Pass rate
86.8%
Above average — 14.2 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 167 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £36–£90
2003 Ford Mustang MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 64,940 mi
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.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 92.9% pass
- Avoid 2000 79.4% pass
Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 13.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 85.5%
- Typical mileage
- 65k mi
The 2003 Ford Mustang MOT pass rate is 86.8% of its MOT tests — 14.2 points ahead of 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 Ford Mustang does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.9× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 15.8% of everything recorded on the 2003 Ford Mustang, against 5.5% nationally — 10.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 27.2%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 72.6% and this one manages 86.8% — 14.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 18% 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 Ford Mustang? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Ford Mustang compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 14.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 85.5%. The median 2003 Ford Mustang in this dataset had covered 64,940 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 87.5% of the time, April–September 86.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements", noted on 4.79% of tests.
- 167 recorded tests behind this page.
- 86.8% overall pass rate, 85.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford Mustang, the average is 87.0% — best year 2022 (92.9%), worst 2000 (79.4%).
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
- 167
- Typical mileage (median)
- 64,940 mi
- Make and model
- Ford Mustang
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Discs and Pads Set
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Mustang MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Mustang
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 44 | 75.0% |
| East of England | 32 | 84.4% |
| West Midlands | 22 | 100.0% |
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 Mustang
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 Mustang
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 suspension joints 4.2% 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.
-
Check the battery 3.6% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure”
Check the battery is secure and its terminals are clean and tight — a loose battery is a fail on its own, and a weak one shows up as slow cranking on a cold morning.
-
Check the lights 3.0% 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.
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 Mustang through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £36–£90 — and 18% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £36–£90
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: service brake performance efficiency below…
- £60–£150
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 18%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 167 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 Mustang, side by side
23 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 79.4% to 92.9% — a spread of 13.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 79.4% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2001 83.2% ball joint dust cover no longer…
- 2002 85.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 86.8%rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2004 82.0% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2005 85.7% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2006 85.7% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2007 86.9% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2008 88.2% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2009 87.7% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2010 88.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 82.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 86.2% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2013 89.3% headlamp aim too high
- 2014 88.3% individual direction indicators…
- 2015 88.4% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2016 85.7% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2017 86.2% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2018 87.0% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2019 87.6% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2020 89.7% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 91.2% has ply or cords exposed
- 2022 92.9% has ply or cords exposed
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 Ford Mustang 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
- BMW M3 87.7%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
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 Ford Mustang 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 227 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 | 62 | 27.20% | 20.89% | +6.31 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 38 | 16.70% | 12.21% | +4.49 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 36 | 15.80% | 5.52% | +10.28 |
| Suspension | 31 | 13.60% | 20.98% | −7.38 |
| Tyres | 27 | 11.80% | 19.76% | −7.96 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 12 | 5.30% | 5.57% | −0.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 8 | 3.50% | 4.18% | −0.68 |
| Visibility | 7 | 3.10% | 4.97% | −1.87 |
| Steering | 5 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 0.40% | 1.76% | −1.36 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.8% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.2% | £18–45 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.6% | £60–140 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.0% | £5–20 |
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.0% | £60–150 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.8% | £30–80 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency less than 50% of the required value Brakes | Major | 1.8% | £45–110 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 1.8% | £60–150 |
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.8% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.2% | £18–45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 15.0% | £200–700 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 7.8% | £60–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 6.6% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 6.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 5.4% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 4.8% | £120–300 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 25 | 96.0% | 19,964 mi |
| 30-60k | 46 | 89.1% | 47,767 mi |
| 60-90k | 48 | 87.5% | 74,695 mi |
| 90-120k | 28 | 78.6% | 100,306 mi |
| 120k+ | 20 | 80.0% | 166,547 mi |
Source: 167 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 Mustang MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Ford Mustang?
86.8% of the 167 2003 Ford Mustang tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 85.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Ford Mustang?
The three most recorded items are rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (4.79%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (4.19%), battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (3.59%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Ford Mustang MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 96.0% of the time, falling to 80.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Ford Mustang in this dataset had covered 64,940 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Ford Mustang MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 87.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 86.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.