Pass rate
71.7%
Below average — 0.9 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 29,575 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£92
2003 Honda Civic MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 105,492 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
27.6% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
9.6 pts down across model years — 10.2% in 2000, 0.6% in 2016.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 95.6% pass
- Avoid 2003 71.7% pass · this year
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 23.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 63.6%
- Typical mileage
- 105k mi
The 2003 Honda Civic MOT pass rate is 71.7% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Honda Civic does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 27.6% of everything recorded on the 2003 Honda Civic, against 21.0% nationally — 6.6 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
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 Honda Civic? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Honda Civic compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 0.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 63.6%. The median 2003 Honda Civic in this dataset had covered 105,492 mi.
98% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 71.7% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 71.5% of the time, April–September 71.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 8.40% of tests.
- 29,575 recorded tests behind this page.
- 71.7% overall pass rate, 63.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Honda Civic, the average is 79.2% — best year 2022 (95.6%), worst 2003 (71.7%).
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
- 29,575
- Typical mileage (median)
- 105,492 mi
- Make and model
- Honda Civic
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Civic MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 60% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (98% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Civic
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 8,755 | 74.0% |
| South West | 4,390 | 66.4% |
| East of England | 3,045 | 71.8% |
| North West | 2,859 | 70.3% |
| West Midlands | 2,731 | 73.9% |
| London | 2,131 | 78.7% |
| East Midlands | 1,811 | 71.2% |
| Yorkshire | 1,661 | 69.4% |
| Wales | 948 | 68.1% |
| Scotland | 796 | 65.2% |
| North East | 444 | 67.3% |
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 2003 Civic
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 Civic
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 8.4% 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 lights 7.1% 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.
-
Check corrosion 4.9% 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.
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 Civic through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£92 — and 41% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£92
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £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
- 41%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 29,575 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 Civic, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.7% to 95.6% — a spread of 23.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 75.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 72.0% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 72.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 71.7%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 72.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2005 72.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 72.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 72.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 72.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 73.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 74.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 75.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 82.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 84.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 86.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 87.3% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2016 88.4% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2017 89.2% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2018 89.5% wipers blade defective
- 2019 91.3% wipers blade defective
- 2020 93.0% wipers blade defective
- 2021 93.8% wipers blade defective
- 2022 95.6% wipers blade defective
- 2023 94.0% rear fog lamp missing
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 Honda Civic 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
- Mitsubishi L200 71.7%
- Toyota Celica 71.7%
- Suzuki Ignis 71.7%
- Nissan Micra 71.6%
- Suzuki Wagon-R+ 71.6%
- Renault Megane 71.6%
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 Honda Civic 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 95,186 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 | 26,603 | 27.60% | 20.98% | +6.62 |
| Brakes | 17,859 | 18.50% | 20.89% | −2.39 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 16,987 | 17.60% | 12.21% | +5.39 |
| Tyres | 10,522 | 10.90% | 19.76% | −8.86 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 6,116 | 6.30% | 5.57% | +0.73 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5,379 | 5.60% | 5.52% | +0.08 |
| Visibility | 3,751 | 3.90% | 4.97% | −1.07 |
| Steering | 3,514 | 3.60% | 2.57% | +1.03 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2,690 | 2.80% | 1.76% | +1.04 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,765 | 1.80% | 4.18% | −2.38 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 8.4% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.1% | £5–20 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 6.3% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.8% | £5–25 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.9% | £180–450 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.4% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.9% | £40–150 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £60–150 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.2% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.1% | £30–80 |
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 | 19.5% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.7% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 13.8% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.2% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.6% | £45–110 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 8.5% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 240 | 83.8% | 23,966 mi |
| 30-60k | 2,799 | 79.5% | 48,774 mi |
| 60-90k | 6,960 | 73.7% | 76,334 mi |
| 90-120k | 9,125 | 71.2% | 104,980 mi |
| 120k+ | 10,367 | 68.4% | 145,737 mi |
Source: 29,575 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 Civic MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Honda Civic?
71.7% of the 29,575 2003 Honda Civic tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 63.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Honda Civic?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (8.40%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.11%), track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (6.30%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Honda Civic MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.8% of the time, falling to 68.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Honda Civic in this dataset had covered 105,492 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Honda Civic?
Petrol: 71.7% pass rate across 28,968 tests. Diesel: 66.9% pass rate across 525 tests. Other: 73.7% pass rate across 38 tests. Hybrid: 76.9% pass rate across 26 tests. Electric: 66.7% pass rate across 18 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 Honda Civic MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 71.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.