Pass rate
97.7%
Above average — 6.5 pts ahead of the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 175 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£85
2021 Lotus Exige MOT pass rate
- 2021
- typical 7,067 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
51.2% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 97.7% pass · this year
- Avoid 2004 87.3% pass
Across the 18 years on record, a spread of 10.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 97.7%
- Typical mileage
- 7k mi
The 2021 Lotus Exige MOT pass rate is 97.7% of its MOT tests — 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 51.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.6× the national share
Tyres make up 51.2% of everything recorded on the 2021 Lotus Exige, against 19.8% nationally — 31.4 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- 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 91.2% and this one manages 97.7% — 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 0% 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 Exige? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2021 Lotus Exige compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 97.7%. The median 2021 Lotus Exige in this dataset had covered 7,067 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 97.3% of the time, April–September 98.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords", noted on 1.14% of tests.
- 175 recorded tests behind this page.
- 97.7% overall pass rate, 97.7% 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
- 175
- Typical mileage (median)
- 7,067 mi
- Make and model
- Lotus Exige
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Exige MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 89% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Lotus Exige is most common
Across all Exige model years on record (2000–2021): 2,164 Lotus Exige cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 4,001 tests. Guildford (GU) has the most, with 201 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 | Guildford (GU) | 201 | 88.2% |
| 2 | Northampton (NN) | 107 | 88.5% |
| 3 | Nottingham (NG) | 68 | 89.6% |
| 4 | Edinburgh (EH) | 59 | 91.4% |
| 5 | Ashford (TN) | 58 | 89.4% |
| 6 | Chelmsford (CM) | 58 | 97.8% |
| 7 | Wakefield (WF) | 57 | 98.5% |
| 8 | Norwich (NR) | 56 | 93.0% |
| 9 | Reading (RG) | 54 | 96.8% |
| 10 | Crewe (CW) | 51 | 95.2% |
| 11 | Harrogate (HG) | 50 | 96.6% |
| 12 | Ipswich (IP) | 49 | 92.4% |
| 13 | Derby (DE) | 43 | 94.1% |
| 14 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 43 | 91.2% |
| 15 | Coventry (CV) | 42 | 93.3% |
| 16 | Southampton (SO) | 40 | 96.0% |
| 17 | Leicester (LE) | 39 | 98.4% |
| 18 | Birmingham (B) | 38 | 96.0% |
| 19 | Bristol (BS) | 37 | 91.2% |
| 20 | Gloucester (GL) | 36 | 91.9% |
The twenty areas with the most Lotus Exige 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 Exige
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 49 | 95.9% |
| East of England | 29 | 100.0% |
| Scotland | 24 | 100.0% |
| East Midlands | 20 | 100.0% |
| Yorkshire | 15 | 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 2021 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 2021 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 0.6% 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.
-
Check the number plates 0.6% of tests
“registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements”
Check both plates are present, legible and correctly spaced, with the postcode of the supplier and the BS AU 145e mark. A private plate in the wrong style is a fail before the car is even looked at.
-
Check the tyre tread 0.6% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
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 2021 Exige through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£85 — and 0% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£85
- Cheapest common item: headlamp aim too high
- £30–£80
- Dearest common item: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep…
- £45–£95
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 0%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 175 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 2021 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 2021 cars with a similar record
- Lexus Rx 96.9%
- Lexus Ux 96.7%
- Suzuki Ignis 96.4%
- Toyota YARIS Cross 96.4%
- Lexus Nx 96.3%
- Levc Tx 96.3%
Closest pass rates among 2021 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 2021 Lotus Exige 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 6 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 43 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 22 | 51.20% | 19.76% | +31.44 |
| Brakes | 7 | 16.30% | 20.89% | −4.59 |
| Non-component advisories | 5 | 11.60% | 4.18% | +7.42 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4 | 9.30% | 12.21% | −2.91 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4 | 9.30% | 1.76% | +7.54 |
| Visibility | 1 | 2.30% | 4.97% | −2.67 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.1% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.57% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.57% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.57% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.57% | £30–80 |
| Registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements Identification of the vehicle | Rectified | 0.57% | £20–80 |
| Registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements Identification of the vehicle | Major | 0.57% | £20–80 |
| Registration plates missing Identification of the vehicle | Major | 0.57% | £20–80 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.57% | £45–95 |
| Tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative Tyres | Major | 0.57% | £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 | 5.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 4.0% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 3.4% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 1.7% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 1.1% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Coolant leak Non-component advisories | Advisory | 0.57% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 174 | 97.7% | 7,589 mi |
Source: 175 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.
2021 Exige MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Lotus Exige?
97.7% of the 175 2021 Lotus Exige tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 97.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Lotus Exige?
The three most recorded items are has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.14%), headlamp aim too high (0.57%), headlamp aim too high (0.57%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2021 Lotus Exige MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 97.7% of the time, falling to 97.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Lotus Exige in this dataset had covered 7,067 mi.
Does the season affect the 2021 Lotus Exige MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 97.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 98.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.