2009 Hyundai I20 MOT pass rate

Pass rate

75.6%

Around average — 1.6 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 34,567 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £12–£36

Which year to buy

  • Best 2023 93.6% pass
  • Avoid 2011 75.5% pass

Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 18.1 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
68.8%
Typical mileage
82k mi

The 2009 Hyundai I20 MOT pass rate is 75.6% of its MOT tests — 1.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.0% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2009 Hyundai I20 on the real record

75.6% of 2009 Hyundai I20 MOTs passed — 34,567 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Hyundai I20 does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share

Lamps & electrics make up 18.7% of everything recorded on the 2009 Hyundai I20, against 12.2% nationally — 6.5 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 26.0%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. 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.

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 I20? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2009 Hyundai I20 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 1.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 68.8%. The median 2009 Hyundai I20 in this dataset had covered 81,724 mi.

The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 93% of tests, with a 75.8% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.5% of the time, April–September 75.7%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 7.21% of tests.

  • 34,567 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 75.6% overall pass rate, 68.8% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Hyundai I20, the average is 82.7% — best year 2023 (93.6%), worst 2011 (75.5%).

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
34,567
Typical mileage (median)
81,724 mi
Make and model
Hyundai I20
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 I20 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 86.8%
30-60k 80.5%
60-90k 75.7%
90-120k 72.2%
120k+ 70.7%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Petrol 75.8%
Diesel 72.2%

Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (93% of tests).

Regional pass rates for the I20

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 8,202 77.8%
South West 4,820 71.2%
North West 3,786 75.9%
East of England 3,721 78.8%
West Midlands 3,446 77.9%
Yorkshire 2,702 73.2%
East Midlands 1,915 76.4%
Wales 1,640 72.4%
Scotland 1,499 66.8%
London 1,438 82.8%
North East 1,398 72.0%

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 2009 I20

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.

Brakes 26.0%
+5.1 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Suspension 19.8%
−1.2 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Lamps & electrics 18.7%
+6.5 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Tyres 13.6%
−6.2 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Visibility 4.4%
  • Emissions & leaks 4.0%
  • Advisories 3.8%
  • Body & chassis 3.2%
  • Steering 2.7%
  • Identification 1.9%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2009 Hyundai I20 tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 I20

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.

  1. Check the lights 7.2% 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.

  2. Check the suspension joints 6.2% of tests

    “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.

  3. Check the windscreen 2.1% of tests

    “windscreen damaged”

    Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.

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 I20 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £12–£36 — and 72% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£12–£36
Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
£3–£12
Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
£80–£200
Common items a careful owner can do at home
90%
Repairs that still cost under £30
72%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 34,567 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 I20, side by side

16 model years on record, from 2008 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.5% to 93.6% — a spread of 18.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2008 77.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
  2. 2009 75.6%
    registration plate lamp(s)…
  3. 2010 75.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  4. 2011 75.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
  5. 2012 75.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
  6. 2013 77.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
  7. 2014 81.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  8. 2015 86.0% windscreen damaged but not…
  9. 2016 87.3% windscreen damaged but not…
  10. 2017 88.8% windscreen damaged but not…
  11. 2018 90.8% wipers blade defective
  12. 2019 92.1% wipers blade defective
  13. 2020 93.5% wipers blade defective
  14. 2021 91.6% wipers does not clear the…
  15. 2022 90.5% wipers does not clear the…
  16. 2023 93.6% wipers blade defective

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 Hyundai I20 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.

Compare 2009 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2009 cars with a similar record

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 Hyundai I20 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 89,261 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 23,586 26.00% 20.89% +5.11
Suspension 18,019 19.80% 20.98% −1.18
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 17,019 18.70% 12.21% +6.49
Tyres 12,376 13.60% 19.76% −6.16
Visibility 4,014 4.40% 4.97% −0.57
Noise, emissions and leaks 3,668 4.00% 5.52% −1.52
Non-component advisories 3,453 3.80% 4.18% −0.38
Body, chassis, structure 2,924 3.20% 5.57% −2.37
Steering 2,446 2.70% 2.57% +0.13
Identification of the vehicle 1,756 1.90% 1.76% +0.14

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 34,567 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 7.2% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension Minor 6.2% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 4.7% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 4.5% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 3.1% £3–12 Stop Light Bulb →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 2.6% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension Major 2.3% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 2.2% £3–12 Stop Light Bulb →
Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems Major 2.2% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 2.1% £80–200 Windscreen →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes Advisory 16.6% £80–180
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 14.9% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 13.7% £45–95
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 13.4% £45–110
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 7.5% £40–150
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 6.7% £18–45

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 1,489 86.8% 22,295 mi
30-60k 7,160 80.5% 47,277 mi
60-90k 12,057 75.7% 75,261 mi
90-120k 9,288 72.2% 103,305 mi
120k+ 4,543 70.7% 140,934 mi

Source: 34,567 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 I20 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Hyundai I20?

75.6% of the 34,567 2009 Hyundai I20 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 68.8%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Hyundai I20?

The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.21%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (6.18%), position lamp not working (4.73%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2009 Hyundai I20 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 86.8% of the time, falling to 70.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Hyundai I20 in this dataset had covered 81,724 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2009 Hyundai I20?

Petrol: 75.8% pass rate across 32,132 tests. Diesel: 72.2% pass rate across 2,435 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2009 Hyundai I20 MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 75.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.