Pass rate
71.6%
Below average — 1.3 pts behind the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 3,970 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£74
2002 Jaguar S-Type MOT pass rate
- 2002
- typical 88,460 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
30.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2006 75.3% pass
- Avoid 2001 71.2% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 4.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 65.2%
- Typical mileage
- 88k mi
The 2002 Jaguar S-Type MOT pass rate is 71.6% of its MOT tests — 1.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.5× the national share
Suspension accounts for 30.5% of everything recorded on the 2002 Jaguar S-Type, against 21.0% nationally — 9.5 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 20% 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 Jaguar S-Type? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2002 Jaguar S-Type compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, 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 65.2%. The median 2002 Jaguar S-Type in this dataset had covered 88,460 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.3% of the time, April–September 70.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 14.66% of tests.
- 3,970 recorded tests behind this page.
- 71.6% overall pass rate, 65.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Jaguar S-Type, the average is 73.8% — best year 2006 (75.3%), worst 2001 (71.2%).
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
- 3,970
- Typical mileage (median)
- 88,460 mi
- Make and model
- Jaguar S-Type
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 S-Type MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 60% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Jaguar S-Type is most common
Across all S-Type model years on record (2000–2007): 16,613 Jaguar S-Type cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 39,418 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 581 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 | Birmingham (B) | 581 | 79.9% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 403 | 69.9% |
| 3 | Coventry (CV) | 336 | 74.8% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 319 | 77.8% |
| 5 | Portsmouth (PO) | 299 | 67.9% |
| 6 | Basildon (SS) | 297 | 80.3% |
| 7 | Reading (RG) | 295 | 69.8% |
| 8 | Nottingham (NG) | 295 | 72.8% |
| 9 | Leicester (LE) | 294 | 74.1% |
| 10 | Ashford (TN) | 286 | 73.5% |
| 11 | Chelmsford (CM) | 281 | 74.5% |
| 12 | Norwich (NR) | 270 | 68.3% |
| 13 | Guildford (GU) | 261 | 72.6% |
| 14 | Bristol (BS) | 249 | 68.9% |
| 15 | Maidstone (ME) | 237 | 76.6% |
| 16 | Brighton (BN) | 235 | 67.2% |
| 17 | Crawley (RH) | 229 | 71.6% |
| 18 | London (SE) | 227 | 84.7% |
| 19 | Derby (DE) | 226 | 76.4% |
| 20 | Romford (RM) | 224 | 83.7% |
The twenty areas with the most Jaguar S-Type 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 S-Type
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,068 | 71.7% |
| East of England | 585 | 72.3% |
| South West | 492 | 63.4% |
| North West | 380 | 73.9% |
| West Midlands | 348 | 77.3% |
| London | 284 | 81.0% |
| East Midlands | 256 | 71.9% |
| Yorkshire | 211 | 69.7% |
| Wales | 152 | 63.8% |
| Scotland | 125 | 68.0% |
| North East | 69 | 69.6% |
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 2002 S-Type
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 2002 S-Type
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 14.7% 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 3.7% 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 3.1% 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.
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 2002 S-Type through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£74 — and 20% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£74
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 20%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,970 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 S-Type, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2000 to 2007. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.2% to 75.3% — a spread of 4.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 71.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2001 71.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 71.6%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 74.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 74.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2005 73.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 75.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2007 75.0% 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 2002 Jaguar S-Type 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 2002 cars with a similar record
- Honda Jazz 71.6%
- Vauxhall Astra 71.5%
- Volvo V70 71.4%
- Rover 75 71.4%
- Suzuki Grand Vitara 71.4%
- Skoda Fabia 71.8%
Closest pass rates among 2002 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 2002 Jaguar S-Type 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 12,250 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 3,784 | 30.50% | 20.98% | +9.52 |
| Brakes | 2,862 | 23.10% | 20.89% | +2.21 |
| Tyres | 1,210 | 9.80% | 19.76% | −9.96 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,197 | 9.70% | 5.52% | +4.18 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,139 | 9.20% | 12.21% | −3.01 |
| Steering | 702 | 5.70% | 2.57% | +3.13 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 513 | 4.10% | 5.57% | −1.47 |
| Visibility | 441 | 3.60% | 4.97% | −1.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 209 | 1.70% | 4.18% | −2.48 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 193 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 14.7% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 6.7% | £18–45 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 5.6% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.7% | £5–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.6% | £3–12 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 3.1% | £180–450 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of… Steering | Major | 3.1% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.0% | £80–180 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.0% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.7% | £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 | 23.8% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 16.9% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.7% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.4% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.7% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.4% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 83 | 81.9% | 21,540 mi |
| 30-60k | 618 | 76.5% | 48,124 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,369 | 72.2% | 75,831 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,161 | 68.7% | 104,128 mi |
| 120k+ | 731 | 69.9% | 146,004 mi |
Source: 3,970 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.
2002 S-Type MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 Jaguar S-Type?
71.6% of the 3,970 2002 Jaguar S-Type tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 65.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 Jaguar S-Type?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (14.66%), ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.73%), track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (5.57%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 Jaguar S-Type MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 81.9% of the time, falling to 69.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Jaguar S-Type in this dataset had covered 88,460 mi.
Does the season affect the 2002 Jaguar S-Type MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 70.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.