Pass rate
82.7%
Around average — 5.5 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 46,751 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £16–£44
2012 Honda Civic MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 90,060 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
23.4% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£40 for Brake pads under 1.5 mm. What fitting it takes →
1.0 pts up across model years — 3.1% in 2000, 4.1% in 2021.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 95.6% pass
- Avoid 2003 71.7% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 23.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 79.4%
- Typical mileage
- 90k mi
The 2012 Honda Civic MOT pass rate is 82.7% of its MOT tests — 5.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.4% 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
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 77.2% and this one manages 82.7% — 5.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 2012 Honda Civic compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 5.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 79.4%. The median 2012 Honda Civic in this dataset had covered 90,060 mi.
68% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 83.9% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 82.4% of the time, April–September 83.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 4.69% of tests.
- 46,751 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.7% overall pass rate, 79.4% 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
- 46,751
- Typical mileage (median)
- 90,060 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
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Civic MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 69% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (68% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Civic
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 8,648 | 84.3% |
| North West | 5,524 | 83.7% |
| South West | 5,511 | 81.0% |
| West Midlands | 5,026 | 84.9% |
| Scotland | 4,542 | 77.0% |
| East of England | 4,406 | 83.9% |
| Yorkshire | 4,158 | 82.7% |
| East Midlands | 3,345 | 82.8% |
| London | 1,928 | 87.7% |
| Wales | 1,907 | 81.5% |
| North East | 1,756 | 78.9% |
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 2012 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 2012 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 lights 4.7% 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 the suspension joints 4.7% of tests
“track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or 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 brakes 1.6% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
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 2012 Civic through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £16–£44 — and 51% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £16–£44
- Cheapest common item: anti-lock braking system warning lamp…
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 51%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 46,751 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 2012 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- BMW X5 82.7%
- BMW X6 82.7%
- Toyota Rav-4 82.8%
- Land Rover Range Rover 82.9%
- Audi Q5 83.0%
- Volkswagen Touareg 83.1%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 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 73,688 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 | 17,452 | 23.40% | 20.89% | +2.51 |
| Tyres | 16,132 | 21.60% | 19.76% | +1.84 |
| Suspension | 12,838 | 17.20% | 20.98% | −3.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 11,376 | 15.30% | 12.21% | +3.09 |
| Visibility | 3,734 | 5.00% | 4.97% | +0.03 |
| Steering | 3,349 | 4.50% | 2.57% | +1.93 |
| Non-component advisories | 3,013 | 4.00% | 4.18% | −0.18 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2,067 | 2.80% | 5.57% | −2.77 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,878 | 2.50% | 5.52% | −3.02 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1,849 | 2.50% | 1.76% | +0.74 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.7% | £5–20 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 4.7% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.0% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.4% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.4% | £5–25 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £3–15 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.5% | £30–80 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.5% | £80–200 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 16.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 12.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.2% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.8% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 6.4% | £40–150 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 3.7% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 768 | 92.2% | 22,385 mi |
| 30-60k | 7,202 | 88.6% | 48,346 mi |
| 60-90k | 15,300 | 84.3% | 75,778 mi |
| 90-120k | 13,332 | 81.2% | 103,747 mi |
| 120k+ | 10,006 | 77.5% | 146,182 mi |
Source: 46,751 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.
2012 Civic MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Honda Civic?
82.7% of the 46,751 2012 Honda Civic tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 79.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Honda Civic?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.69%), track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (4.69%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.98%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Honda Civic MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.2% of the time, falling to 77.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Honda Civic in this dataset had covered 90,060 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Honda Civic?
Petrol: 83.9% pass rate across 31,727 tests. Diesel: 80.3% pass rate across 14,999 tests. Other: 73.3% pass rate across 15 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Honda Civic MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 82.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 83.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.