Pass rate
89.2%
Above average — 16.6 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 897 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £40–£138
2003 Lotus Elise MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 51,084 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
19.7% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2015 96.8% pass
- Avoid 2000 87.4% pass
Across the 22 years on record, a spread of 9.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.2%
- Typical mileage
- 51k mi
The 2003 Lotus Elise MOT pass rate is 89.2% of its MOT tests — 16.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 19.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Lotus Elise does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.2× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 11.9% of everything recorded on the 2003 Lotus Elise, against 5.5% nationally — 6.4 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 19.7%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 72.6% and this one manages 89.2% — 16.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 15% 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 Lotus Elise? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Lotus Elise compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 16.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.2%. The median 2003 Lotus Elise in this dataset had covered 51,084 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 91.5% of the time, April–September 88.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 2.56% of tests.
- 897 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.2% overall pass rate, 88.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Lotus Elise, the average is 90.1% — best year 2015 (96.8%), worst 2000 (87.4%).
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
- 897
- Typical mileage (median)
- 51,084 mi
- Make and model
- Lotus Elise
- 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 Elise MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 65% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Elise
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 238 | 87.8% |
| East of England | 127 | 91.3% |
| South West | 113 | 89.4% |
| West Midlands | 103 | 91.3% |
| Yorkshire | 87 | 87.4% |
| North West | 66 | 93.9% |
| East Midlands | 64 | 81.3% |
| Scotland | 33 | 93.9% |
| North East | 31 | 87.1% |
| Wales | 18 | 83.3% |
| London | 17 | 100.0% |
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 2003 Elise
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 2003 Elise
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 2.6% of tests
“track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or 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 exhaust and emissions 2.1% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
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.
-
Check the lights 1.6% of tests
“headlamp aim too high”
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.
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 2003 Elise through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £40–£138 — and 15% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £40–£138
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 15%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 897 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 Elise, side by side
22 model years on record, from 2000 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 87.4% to 96.8% — a spread of 9.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 87.4% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2001 88.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 87.4% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2003 89.2%track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2004 88.7% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2005 91.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 90.0% position lamp with a multiple…
- 2007 89.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 90.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 92.4% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2010 89.0% headlamp aim too low
- 2011 88.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2012 93.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2013 90.6% headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2014 91.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 96.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 93.6% headlamp aim too low
- 2017 94.6% headlamp aim too low
- 2018 91.7% headlamp aim too low
- 2019 96.2% headlamp aim too low
- 2020 95.7% headlamp aim too low
- 2021 96.2% headlamp aim too low
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 2003 Lotus Elise 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- BMW M3 87.7%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Lotus Elise 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 691 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 | 137 | 19.70% | 20.89% | −1.19 |
| Suspension | 105 | 15.10% | 20.98% | −5.88 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 89 | 12.80% | 12.21% | +0.59 |
| Tyres | 86 | 12.40% | 19.76% | −7.36 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 83 | 11.90% | 5.52% | +6.38 |
| Visibility | 55 | 7.90% | 4.97% | +2.93 |
| Steering | 49 | 7.00% | 2.57% | +4.43 |
| Non-component advisories | 37 | 5.30% | 4.18% | +1.12 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 26 | 3.70% | 1.76% | +1.94 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 24 | 3.40% | 5.57% | −2.17 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.1% | £60–250 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £30–80 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.6% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.2% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.2% | £60–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.1% | £5–20 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.0% | £60–250 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.0% | £8–22 |
| Catalyst emissions hydrocarbon content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.89% | £60–250 |
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 | 5.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 4.8% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 3.6% | £120–300 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.6% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 2.2% | £30–75 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 1.9% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 171 | 93.0% | 19,188 mi |
| 30-60k | 365 | 89.9% | 43,801 mi |
| 60-90k | 241 | 89.6% | 72,199 mi |
| 90-120k | 84 | 83.3% | 102,768 mi |
| 120k+ | 26 | 73.1% | 200,140 mi |
Source: 897 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.
2003 Elise MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Lotus Elise?
89.2% of the 897 2003 Lotus Elise tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 88.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Lotus Elise?
The three most recorded items are track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.56%), catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (2.12%), headlamp aim too high (1.56%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Lotus Elise MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.0% of the time, falling to 73.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Lotus Elise in this dataset had covered 51,084 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Lotus Elise MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 91.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 88.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.