Pass rate
77.1%
Around average — 4.0 pts ahead of the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 70 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £14–£48
2008 Mazda Demio MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 65,915 mi
Only 70 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.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
21.8% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2009 79.2% pass
- Avoid 2003 66.8% pass
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 12.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 70.9%
- Typical mileage
- 66k mi
The 2008 Mazda Demio MOT pass rate is 77.1% of its MOT tests — 4.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.8% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.7× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 20.9% of everything recorded on the 2008 Mazda Demio, against 12.2% nationally — 8.7 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 21.8%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- 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 73.1% and this one manages 77.1% — 4.0 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 Demio? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Mazda Demio compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 4.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 70.9%. The median 2008 Mazda Demio in this dataset had covered 65,915 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 74.2% of the time, April–September 79.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 10.00% of tests.
- 70 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.1% overall pass rate, 70.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda Demio, the average is 71.4% — best year 2009 (79.2%), worst 2003 (66.8%).
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
- 70
- Typical mileage (median)
- 65,915 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda Demio
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Demio MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 25% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Demio
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 31 | 71.0% |
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 2008 Demio
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 2008 Demio
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 10.0% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 4.3% 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.
-
Check the wipers and washers 4.3% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
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 2008 Demio through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £14–£48 — and 67% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £14–£48
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 67%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 70 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 Demio, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2000 to 2010. Across them the pass rate runs from 66.8% to 79.2% — a spread of 12.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 72.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 70.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2002 70.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 66.8% component mounting prescribed…
- 2008 77.1%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 79.2% headlamp has a product on the…
- 2010 77.3% headlamp lens slightly 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 2008 Mazda Demio 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- BMW 120 77.0%
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 77.0%
- Mercedes-Benz Cls 77.2%
- Saab 9-5 76.9%
- BMW 118 76.8%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet 77.4%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Mazda Demio 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 110 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 | 24 | 21.80% | 20.98% | +0.82 |
| Tyres | 23 | 20.90% | 19.76% | +1.14 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 23 | 20.90% | 12.21% | +8.69 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 10 | 9.10% | 5.52% | +3.58 |
| Brakes | 9 | 8.20% | 20.89% | −12.69 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 7 | 6.40% | 1.76% | +4.64 |
| Visibility | 6 | 5.50% | 4.97% | +0.53 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 5 | 4.50% | 5.57% | −1.07 |
| Road Wheels | 2 | 1.80% | 0.75% | +1.05 |
| Steering | 1 | 0.90% | 2.57% | −1.67 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 10.0% | £5–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 5.7% | £3–12 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.3% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.3% | £5–25 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 4.3% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £18–45 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 2.9% | £45–95 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 1.4% | £3–15 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.4% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.4% | £60–250 |
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 | 17.1% | £45–95 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 8.6% | £20–80 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 5.7% | £180–450 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 5.7% | £30–75 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 4.3% | £45–95 |
| Badly distorted Road Wheels | Advisory | 2.9% | £20–55 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 66.7% | 22,545 mi |
| 30-60k | 21 | 90.5% | 48,020 mi |
| 60-90k | 36 | 75.0% | 75,108 mi |
| 90-120k | 4 | 75.0% | 99,805 mi |
| 120k+ | 3 | 33.3% | 189,918 mi |
Source: 70 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.
2008 Demio MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Mazda Demio?
77.1% of the 70 2008 Mazda Demio tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 70.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Mazda Demio?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (10.00%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (5.71%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (4.29%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Mazda Demio MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 66.7% of the time, falling to 33.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Mazda Demio in this dataset had covered 65,915 mi.
Does the season affect the 2008 Mazda Demio MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 74.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 79.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.