Pass rate
84.6%
Around average — 0.6 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 16,892 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£81
2016 Mazda Cx-3 MOT pass rate
- 2016
- typical 53,284 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
32.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£40 for Brake pads under 1.5 mm. What fitting it takes →
0.5 pts down across model years — 4.0% in 2015, 3.5% in 2019.
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 93.1% pass
- Avoid 2015 83.8% pass
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 9.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 82.0%
- Typical mileage
- 53k mi
The 2016 Mazda Cx-3 MOT pass rate is 84.6% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.6× the national share
Brakes make up 32.5% of everything recorded on the 2016 Mazda Cx-3, against 20.9% nationally — 11.6 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 23% 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 Mazda Cx-3? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2016 Mazda Cx-3 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 0.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 82.0%. The median 2016 Mazda Cx-3 in this dataset had covered 53,284 mi.
79% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 84.8% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 85.3% of the time, April–September 84.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 3.29% of tests.
- 16,892 recorded tests behind this page.
- 84.6% overall pass rate, 82.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda Cx-3, the average is 89.5% — best year 2019 (93.1%), worst 2015 (83.8%).
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
- 16,892
- Typical mileage (median)
- 53,284 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda Cx-3
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Cx-3 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (79% of tests).
Where the Mazda Cx-3 is most common
Across all Cx-3 model years on record (2015–2019): 35,389 Mazda Cx-3 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 82,585 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 883 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 | Birmingham (B) | 883 | 90.9% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 781 | 90.0% |
| 3 | Glasgow (G) | 634 | 86.9% |
| 4 | Nottingham (NG) | 631 | 90.0% |
| 5 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 620 | 90.7% |
| 6 | Peterborough (PE) | 612 | 92.2% |
| 7 | Edinburgh (EH) | 597 | 87.1% |
| 8 | Leicester (LE) | 596 | 89.6% |
| 9 | Northampton (NN) | 587 | 89.3% |
| 10 | Reading (RG) | 566 | 88.8% |
| 11 | Poole (BH) | 555 | 89.5% |
| 12 | Coventry (CV) | 545 | 90.3% |
| 13 | Portsmouth (PO) | 538 | 88.9% |
| 14 | Doncaster (DN) | 525 | 90.0% |
| 15 | Bristol (BS) | 516 | 86.2% |
| 16 | Cardiff (CF) | 512 | 88.9% |
| 17 | Derby (DE) | 494 | 89.3% |
| 18 | Stockport (SK) | 493 | 90.6% |
| 19 | Southampton (SO) | 458 | 91.1% |
| 20 | Leeds (LS) | 445 | 86.8% |
The twenty areas with the most Mazda Cx-3 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 Cx-3
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 3,375 | 85.7% |
| North West | 1,914 | 84.8% |
| South West | 1,913 | 85.2% |
| Scotland | 1,793 | 78.7% |
| East of England | 1,781 | 86.4% |
| West Midlands | 1,519 | 84.9% |
| Yorkshire | 1,502 | 85.4% |
| East Midlands | 1,193 | 83.7% |
| North East | 726 | 84.2% |
| Wales | 705 | 85.2% |
| London | 471 | 87.3% |
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 2016 Cx-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 2016 Cx-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 coil springs 3.3% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the windscreen 2.4% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the suspension joints 2.3% 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 2016 Cx-3 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£81 — and 23% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£81
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 23%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 16,892 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 Cx-3, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2015 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 83.8% to 93.1% — a spread of 9.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2015 83.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 84.6%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 89.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 91.8% wipers blade defective
- 2019 93.1% 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 2016 Mazda Cx-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 2016 cars with a similar record
- Ford S-Max 84.6%
- Mercedes-Benz Cls 84.6%
- Nissan Micra 84.7%
- SEAT Alhambra 84.7%
- London Taxis Int TX4 84.7%
- Audi A4 84.4%
Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 Mazda Cx-3 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 17,790 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 | 5,831 | 32.50% | 20.89% | +11.61 |
| Tyres | 5,344 | 29.80% | 19.76% | +10.04 |
| Suspension | 2,137 | 11.90% | 20.98% | −9.08 |
| Visibility | 1,286 | 7.20% | 4.97% | +2.23 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,006 | 5.60% | 12.21% | −6.61 |
| Non-component advisories | 931 | 5.20% | 4.18% | +1.02 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 632 | 3.50% | 0.82% | +2.68 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 352 | 2.00% | 5.52% | −3.52 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 147 | 0.80% | 5.57% | −4.77 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 124 | 0.70% | 1.76% | −1.06 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.3% | £18–45 |
| Retracting mechanism defective Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 2.1% | £40–120 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.7% | £5–20 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £8–22 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Not functioning as intended Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 1.1% | £40–120 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.0% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 11.1% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.8% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 6.1% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 3.0% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2,021 | 89.4% | 22,335 mi |
| 30-60k | 8,317 | 85.6% | 45,733 mi |
| 60-90k | 5,221 | 82.6% | 72,207 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,125 | 79.7% | 101,131 mi |
| 120k+ | 202 | 78.2% | 137,432 mi |
Source: 16,892 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.
2016 Cx-3 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Mazda Cx-3?
84.6% of the 16,892 2016 Mazda Cx-3 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 82.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Mazda Cx-3?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (3.29%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.39%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (2.33%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 Mazda Cx-3 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.4% of the time, falling to 78.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Mazda Cx-3 in this dataset had covered 53,284 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 Mazda Cx-3?
Petrol: 84.8% pass rate across 13,385 tests. Diesel: 83.7% pass rate across 3,507 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2016 Mazda Cx-3 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 85.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 84.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.