Pass rate
88.2%
Above average — 14.2 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 51 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £36–£104
2009 Hummer H3 MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 70,704 mi
Only 51 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Brakes
24.4% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2008 94.2% pass
- Avoid 2007 77.6% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 16.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 86.7%
- Typical mileage
- 71k mi
The 2009 Hummer H3 MOT pass rate is 88.2% of its MOT tests — 14.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.4% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Hummer H3 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Advisories: 3.4× the national share
Advisories make up 14.1% of everything recorded on the 2009 Hummer H3, against 4.2% nationally — 9.9 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 24.4%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Most of what testers record here is advisory — worth reading, not worth walking away from on its own.
- 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 74.0% and this one manages 88.2% — 14.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 27% 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 Hummer H3? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Hummer H3 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, 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 86.7%. The median 2009 Hummer H3 in this dataset had covered 70,704 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 5.88% of tests.
- 51 recorded tests behind this page.
- 88.2% overall pass rate, 86.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Hummer H3, the average is 85.3% — best year 2008 (94.2%), worst 2007 (77.6%).
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
- 51
- Typical mileage (median)
- 70,704 mi
- Make and model
- Hummer H3
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the H3 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 0% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2009 H3
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 2009 H3
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 3.9% of tests
“position lamp not working”
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 2.0% of tests
“ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
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 2.0% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure and likely to cause a short circuit”
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 2009 H3 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £36–£104 — and 27% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £36–£104
- Cheapest common item: side repeaters lens defective
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 27%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 51 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 H3, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2006 to 2009. Across them the pass rate runs from 77.6% to 94.2% — a spread of 16.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2006 82.8% rear fog lamp missing
- 2007 77.6% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2008 94.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2009 88.2%joints constant velocity boot…
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 2009 Hummer H3 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Estima 86.7%
- BMW M3 90.3%
- Porsche Cayman 90.3%
- BMW Z4 85.3%
- Porsche 911 91.3%
- Porsche Boxster 91.4%
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 Hummer H3 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 78 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 | 19 | 24.40% | 20.89% | +3.51 |
| Non-component advisories | 11 | 14.10% | 4.18% | +9.92 |
| Steering | 9 | 11.50% | 2.57% | +8.93 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8 | 10.30% | 12.21% | −1.91 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 8 | 10.30% | 5.57% | +4.73 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 8 | 10.30% | 5.52% | +4.78 |
| Suspension | 7 | 9.00% | 20.98% | −11.98 |
| Tyres | 4 | 5.10% | 19.76% | −14.66 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 3.80% | 1.76% | +2.04 |
| Visibility | 1 | 1.30% | 4.97% | −3.67 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 5.9% | £80–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.9% | £5–25 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 3.9% | £60–150 |
| Side repeaters lens defective which has no effect on emitted light Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.9% | £3–15 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint likely to become detached Suspension | Major | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Battery(ies) insecure and likely to cause a short circuit Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £60–140 |
| Flexible brake hoses slightly twisted Brakes | Minor | 2.0% | £25–70 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.0% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 19.6% | £120–300 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 15.7% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.7% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint has excessive play Steering | Advisory | 9.8% | £18–45 |
| Transmission oil leaks leaking excessively from transmission Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 7.8% | £200–700 |
| Chassis condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 5.9% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 12 | 83.3% | 47,681 mi |
| 60-90k | 26 | 96.2% | 71,926 mi |
| 90-120k | 12 | 83.3% | 108,504 mi |
| 120k+ | 1 | 0.0% | 123,009 mi |
Source: 51 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.
2009 H3 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Hummer H3?
88.2% of the 51 2009 Hummer H3 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 86.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Hummer H3?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (5.88%), position lamp not working (3.92%), service brake performance excessively binding (3.92%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Hummer H3 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 0.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Hummer H3 in this dataset had covered 70,704 mi.