Pass rate
95.5%
Above average — 21.5 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 110 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £17–£51
2009 Lotus Exige MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 32,900 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
27.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 97.7% pass
- Avoid 2004 87.3% pass
Across the 18 years on record, a spread of 10.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 95.3%
- Typical mileage
- 33k mi
The 2009 Lotus Exige MOT pass rate is 95.5% of its MOT tests — 21.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.1% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Lotus Exige does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 18.8% of everything recorded on the 2009 Lotus Exige, against 12.2% nationally — 6.6 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 27.1%, 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 74.0% and this one manages 95.5% — 21.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 60% 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 Lotus Exige? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Lotus Exige compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 21.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 95.3%. The median 2009 Lotus Exige in this dataset had covered 32,900 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 98.0% of the time, April–September 93.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault", noted on 0.91% of tests.
- 110 recorded tests behind this page.
- 95.5% overall pass rate, 95.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Lotus Exige, the average is 92.9% — best year 2021 (97.7%), worst 2004 (87.3%).
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
- 110
- Typical mileage (median)
- 32,900 mi
- Make and model
- Lotus Exige
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Exige MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 82% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Exige
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 32 | 90.6% |
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 2009 Exige
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 Exige
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 0.9% of tests
“anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault”
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 horn 0.9% of tests
“horn not working”
Press it. That is the whole check, and a surprising number of cars fail on it.
-
Check leaks 0.9% of tests
“hydraulic brake callipers leaking”
Park on clean cardboard overnight. A few drips are an advisory; a steady patch under the engine, gearbox or a shock absorber is a fail. Have the source identified before the test rather than after.
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 Exige through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £17–£51 — and 60% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £17–£51
- Cheapest common item: individual direction indicators not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: hydraulic brake callipers leaking
- £45–£110
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 60%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 110 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 Exige, side by side
18 model years on record, from 2000 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 87.3% to 97.7% — a spread of 10.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 89.2% position lamp not working
- 2001 95.5% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2004 87.3% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2005 89.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 90.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2007 91.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 91.6% registration plates does not…
- 2009 95.5%anti-lock braking system warning…
- 2010 93.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 93.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 94.3% wipers blade defective
- 2015 93.2% individual direction indicators…
- 2016 94.2% headlamp aim too low
- 2017 93.3% headlamp aim too low
- 2018 94.7% registration plates does not…
- 2019 93.8% headlamp aim too low
- 2020 93.9% headlamp aim too high
- 2021 97.7% has a cut in excess of the…
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 Lotus Exige 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
- Porsche Boxster 91.4%
- Porsche 911 91.3%
- BMW M3 90.3%
- Porsche Cayman 90.3%
- 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 Lotus Exige 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 7 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 48 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 | 13 | 27.10% | 20.89% | +6.21 |
| Tyres | 11 | 22.90% | 19.76% | +3.14 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 9 | 18.80% | 12.21% | +6.59 |
| Suspension | 6 | 12.50% | 20.98% | −8.48 |
| Visibility | 5 | 10.40% | 4.97% | +5.43 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 6.20% | 1.76% | +4.44 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1 | 2.10% | 5.52% | −3.42 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 0.91% | £3–15 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.91% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.91% | £5–25 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.91% | £8–25 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.91% | £8–25 |
| Hydraulic brake callipers leaking Brakes | Major | 0.91% | £45–110 |
| Individual direction indicators not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.91% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.91% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 0.91% | £45–110 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Major | 0.91% | £20–80 |
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 | 6.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 3.6% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 1.8% | £45–110 |
| Flexible brake hoses ferrule excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 1.8% | £25–70 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 1.8% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 47 | 100.0% | 20,616 mi |
| 30-60k | 55 | 90.9% | 40,104 mi |
| 60-90k | 8 | 100.0% | 74,383 mi |
Source: 110 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 Exige MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Lotus Exige?
95.5% of the 110 2009 Lotus Exige tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 95.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Lotus Exige?
The three most recorded items are anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an abs fault (0.91%), headlamp aim too high (0.91%), headlamp not working on dipped beam (0.91%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Lotus Exige MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Lotus Exige in this dataset had covered 32,900 mi.
Does the season affect the 2009 Lotus Exige MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 98.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 93.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.