Pass rate
100.0%
Above average — 9.3 pts ahead of the 90.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 51 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £14–£38
2020 Mazda 3 MOT pass rate
- 2020
- typical 21,046 mi
Only 51 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Brakes
45.0% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2020 100.0% pass · this year
- Avoid 2021 94.0% pass
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 100.0%
- Typical mileage
- 21k mi
The 2020 Mazda 3 MOT pass rate is 100.0% of its MOT tests — 9.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 45.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mazda 3 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 2.2× the national share
Brakes make up 45.0% of everything recorded on the 2020 Mazda 3, against 20.9% nationally — 24.1 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 90.7% and this one manages 100.0% — 9.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 67% 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 Mazda 3? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2020 Mazda 3 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 90.7%, so this figure is 9.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 100.0%. The median 2020 Mazda 3 in this dataset had covered 21,046 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp aim too low", noted on 1.96% of tests.
- 51 recorded tests behind this page.
- 100.0% overall pass rate, 100.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda 3, the average is 95.4% — best year 2020 (100.0%), worst 2021 (94.0%).
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
- 51
- Typical mileage (median)
- 21,046 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda 3
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Alignment
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the 3 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 92% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2020 3
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 2020 3
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 2.0% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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 wipers and washers 2.0% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
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 2020 3 through its MOT
Across the 3 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £14–£38 — and 67% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 3 common items
- £14–£38
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: headlamp aim too low
- £30–£80
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 67%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 67%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 51 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 3, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2020 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 94.0% to 100.0% — a spread of 6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2020 100.0%headlamp aim too low
- 2021 94.0% wipers blade defective
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 2020 Mazda 3 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 2020 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2020 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 2020 Mazda 3 3 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 20 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 | 9 | 45.00% | 20.89% | +24.11 |
| Tyres | 6 | 30.00% | 19.76% | +10.24 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1 | 5.00% | 12.21% | −7.21 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1 | 5.00% | 5.52% | −0.52 |
| Visibility | 1 | 5.00% | 4.97% | +0.03 |
| Non-component advisories | 1 | 5.00% | 4.18% | +0.82 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 5.00% | 1.76% | +3.24 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.0% | £30–80 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Rectified | 2.0% | £3–12 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.0% | £8–22 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.8% | £45–110 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 5.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 3.9% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 41 | 100.0% | 18,164 mi |
| 30-60k | 8 | 100.0% | 40,198 mi |
| 60-90k | 1 | 100.0% | 71,207 mi |
| 90-120k | 1 | 100.0% | 107,582 mi |
Source: 51 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.
2020 3 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2020 Mazda 3?
100.0% of the 51 2020 Mazda 3 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 90.7% for cars first used in 2020. First-attempt pass rate: 100.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2020 Mazda 3?
The three most recorded items are headlamp aim too low (1.96%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (1.96%), wipers blade defective (1.96%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2020 Mazda 3 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 2020 Mazda 3 in this dataset had covered 21,046 mi.