Pass rate
84.1%
Around average — 11.2 pts ahead of the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 504 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £23–£65
2002 Lexus LS430 MOT pass rate
- 2002
- typical 122,961 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
28.8% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2006 86.7% pass
- Avoid 2004 83.2% pass
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 3.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 81.9%
- Typical mileage
- 123k mi
The 2002 Lexus LS430 MOT pass rate is 84.1% of its MOT tests — 11.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.8% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.4× the national share
Suspension accounts for 28.8% of everything recorded on the 2002 Lexus Ls430, against 21.0% nationally — 7.8 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.
- 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 72.9% and this one manages 84.1% — 11.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 62% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 LS430? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2002 Lexus LS430 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 11.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 81.9%. The median 2002 Lexus LS430 in this dataset had covered 122,961 mi.
97% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 84.5% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 83.9% of the time, April–September 84.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Position lamp not working", noted on 3.97% of tests.
- 504 recorded tests behind this page.
- 84.1% overall pass rate, 81.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Lexus LS430, the average is 84.3% — best year 2006 (86.7%), worst 2004 (83.2%).
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
- 504
- Typical mileage (median)
- 122,961 mi
- Make and model
- Lexus LS430
- 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 LS430 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 74% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (97% of tests).
Where the Lexus LS430 is most common
Across all LS430 model years on record (2000–2006): 1,679 Lexus LS430 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 3,655 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 83 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) | 83 | 90.0% |
| 2 | London (NW) | 39 | 85.9% |
| 3 | Reading (RG) | 33 | 80.2% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 33 | 84.8% |
| 5 | London (SE) | 33 | 91.2% |
| 6 | Liverpool (L) | 32 | 82.1% |
| 7 | Guildford (GU) | 31 | 82.7% |
| 8 | Chester (CH) | 30 | 74.7% |
| 9 | Manchester (M) | 30 | 82.5% |
| 10 | Peterborough (PE) | 30 | 86.0% |
| 11 | Leicester (LE) | 27 | 82.7% |
| 12 | Norwich (NR) | 26 | 82.5% |
| 13 | Bristol (BS) | 26 | 74.6% |
| 14 | Croydon (CR) | 26 | 92.5% |
| 15 | Nottingham (NG) | 25 | 83.0% |
| 16 | London (E) | 25 | 93.9% |
| 17 | Romford (RM) | 25 | 95.3% |
| 18 | Ilford (IG) | 25 | 97.6% |
| 19 | Basildon (SS) | 24 | 89.8% |
| 20 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 23 | 93.2% |
The twenty areas with the most Lexus LS430 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 LS430
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 121 | 85.1% |
| East of England | 77 | 88.3% |
| London | 66 | 90.9% |
| North West | 44 | 84.1% |
| Scotland | 41 | 80.5% |
| West Midlands | 40 | 82.5% |
| South West | 37 | 83.8% |
| East Midlands | 29 | 69.0% |
| Wales | 19 | 78.9% |
| Yorkshire | 19 | 84.2% |
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 LS430
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 LS430
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 4.0% of tests
“position lamp not working”
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 3.2% 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 exhaust and emissions 2.8% of tests
“exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
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 LS430 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £23–£65 — and 62% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £23–£65
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 62%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 504 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 LS430, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2000 to 2006. Across them the pass rate runs from 83.2% to 86.7% — a spread of 3.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 86.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2001 85.4% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2002 84.1%position lamp not working
- 2003 83.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 83.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 84.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 86.7% battery(ies) insecure 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 2002 Lexus LS430 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 S2000 84.6%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- BMW M3 86.7%
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 81.2%
- BMW Z3 80.7%
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 Lexus LS430 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 1,015 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 | 294 | 28.80% | 20.98% | +7.82 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 153 | 15.00% | 12.21% | +2.79 |
| Brakes | 127 | 12.40% | 20.89% | −8.49 |
| Tyres | 120 | 11.70% | 19.76% | −8.06 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 115 | 11.30% | 5.52% | +5.78 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 84 | 8.20% | 5.57% | +2.63 |
| Visibility | 37 | 3.60% | 4.97% | −1.37 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 35 | 3.40% | 1.76% | +1.64 |
| Non-component advisories | 26 | 2.50% | 4.18% | −1.68 |
| Steering | 24 | 2.30% | 2.57% | −0.27 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.0% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.2% | £80–200 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.8% | £45–120 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.2% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.2% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.2% | £45–110 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.8% | £3–12 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.4% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.4% | £5–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 13.5% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.3% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.3% | £40–150 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 7.9% | £35–85 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 7.3% | £30–75 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 7.1% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 100.0% | 24,415 mi |
| 30-60k | 15 | 100.0% | 48,719 mi |
| 60-90k | 76 | 82.9% | 79,450 mi |
| 90-120k | 133 | 85.7% | 106,781 mi |
| 120k+ | 274 | 82.5% | 163,563 mi |
Source: 504 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 LS430 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 Lexus LS430?
84.1% of the 504 2002 Lexus LS430 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 81.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 Lexus LS430?
The three most recorded items are position lamp not working (3.97%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.77%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.17%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 Lexus LS430 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 82.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Lexus LS430 in this dataset had covered 122,961 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2002 Lexus LS430?
Petrol: 84.5% pass rate across 490 tests. LPG: 71.4% pass rate across 14 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2002 Lexus LS430 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 83.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 84.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.