Pass rate
82.1%
Around average — 9.9 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 341 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £14–£40
2004 Honda Stepwagon MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 99,838 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Lamps & electrics
26.5% of faults · 12.2% nationally
Part only £6–£18 for Registration plate lamp inoperative (multiple lamps). What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 88.8% pass
- Avoid 2015 74.9% pass
Across the 21 years on record, a spread of 13.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 79.0%
- Typical mileage
- 100k mi
The 2004 Honda Stepwagon MOT pass rate is 82.1% of its MOT tests — 9.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Lamps & electrics is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 2.2× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 26.5% of everything recorded on the 2004 Honda Stepwagon, against 12.2% nationally — 14.3 points above. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- 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 72.2% and this one manages 82.1% — 9.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 58% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 Stepwagon? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Honda Stepwagon compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 9.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 79.0%. The median 2004 Honda Stepwagon in this dataset had covered 99,838 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 80.0% of the time, April–September 83.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 6.74% of tests.
- 341 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.1% overall pass rate, 79.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Honda Stepwagon, the average is 82.6% — best year 2012 (88.8%), worst 2015 (74.9%).
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
- 341
- Typical mileage (median)
- 99,838 mi
- Make and model
- Honda Stepwagon
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 Stepwagon MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Honda Stepwagon is most common
Across all Stepwagon model years on record (2001–2021): 5,254 Honda Stepwagon cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 10,513 tests. Maidstone (ME) has the most, with 264 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maidstone (ME) | 264 | 89.9% |
| 2 | Birmingham (B) | 262 | 91.1% |
| 3 | Bradford (BD) | 176 | 94.1% |
| 4 | Portsmouth (PO) | 166 | 76.8% |
| 5 | Leicester (LE) | 119 | 89.6% |
| 6 | Romford (RM) | 118 | 90.6% |
| 7 | Derby (DE) | 116 | 86.7% |
| 8 | Southampton (SO) | 115 | 80.0% |
| 9 | Brighton (BN) | 114 | 71.6% |
| 10 | Hounslow (TW) | 105 | 92.3% |
| 11 | Bristol (BS) | 99 | 74.2% |
| 12 | Coventry (CV) | 95 | 85.1% |
| 13 | London (E) | 89 | 90.6% |
| 14 | Manchester (M) | 88 | 88.1% |
| 15 | Wembley (HA) | 85 | 93.0% |
| 16 | London (SE) | 83 | 86.7% |
| 17 | Sheffield (S) | 79 | 88.3% |
| 18 | London (N) | 73 | 88.2% |
| 19 | Hayes (UB) | 73 | 92.2% |
| 20 | Exeter (EX) | 71 | 74.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Honda Stepwagon cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Stepwagon
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 125 | 84.0% |
| South West | 47 | 78.7% |
| East of England | 30 | 73.3% |
| West Midlands | 27 | 85.2% |
| North West | 24 | 75.0% |
| London | 23 | 82.6% |
| Scotland | 19 | 78.9% |
| Wales | 18 | 83.3% |
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 2004 Stepwagon
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 2004 Stepwagon
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 6.7% 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 3.5% 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 battery 2.4% 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.
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 2004 Stepwagon through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £14–£40 — and 58% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £14–£40
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: battery(ies) insecure
- £60–£140
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 58%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 341 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 Stepwagon, side by side
21 model years on record, from 2001 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.9% to 88.8% — a spread of 13.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 81.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2002 75.3% position lamp not working
- 2003 80.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 82.1%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 76.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 79.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 78.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 81.6% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2009 82.6% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2010 84.5% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2011 83.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 88.8% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2013 88.3% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2014 85.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 74.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 77.1% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2017 77.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2018 80.0% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2019 83.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2020 79.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2021 82.2% 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 2004 Honda Stepwagon 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Subaru Impreza 82.2%
- Porsche Boxster 81.5%
- Porsche Cayenne 81.1%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 83.1%
- Toyota Alphard 79.2%
- BMW 645 78.8%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Honda Stepwagon 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 569 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 151 | 26.50% | 12.21% | +14.29 |
| Suspension | 97 | 17.00% | 20.98% | −3.98 |
| Brakes | 94 | 16.50% | 20.89% | −4.39 |
| Tyres | 89 | 15.60% | 19.76% | −4.16 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 43 | 7.50% | 5.52% | +1.98 |
| Steering | 26 | 4.60% | 2.57% | +2.03 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 25 | 4.40% | 5.57% | −1.17 |
| Visibility | 24 | 4.20% | 4.97% | −0.77 |
| Non-component advisories | 17 | 3.00% | 4.18% | −1.18 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 0.50% | 1.76% | −1.26 |
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 | 6.7% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.9% | £3–12 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £3–15 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.6% | £30–80 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.4% | £60–140 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £5–25 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.0% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 9.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.4% | £18–45 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.5% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.3% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 7.3% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 5.3% | £30–75 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 9 | 88.9% | 22,025 mi |
| 30-60k | 59 | 86.4% | 47,575 mi |
| 60-90k | 80 | 86.3% | 76,236 mi |
| 90-120k | 88 | 83.0% | 105,406 mi |
| 120k+ | 105 | 75.2% | 152,653 mi |
Source: 341 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.
2004 Stepwagon MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Honda Stepwagon?
82.1% of the 341 2004 Honda Stepwagon tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 79.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Honda Stepwagon?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.74%), headlamp lens slightly defective (3.81%), track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (3.52%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Honda Stepwagon MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.9% of the time, falling to 75.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Honda Stepwagon in this dataset had covered 99,838 mi.
Does the season affect the 2004 Honda Stepwagon MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 80.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 83.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.