Pass rate
85.2%
Above average — 12.6 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 176 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £52–£131
2003 Maserati Spyder MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 48,930 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
27.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2005 93.1% pass
- Avoid 2002 80.1% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 13 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 83.3%
- Typical mileage
- 49k mi
The 2003 Maserati Spyder MOT pass rate is 85.2% of its MOT tests — 12.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 27.9% of everything recorded on the 2003 Maserati Spyder, against 20.9% nationally — 7.0 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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 85.2% — 12.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 21% 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 Maserati Spyder? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Maserati Spyder compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 12.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 83.3%. The median 2003 Maserati Spyder in this dataset had covered 48,930 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 84.8% of the time, April–September 85.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements", noted on 3.41% of tests.
- 176 recorded tests behind this page.
- 85.2% overall pass rate, 83.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Maserati Spyder, the average is 84.1% — best year 2005 (93.1%), worst 2002 (80.1%).
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
- 176
- Typical mileage (median)
- 48,930 mi
- Make and model
- Maserati Spyder
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Discs and Pads Set
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Spyder MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 72% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Spyder
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 61 | 83.6% |
| West Midlands | 26 | 84.6% |
| East of England | 25 | 92.0% |
| Scotland | 22 | 81.8% |
| South West | 17 | 88.2% |
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 2003 Spyder
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 Spyder
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 steering 3.4% of tests
“steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
-
Check the lights 2.8% 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 suspension joints 1.7% 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.
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 Spyder through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £52–£131 — and 21% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £52–£131
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 21%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 176 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 Spyder, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2002 to 2005. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.1% to 93.1% — a spread of 13 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 80.1% steering rack gaiter missing or…
- 2003 85.2%rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2004 86.8% prescribed areas prescribed area…
- 2005 93.1% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
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 Maserati Spyder 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
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- BMW M3 87.7%
- 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 Maserati Spyder 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 211 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 | 60 | 27.90% | 20.89% | +7.01 |
| Suspension | 46 | 21.40% | 20.98% | +0.42 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 27 | 12.60% | 12.21% | +0.39 |
| Tyres | 21 | 9.80% | 19.76% | −9.96 |
| Steering | 18 | 8.40% | 2.57% | +5.83 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 12 | 5.60% | 5.52% | +0.08 |
| Visibility | 10 | 4.70% | 4.97% | −0.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 7 | 3.30% | 4.18% | −0.88 |
| Road Wheels | 6 | 2.80% | 0.75% | +2.05 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 4 | 1.90% | 5.57% | −3.67 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.4% | £45–110 |
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 3.4% | £120–300 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.8% | £5–20 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 2.8% | £120–300 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.7% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.7% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 1.7% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 1.1% | £25–65 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.1% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.4% | £80–180 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.4% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 5.7% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 5.1% | £25–65 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 5.1% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.5% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 23 | 91.3% | 25,551 mi |
| 30-60k | 102 | 84.3% | 45,372 mi |
| 60-90k | 46 | 84.8% | 69,505 mi |
| 90-120k | 5 | 80.0% | 102,530 mi |
Source: 176 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 Spyder MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Maserati Spyder?
85.2% of the 176 2003 Maserati Spyder tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 83.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Maserati Spyder?
The three most recorded items are rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (3.41%), steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (3.41%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (2.84%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Maserati Spyder MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.3% of the time, falling to 80.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Maserati Spyder in this dataset had covered 48,930 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Maserati Spyder MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 84.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.