terios in this dataset had covered 83,114 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 67.0% of the time, April–September 65.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength", noted on 8.99% of tests.
- 601 recorded tests behind this page.
- 66.1% overall pass rate, 56.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Daihatsu Terios, the average is 72.5% — best year 2009 (78.6%), worst 2004 (64.9%).
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
- 601
- Typical mileage (median)
- 83,114 mi
- Make and model
- Daihatsu Terios
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Terios MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 55% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Terios
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 146 | 61.6% |
| South East | 120 | 69.2% |
| East of England | 77 | 66.2% |
| Wales | 62 | 69.4% |
| West Midlands | 50 | 66.0% |
| North West | 46 | 54.3% |
| Yorkshire | 35 | 68.6% |
| London | 28 | 78.6% |
| North East | 18 | 66.7% |
| East Midlands | 16 | 68.8% |
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 Terios
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 Terios
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 9.0% 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.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 5.3% of tests
“exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases”
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 4.7% 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.
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 Terios through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £77–£216 — and 22% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £77–£216
- 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
- 22%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 601 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 Terios, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2000 to 2009. Across them the pass rate runs from 64.9% to 78.6% — a spread of 13.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 65.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 66.5% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 65.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 66.1%component mounting prescribed…
- 2004 64.9% component mounting prescribed…
- 2005 67.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 71.5% component mounting prescribed…
- 2007 73.0% component mounting prescribed…
- 2008 75.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2009 78.6% 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 Terios 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 Combo 65.8%
- Volkswagen Beetle 67.1%
- Volvo V40 67.3%
- Ford Ka 68.0%
- Ford Galaxy 68.0%
- Citroen C3 68.2%
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 Terios 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 2,018 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 | 624 | 30.60% | 20.98% | +9.62 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 420 | 20.60% | 5.57% | +15.03 |
| Brakes | 225 | 11.00% | 20.89% | −9.89 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 205 | 10.10% | 12.21% | −2.11 |
| Tyres | 202 | 9.90% | 19.76% | −9.86 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 145 | 7.10% | 5.52% | +1.58 |
| Steering | 58 | 2.80% | 2.57% | +0.23 |
| Visibility | 55 | 2.70% | 4.97% | −2.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 42 | 2.10% | 4.18% | −2.08 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 42 | 2.10% | 0.82% | +1.28 |
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 | 9.0% | £180–450 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 8.5% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 6.8% | £80–250 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 5.3% | £45–120 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.7% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.3% | £60–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.3% | £5–20 |
| Chassis condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.0% | £180–450 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.0% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £5–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 18.0% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 14.3% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.3% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 12.8% | £25–65 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 10.2% | £80–180 |
| Chassis condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 9.0% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 85 | 71.8% | 49,706 mi |
| 60-90k | 271 | 63.5% | 75,305 mi |
| 90-120k | 166 | 67.5% | 103,322 mi |
| 120k+ | 77 | 66.2% | 135,899 mi |
Source: 601 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 Terios MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Daihatsu Terios?
66.1% of the 601 2003 Daihatsu Terios tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 56.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Daihatsu Terios?
The three most recorded items are component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (8.99%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (8.49%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.82%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Daihatsu Terios MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 71.8% of the time, falling to 66.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Daihatsu Terios in this dataset had covered 83,114 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Daihatsu Terios MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 67.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 65.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.