Pass rate
72.8%
Below average — 0.2 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 805 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £44–£129
2003 Honda Hr-V MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 97,278 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
22.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 97.7% pass
- Avoid 2006 71.4% pass
Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 26.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 66.2%
- Typical mileage
- 97k mi
The 2003 Honda Hr-V MOT pass rate is 72.8% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Honda Hr-V does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.2× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 12.4% of everything recorded on the 2003 Honda Hr-V, against 5.5% nationally — 6.9 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 22.0%, but at 21.0% 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.
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 Hr-V? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Honda Hr-V compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 0.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 66.2%. The median 2003 Honda Hr-V in this dataset had covered 97,278 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.2% of the time, April–September 73.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 7.58% of tests.
- 805 recorded tests behind this page.
- 72.8% overall pass rate, 66.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Honda Hr-V, the average is 90.9% — best year 2023 (97.7%), worst 2006 (71.4%).
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
- 805
- Typical mileage (median)
- 97,278 mi
- Make and model
- Honda Hr-V
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Hr-V MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 60% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Hr-V
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 220 | 76.8% |
| South West | 180 | 67.8% |
| West Midlands | 68 | 79.4% |
| Yorkshire | 67 | 73.1% |
| North West | 66 | 68.2% |
| East of England | 57 | 77.2% |
| London | 40 | 75.0% |
| Scotland | 33 | 69.7% |
| East Midlands | 31 | 77.4% |
| Wales | 28 | 67.9% |
| North East | 15 | 46.7% |
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 Hr-V
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 Hr-V
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 7.6% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 4.3% 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 3.7% 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.
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 Hr-V through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £44–£129 — and 39% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £44–£129
- 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
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 39%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 805 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 Hr-V, side by side
16 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.4% to 97.7% — a spread of 26.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 71.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 73.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2002 76.4% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 72.8%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 73.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 72.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 71.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 88.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.1% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2017 91.3% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2018 93.3% wipers blade defective
- 2019 95.0% wipers blade defective
- 2020 95.7% wipers blade defective
- 2021 96.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 96.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2023 97.7% all direction indicators flashing…
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 Hr-V 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
- Volkswagen Golf 72.8%
- Toyota YARIS 73.0%
- Mitsubishi Shogun 72.6%
- Skoda Octavia 72.6%
- Vauxhall Astra 72.5%
- Volkswagen Passat 73.1%
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 Hr-V 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 2,340 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 | 524 | 22.00% | 20.98% | +1.02 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 384 | 16.10% | 12.21% | +3.89 |
| Brakes | 348 | 14.60% | 20.89% | −6.29 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 294 | 12.40% | 5.52% | +6.88 |
| Tyres | 266 | 11.20% | 19.76% | −8.56 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 236 | 9.90% | 5.57% | +4.33 |
| Visibility | 116 | 4.90% | 4.97% | −0.07 |
| Non-component advisories | 64 | 2.70% | 4.18% | −1.48 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 57 | 2.40% | 1.76% | +0.64 |
| Steering | 51 | 2.10% | 2.57% | −0.47 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.6% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.7% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.6% | £30–80 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.3% | £180–450 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.7% | £60–250 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.0% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.9% | £60–250 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.9% | £3–12 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.9% | £80–180 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.6% | £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 | 17.4% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.3% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 13.2% | £45–95 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.1% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.2% | £80–180 |
| Headlamp has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Advisory | 7.2% | £5–25 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 9 | 100.0% | 23,720 mi |
| 30-60k | 91 | 78.0% | 46,785 mi |
| 60-90k | 229 | 72.9% | 75,369 mi |
| 90-120k | 281 | 73.3% | 104,041 mi |
| 120k+ | 193 | 68.4% | 142,445 mi |
Source: 805 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 Hr-V MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Honda Hr-V?
72.8% of the 805 2003 Honda Hr-V tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 66.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Honda Hr-V?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (7.58%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.72%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.60%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Honda Hr-V MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 68.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Honda Hr-V in this dataset had covered 97,278 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Honda Hr-V MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 73.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.