Pass rate
71.0%
Below average — 3.0 pts behind the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 703 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £18–£49
2009 Mazda Cx-7 MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 106,205 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
27.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 75.8% pass
- Avoid 2007 68.5% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 7.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 61.9%
- Typical mileage
- 106k mi
The 2009 Mazda Cx-7 MOT pass rate is 71.0% of its MOT tests — 3.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 27.2% of everything recorded on the 2009 Mazda Cx-7, against 21.0% nationally — 6.2 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 74.0%; this one manages 71.0% — 3.0 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
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-7? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Mazda Cx-7 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 3.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 61.9%. The median 2009 Mazda Cx-7 in this dataset had covered 106,205 mi.
50% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 69.1% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.6% of the time, April–September 71.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 6.83% of tests.
- 703 recorded tests behind this page.
- 71.0% overall pass rate, 61.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda Cx-7, the average is 72.2% — best year 2012 (75.8%), worst 2007 (68.5%).
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
- 703
- Typical mileage (median)
- 106,205 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda Cx-7
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Cx-7 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (50% of tests).
Where the Mazda Cx-7 is most common
Across all Cx-7 model years on record (2007–2012): 2,124 Mazda Cx-7 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 5,010 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 58 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) | 58 | 78.3% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 54 | 80.8% |
| 3 | Peterborough (PE) | 48 | 78.1% |
| 4 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 47 | 75.0% |
| 5 | Nottingham (NG) | 44 | 68.4% |
| 6 | Glasgow (G) | 44 | 65.3% |
| 7 | Cardiff (CF) | 40 | 68.0% |
| 8 | Manchester (M) | 38 | 79.8% |
| 9 | Northampton (NN) | 34 | 72.8% |
| 10 | Derby (DE) | 34 | 75.0% |
| 11 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 33 | 78.1% |
| 12 | Luton (LU) | 33 | 77.3% |
| 13 | Reading (RG) | 33 | 78.0% |
| 14 | Portsmouth (PO) | 32 | 75.6% |
| 15 | Leicester (LE) | 32 | 79.1% |
| 16 | Bradford (BD) | 31 | 75.5% |
| 17 | Bristol (BS) | 30 | 70.7% |
| 18 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 29 | 65.8% |
| 19 | Brighton (BN) | 28 | 69.1% |
| 20 | Oxford (OX) | 28 | 68.1% |
The twenty areas with the most Mazda Cx-7 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-7
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 173 | 73.4% |
| South West | 102 | 66.7% |
| East of England | 94 | 70.2% |
| North West | 63 | 76.2% |
| London | 59 | 81.4% |
| West Midlands | 59 | 72.9% |
| Yorkshire | 43 | 62.8% |
| East Midlands | 29 | 72.4% |
| Scotland | 29 | 65.5% |
| Wales | 29 | 55.2% |
| North East | 23 | 69.6% |
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 Cx-7
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 Cx-7
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 6.8% 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 4.8% of tests
“track rod end ball joint has excessive play”
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 2009 Cx-7 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £18–£49 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £18–£49
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: parking brake performance inoperative on one…
- £60–£150
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 44%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 703 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-7, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2007 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.5% to 75.8% — a spread of 7.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2007 68.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 70.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 71.0%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 71.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 74.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 75.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
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 Mazda Cx-7 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
- Alfa Romeo Mito 71.0%
- Kia Ceed 71.1%
- Mercedes-Benz Clc 71.1%
- Kia Sportage 71.1%
- Citroen Nemo 71.1%
- Peugeot Bipper 71.1%
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 Mazda Cx-7 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 1,903 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 521 | 27.20% | 20.98% | +6.22 |
| Brakes | 327 | 17.10% | 20.89% | −3.79 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 321 | 16.80% | 12.21% | +4.59 |
| Tyres | 261 | 13.70% | 19.76% | −6.06 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 163 | 8.50% | 5.52% | +2.98 |
| Steering | 97 | 5.10% | 2.57% | +2.53 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 93 | 4.90% | 5.57% | −0.67 |
| Visibility | 55 | 2.90% | 4.97% | −2.07 |
| Non-component advisories | 48 | 2.50% | 4.18% | −1.68 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 17 | 0.90% | 1.76% | −0.86 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.8% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.5% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.8% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 4.8% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.7% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.4% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £45–110 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 2.8% | £60–150 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £30–80 |
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 | 22.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.9% | £45–110 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 12.5% | £180–450 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 10.1% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 8.7% | £40–150 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 8.7% | £35–85 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 5 | 100.0% | 18,649 mi |
| 30-60k | 42 | 69.0% | 51,721 mi |
| 60-90k | 156 | 69.9% | 77,562 mi |
| 90-120k | 288 | 71.2% | 104,996 mi |
| 120k+ | 212 | 71.2% | 137,303 mi |
Source: 703 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 Cx-7 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Mazda Cx-7?
71.0% of the 703 2009 Mazda Cx-7 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 61.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Mazda Cx-7?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.83%), headlamp lens slightly defective (6.54%), position lamp not working (5.83%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Mazda Cx-7 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 71.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Mazda Cx-7 in this dataset had covered 106,205 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2009 Mazda Cx-7?
Diesel: 69.1% pass rate across 349 tests. Petrol: 73.2% pass rate across 347 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2009 Mazda Cx-7 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.