Pass rate
75.9%
Around average — 1.3 pts behind the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 36,510 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £26–£70
2012 Hyundai I20 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 70,283 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
27.0% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
5.7 pts down across model years — 6.2% in 2009, 0.5% in 2015.
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
- 69.0%
- Typical mileage
- 70k mi
The 2012 Hyundai I20 MOT pass rate is 75.9% of its MOT tests — 1.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Hyundai I20 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 27.0% of everything recorded on the 2012 Hyundai I20, against 20.9% nationally — 6.1 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
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 2012 Hyundai I20 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 1.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 69.0%. The median 2012 Hyundai I20 in this dataset had covered 70,283 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 97% of tests, with a 75.9% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 76.0% of the time, April–September 75.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 6.89% of tests.
- 36,510 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.9% overall pass rate, 69.0% 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
- 36,510
- Typical mileage (median)
- 70,283 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
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the I20 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (97% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the I20
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 7,049 | 77.6% |
| South West | 4,472 | 73.5% |
| North West | 4,232 | 76.5% |
| West Midlands | 4,139 | 78.6% |
| East of England | 3,558 | 78.0% |
| Yorkshire | 3,552 | 74.4% |
| Scotland | 2,378 | 69.2% |
| Wales | 2,190 | 73.2% |
| East Midlands | 2,170 | 76.5% |
| North East | 1,539 | 72.2% |
| London | 1,231 | 82.0% |
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 2012 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.
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 2012 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 6.9% 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.
-
Check the lights 6.8% 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 brake pipes 1.9% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
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 2012 I20 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £26–£70 — and 37% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £26–£70
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- 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
- 37%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 36,510 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.
- 2008 77.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 75.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 75.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 75.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 75.9%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2013 77.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 81.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 86.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 87.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 88.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 90.8% wipers blade defective
- 2019 92.1% wipers blade defective
- 2020 93.5% wipers blade defective
- 2021 91.6% wipers does not clear the…
- 2022 90.5% wipers does not clear the…
- 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 2012 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.
Other 2012 cars with a similar record
- Vauxhall Zafira 76.0%
- Nissan Note 75.8%
- Volvo V40 75.8%
- Peugeot Rcz 76.2%
- Chevrolet Cruze 76.2%
- Volkswagen Beetle 76.3%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 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 78,561 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 | 21,559 | 27.00% | 20.89% | +6.11 |
| Suspension | 17,589 | 22.10% | 20.98% | +1.12 |
| Tyres | 12,643 | 15.90% | 19.76% | −3.86 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 11,747 | 14.70% | 12.21% | +2.49 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3,754 | 4.70% | 5.52% | −0.82 |
| Visibility | 3,652 | 4.60% | 4.97% | −0.37 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2,785 | 3.50% | 5.57% | −2.07 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,394 | 3.00% | 4.18% | −1.18 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1,307 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
| Steering | 1,131 | 1.40% | 2.57% | −1.17 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 6.9% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.8% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.0% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.5% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.5% | £5–25 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 2.4% | £80–250 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 1.9% | £80–180 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.8% | £80–200 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.7% | £60–140 |
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 | 15.3% | £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 | 12.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.4% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.9% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 4.8% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,999 | 87.5% | 22,435 mi |
| 30-60k | 11,045 | 79.6% | 47,230 mi |
| 60-90k | 14,409 | 73.9% | 74,396 mi |
| 90-120k | 6,932 | 72.2% | 102,003 mi |
| 120k+ | 2,120 | 70.6% | 138,232 mi |
Source: 36,510 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.
2012 I20 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Hyundai I20?
75.9% of the 36,510 2012 Hyundai I20 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 69.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Hyundai I20?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (6.89%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.75%), ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.03%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Hyundai I20 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.5% of the time, falling to 70.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Hyundai I20 in this dataset had covered 70,283 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Hyundai I20?
Petrol: 75.9% pass rate across 35,343 tests. Diesel: 73.6% pass rate across 1,167 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Hyundai I20 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 76.0% 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.