Pass rate
89.3%
Above average — 15.3 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 196 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £35–£87
2009 Lexus SC430 MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 52,877 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
23.6% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2009 89.3% pass · this year
- Avoid 2004 80.9% pass
Across the 9 years on record, a spread of 8.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.3%
- Typical mileage
- 53k mi
The 2009 Lexus SC430 MOT pass rate is 89.3% of its MOT tests — 15.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.6% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
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 74.0% and this one manages 89.3% — 15.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 10% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 196 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 SC430? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Lexus SC430 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 15.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.3%. The median 2009 Lexus SC430 in this dataset had covered 52,877 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 84.6% of the time, April–September 92.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 2.55% of tests.
- 196 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.3% overall pass rate, 88.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Lexus SC430, the average is 83.4% — best year 2009 (89.3%), worst 2004 (80.9%).
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
- 196
- Typical mileage (median)
- 52,877 mi
- Make and model
- Lexus SC430
- 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 SC430 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 75% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Lexus SC430 is most common
Across all SC430 model years on record (2001–2009): 2,647 Lexus SC430 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 6,137 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 73 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) | 73 | 87.3% |
| 2 | Guildford (GU) | 65 | 84.3% |
| 3 | Ashford (TN) | 64 | 75.6% |
| 4 | London (NW) | 49 | 84.3% |
| 5 | Sheffield (S) | 49 | 84.5% |
| 6 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 48 | 84.8% |
| 7 | Coventry (CV) | 47 | 82.3% |
| 8 | Chester (CH) | 47 | 82.1% |
| 9 | Glasgow (G) | 43 | 80.9% |
| 10 | Liverpool (L) | 43 | 87.3% |
| 11 | Gloucester (GL) | 43 | 82.0% |
| 12 | Reading (RG) | 42 | 82.0% |
| 13 | London (SE) | 42 | 98.7% |
| 14 | Peterborough (PE) | 40 | 83.3% |
| 15 | Ipswich (IP) | 39 | 85.6% |
| 16 | Basildon (SS) | 38 | 89.7% |
| 17 | Derby (DE) | 38 | 85.1% |
| 18 | Manchester (M) | 37 | 85.7% |
| 19 | Southampton (SO) | 37 | 86.6% |
| 20 | Poole (BH) | 36 | 76.2% |
The twenty areas with the most Lexus SC430 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 SC430
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 69 | 87.0% |
| East of England | 26 | 100.0% |
| South West | 23 | 91.3% |
| Yorkshire | 16 | 93.8% |
| North West | 15 | 80.0% |
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 SC430
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 2009 SC430
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 2.5% 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 1.5% 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 shock absorbers 1.5% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
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 SC430 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £35–£87 — and 10% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £35–£87
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 10%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 196 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 SC430, side by side
9 model years on record, from 2001 to 2009. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.9% to 89.3% — a spread of 8.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 82.2% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2002 83.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 82.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 80.9% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2005 83.5% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2006 85.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2007 86.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2008 83.5% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2009 89.3%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 2009 Lexus SC430 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- BMW M3 90.3%
- Porsche Cayman 90.3%
- Porsche 911 91.3%
- Porsche Boxster 91.4%
- Toyota Estima 86.7%
- BMW Z4 85.3%
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 Lexus SC430 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 177 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 | 42 | 23.60% | 20.98% | +2.62 |
| Tyres | 41 | 23.00% | 19.76% | +3.24 |
| Brakes | 29 | 16.30% | 20.89% | −4.59 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 19 | 10.70% | 12.21% | −1.51 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 15 | 8.40% | 5.57% | +2.83 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 9 | 5.10% | 1.76% | +3.34 |
| Visibility | 7 | 3.90% | 4.97% | −1.07 |
| Steering | 7 | 3.90% | 2.57% | +1.33 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5 | 2.80% | 5.52% | −2.72 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 3 | 1.70% | 0.82% | +0.88 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.5% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 1.5% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.5% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.5% | £5–20 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 1.5% | £60–150 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.5% | £30–75 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.5% | £80–200 |
| Brake performance not tested unable to be tested Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £60–150 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Rectified | 1.0% | £45–95 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.0% | £45–95 |
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 | 8.2% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 6.1% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 6.1% | £30–75 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.6% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 4.1% | £45–120 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 4.1% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 40 | 87.5% | 22,075 mi |
| 30-60k | 78 | 89.7% | 44,502 mi |
| 60-90k | 58 | 89.7% | 70,580 mi |
| 90-120k | 14 | 92.9% | 104,333 mi |
| 120k+ | 6 | 83.3% | 139,647 mi |
Source: 196 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 SC430 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Lexus SC430?
89.3% of the 196 2009 Lexus SC430 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 88.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Lexus SC430?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (2.55%), ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (1.53%), ball joint excessively worn (1.53%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Lexus SC430 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.5% of the time, falling to 83.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Lexus SC430 in this dataset had covered 52,877 mi.
Does the season affect the 2009 Lexus SC430 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 84.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 92.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.