Pass rate
67.4%
Below average — 4.8 pts behind the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 95 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £50–£128
2004 Hyundai Elantra MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 91,905 mi
Only 95 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
29.3% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2006 72.3% pass
- Avoid 2005 67.1% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 5.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 55.7%
- Typical mileage
- 92k mi
The 2004 Hyundai Elantra MOT pass rate is 67.4% of its MOT tests — 4.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 29.3% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Hyundai Elantra does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.4× the national share
Brakes make up 29.3% of everything recorded on the 2004 Hyundai Elantra, against 20.9% nationally — 8.4 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 72.2%; this one manages 67.4% — 4.8 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 31% 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 Hyundai Elantra? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Hyundai Elantra compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 4.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 55.7%. The median 2004 Hyundai Elantra in this dataset had covered 91,905 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 65.6% of the time, April–September 70.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 11.58% of tests.
- 95 recorded tests behind this page.
- 67.4% overall pass rate, 55.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Hyundai Elantra, the average is 68.8% — best year 2006 (72.3%), worst 2005 (67.1%).
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
- 95
- Typical mileage (median)
- 91,905 mi
- Make and model
- Hyundai Elantra
- 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 Elantra MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 44% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Elantra
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 26 | 65.4% |
| South East | 20 | 70.0% |
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 Elantra
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 Elantra
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 11.6% 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 7.4% 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 suspension joints 6.3% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover 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.
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 Elantra through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £50–£128 — and 31% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £50–£128
- Cheapest common item: anti-lock braking system warning lamp…
- £3–£15
- 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
- 31%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 95 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 Elantra, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2001 to 2006. Across them the pass rate runs from 67.1% to 72.3% — a spread of 5.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 70.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 67.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 70.0% battery(ies) insecure but not…
- 2004 67.4%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 67.1% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 72.3% component mounting prescribed…
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 Hyundai Elantra 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
- Vauxhall Meriva 67.4%
- Suzuki Alto 67.4%
- Fiat Panda 67.8%
- Volvo V40 67.0%
- Citroen C2 68.0%
- Volkswagen Beetle 66.8%
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 Hyundai Elantra 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 339 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 | 100 | 29.30% | 20.89% | +8.41 |
| Suspension | 81 | 23.80% | 20.98% | +2.82 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 42 | 12.30% | 12.21% | +0.09 |
| Tyres | 34 | 10.00% | 19.76% | −9.76 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 22 | 6.50% | 5.57% | +0.93 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 21 | 6.20% | 5.52% | +0.68 |
| Visibility | 16 | 4.70% | 4.97% | −0.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 9 | 2.60% | 4.18% | −1.58 |
| Steering | 7 | 2.10% | 2.57% | −0.47 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 7 | 2.10% | 1.76% | +0.34 |
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 | 11.6% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 9.5% | £45–110 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 7.4% | £180–450 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 6.3% | £18–45 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 6.3% | £60–150 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 5.3% | £60–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.3% | £80–200 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 4.2% | £3–15 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.2% | £30–80 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.2% | £5–20 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 21.1% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 17.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 16.8% | £18–45 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 12.6% | £30–75 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 10.5% | £25–65 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 10.5% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 100.0% | 25,829 mi |
| 30-60k | 15 | 86.7% | 45,887 mi |
| 60-90k | 29 | 75.9% | 73,996 mi |
| 90-120k | 23 | 52.2% | 100,448 mi |
| 120k+ | 26 | 57.7% | 132,140 mi |
Source: 95 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 Elantra MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Hyundai Elantra?
67.4% of the 95 2004 Hyundai Elantra tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 55.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Hyundai Elantra?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (11.58%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (9.47%), component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (7.37%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Hyundai Elantra MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 57.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Hyundai Elantra in this dataset had covered 91,905 mi.
Does the season affect the 2004 Hyundai Elantra MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 65.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 70.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.