Pass rate
78.3%
Around average — 5.2 pts ahead of the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 69 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£91
2008 Lexus IS200 MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 119,465 mi
Only 69 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.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
22.7% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2010 81.1% pass
- Avoid 2007 76.5% pass
Across the 13 years on record, a spread of 4.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 73.7%
- Typical mileage
- 119k mi
The 2008 Lexus IS200 MOT pass rate is 78.3% of its MOT tests — 5.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.8× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 22.1% of everything recorded on the 2008 Lexus Is200, against 12.2% nationally — 9.9 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 22.7%, 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.
- 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 73.1% and this one manages 78.3% — 5.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 69 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 Lexus IS200? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Lexus IS200 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 5.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 73.7%. The median 2008 Lexus IS200 in this dataset had covered 119,465 mi.
74% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 74.5% of the time.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 13.04% of tests.
- 69 recorded tests behind this page.
- 78.3% overall pass rate, 73.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Lexus IS200, the average is 77.9% — best year 2010 (81.1%), worst 2007 (76.5%).
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
- 69
- Typical mileage (median)
- 119,465 mi
- Make and model
- Lexus IS200
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 IS200 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (74% of tests).
Where the Lexus IS200 is most common
Across all IS200 model years on record (2000–2012): 9,038 Lexus IS200 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 20,777 tests. Ipswich (IP) has the most, with 422 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 | Ipswich (IP) | 422 | 60.5% |
| 2 | Birmingham (B) | 292 | 81.3% |
| 3 | London (E) | 210 | 89.6% |
| 4 | Manchester (M) | 176 | 80.5% |
| 5 | Hounslow (TW) | 175 | 86.4% |
| 6 | London (NW) | 174 | 82.5% |
| 7 | Middlesbrough (TS) | 171 | 90.7% |
| 8 | Guildford (GU) | 166 | 81.5% |
| 9 | Cambridge (CB) | 160 | 72.4% |
| 10 | Reading (RG) | 160 | 81.0% |
| 11 | Leicester (LE) | 147 | 81.3% |
| 12 | Sheffield (S) | 146 | 81.8% |
| 13 | Peterborough (PE) | 146 | 78.0% |
| 14 | Croydon (CR) | 144 | 86.9% |
| 15 | London (SE) | 143 | 85.1% |
| 16 | Bristol (BS) | 141 | 74.4% |
| 17 | Blackburn (BB) | 141 | 89.4% |
| 18 | London (N) | 140 | 84.8% |
| 19 | Nottingham (NG) | 137 | 74.6% |
| 20 | Wembley (HA) | 127 | 82.4% |
The twenty areas with the most Lexus IS200 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 IS200
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 19 | 78.9% |
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 2008 IS200
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 2008 IS200
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 13.0% 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 the windscreen 7.3% 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.
-
Check the battery 5.8% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure”
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 2008 IS200 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£91 — and 53% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£91
- Cheapest common item: headlamp lens slightly defective
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 53%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 69 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 IS200, side by side
13 model years on record, from 2000 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 76.5% to 81.1% — a spread of 4.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 77.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 77.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 77.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 78.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 77.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 77.4% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 77.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 76.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 78.3%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 78.9% rear reflectors defective or…
- 2010 81.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 80.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 79.1% windscreen damaged but not…
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 2008 Lexus IS200 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 2008 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Lexus IS200 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 151 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 | 35 | 22.70% | 20.89% | +1.81 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 34 | 22.10% | 12.21% | +9.89 |
| Tyres | 28 | 18.20% | 19.76% | −1.56 |
| Suspension | 12 | 7.80% | 20.98% | −13.18 |
| Non-component advisories | 10 | 6.50% | 4.18% | +2.32 |
| Visibility | 9 | 5.80% | 4.97% | +0.83 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 7 | 4.50% | 5.57% | −1.07 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 7 | 4.50% | 5.52% | −1.02 |
| Steering | 5 | 3.20% | 2.57% | +0.63 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4 | 2.60% | 0.82% | +1.78 |
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 | 13.0% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 7.3% | £80–200 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.8% | £60–140 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.9% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp light intensity severely reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £5–25 |
| Rear reflectors defective or damaged by up to 50% of the reflecting surface Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.9% | £5–25 |
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.9% | £120–300 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 26.1% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 10.1% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.7% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.7% | £18–45 |
| Flexible couplings excessively deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 7.3% | £80–250 |
| Service brake performance excessively fluctuating Brakes | Advisory | 7.3% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 1 | 100.0% | 57,333 mi |
| 60-90k | 9 | 88.9% | 72,354 mi |
| 90-120k | 26 | 76.9% | 105,834 mi |
| 120k+ | 33 | 75.8% | 142,471 mi |
Source: 69 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.
2008 IS200 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Lexus IS200?
78.3% of the 69 2008 Lexus IS200 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 73.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Lexus IS200?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (13.04%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (7.25%), battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (5.80%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Lexus IS200 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 75.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Lexus IS200 in this dataset had covered 119,465 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 Lexus IS200?
Diesel: 74.5% pass rate across 51 tests. Petrol: 86.7% pass rate across 15 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.