Pass rate
64.1%
Below average — 11.8 pts behind the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 64 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £70–£184
2011 Mazda E Series MOT pass rate
- 2011
- typical 126,215 mi
Only 64 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
Suspension
24.7% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2018 84.5% pass
- Avoid 2012 63.9% pass
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 20.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 48.9%
- Typical mileage
- 126k mi
The 2011 Mazda E Series MOT pass rate is 64.1% of its MOT tests — 11.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mazda E Series does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.0× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 11.2% of everything recorded on the 2011 Mazda E Series, against 5.5% nationally — 5.7 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 24.7%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 75.9%; this one manages 64.1% — 11.8 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 12% 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 E Series? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2011 Mazda E Series compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 11.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 48.9%. The median 2011 Mazda E Series in this dataset had covered 126,215 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength", noted on 12.50% of tests.
- 64 recorded tests behind this page.
- 64.1% overall pass rate, 48.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda E Series, the average is 72.7% — best year 2018 (84.5%), worst 2012 (63.9%).
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
- 64
- Typical mileage (median)
- 126,215 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda E Series
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Corrosion Welding Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the E Series MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 49% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the E Series
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 20 | 55.0% |
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 2011 E Series
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 2011 E Series
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 corrosion 12.5% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the lights 7.8% 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 6.3% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
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 2011 E Series through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £70–£184 — and 12% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £70–£184
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 12%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 64 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 E Series, side by side
12 model years on record, from 2000 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 63.9% to 84.5% — a spread of 20.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 72.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2001 70.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 74.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 75.4% rear fog lamp not working
- 2004 69.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2011 64.1%component mounting prescribed…
- 2012 63.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 66.4% component mounting prescribed…
- 2014 75.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2015 73.6% component mounting prescribed…
- 2017 74.1% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2018 84.5% 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 2011 Mazda E Series 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 2011 cars with a similar record
- Renault Clio 68.4%
- Nissan Qashqai 68.6%
- Chevrolet Aveo 69.2%
- Renault Grand Scenic 69.4%
- Renault Megane 69.5%
- Chevrolet Captiva 69.5%
Closest pass rates among 2011 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 2011 Mazda E Series 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 213 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 | 53 | 24.70% | 20.98% | +3.72 |
| Brakes | 51 | 23.70% | 20.89% | +2.81 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 28 | 13.00% | 12.21% | +0.79 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 24 | 11.20% | 5.52% | +5.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 21 | 9.80% | 5.57% | +4.23 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 11 | 5.10% | 0.82% | +4.28 |
| Tyres | 9 | 4.20% | 19.76% | −15.56 |
| Visibility | 7 | 3.30% | 4.97% | −1.67 |
| Steering | 7 | 3.30% | 2.57% | +0.73 |
| Non-component advisories | 2 | 0.90% | 4.18% | −3.28 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 12.5% | £180–450 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.8% | £5–20 |
| Integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Major | 6.3% | £180–450 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 6.3% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 6.3% | £18–45 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 6.3% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 4.7% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.7% | £60–250 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.7% | £45–120 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.7% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 21.9% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 15.6% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 10.9% | £25–65 |
| Prescribed areas prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Advisory | 10.9% | £40–120 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 10.9% | £60–150 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 9.4% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60-90k | 8 | 62.5% | 71,157 mi |
| 90-120k | 19 | 57.9% | 108,473 mi |
| 120k+ | 37 | 67.6% | 159,165 mi |
Source: 64 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.
2011 E Series MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 Mazda E Series?
64.1% of the 64 2011 Mazda E Series tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 48.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 Mazda E Series?
The three most recorded items are component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (12.50%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.81%), integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced (6.25%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 Mazda E Series MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 62.5% of the time, falling to 67.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Mazda E Series in this dataset had covered 126,215 mi.