Pass rate
67.6%
Below average — 5.0 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 71 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £83–£210
2003 Mazda MPV MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 125,851 mi
Only 71 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
31.9% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2014 73.6% pass
- Avoid 2008 59.7% pass
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 13.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 59.6%
- Typical mileage
- 126k mi
The 2003 Mazda MPV MOT pass rate is 67.6% of its MOT tests — 5.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 31.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.5× the national share
Suspension accounts for 31.9% of everything recorded on the 2003 Mazda Mpv, against 21.0% nationally — 10.9 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 72.6%; this one manages 67.6% — 5.0 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 13% 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 MPV? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Mazda MPV compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 5.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 59.6%. The median 2003 Mazda MPV in this dataset had covered 125,851 mi.
52% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 64.9% of the time.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 11.27% of tests.
- 71 recorded tests behind this page.
- 67.6% overall pass rate, 59.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda MPV, the average is 66.7% — best year 2014 (73.6%), worst 2008 (59.7%).
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
- 71
- Typical mileage (median)
- 125,851 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda MPV
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the MPV MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 51% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (52% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the MPV
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 24 | 62.5% |
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 2003 MPV
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 2003 MPV
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 suspension joints 11.3% 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 corrosion 9.9% 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 windscreen 8.4% 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.
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 2003 MPV through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £83–£210 — and 13% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £83–£210
- Cheapest common item: anti-lock braking system warning lamp…
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 13%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 71 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 MPV, side by side
14 model years on record, from 2000 to 2014. Across them the pass rate runs from 59.7% to 73.6% — a spread of 13.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 66.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2001 67.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 67.6%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 72.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2005 62.2% component mounting prescribed…
- 2006 65.9% component mounting prescribed…
- 2007 72.6% component mounting prescribed…
- 2008 59.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2009 65.0% component mounting prescribed…
- 2010 65.9% component mounting prescribed…
- 2011 68.3% component mounting prescribed…
- 2012 68.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2013 66.1% component mounting prescribed…
- 2014 73.6% 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 2003 Mazda MPV 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Volvo V40 67.3%
- Ford Ka 68.0%
- Ford Galaxy 68.0%
- Volkswagen Beetle 67.1%
- Citroen C3 68.2%
- Volkswagen Polo 68.3%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Mazda MPV 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 271 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 | 87 | 31.90% | 20.98% | +10.92 |
| Brakes | 48 | 17.60% | 20.89% | −3.29 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 34 | 12.50% | 5.57% | +6.93 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 31 | 11.40% | 12.21% | −0.81 |
| Tyres | 24 | 8.80% | 19.76% | −10.96 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 17 | 6.20% | 5.52% | +0.68 |
| Steering | 12 | 4.40% | 2.57% | +1.83 |
| Visibility | 9 | 3.30% | 4.97% | −1.67 |
| Non-component advisories | 7 | 2.60% | 4.18% | −1.58 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 0.70% | 1.76% | −1.06 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 11.3% | £18–45 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 9.9% | £180–450 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 8.4% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 7.0% | £30–80 |
| Integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Major | 7.0% | £180–450 |
| Chassis condition or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a body mounting Body, chassis, structure | Major | 5.6% | £180–450 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 4.2% | £3–15 |
| Headlamp not working on main beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.2% | £5–25 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.2% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 4.2% | £60–150 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 23.9% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 19.7% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 15.5% | £200–700 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 15.5% | £60–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.1% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 14.1% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 5 | 60.0% | 50,541 mi |
| 60-90k | 11 | 72.7% | 73,507 mi |
| 90-120k | 18 | 83.3% | 106,283 mi |
| 120k+ | 37 | 59.5% | 169,051 mi |
Source: 71 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.
2003 MPV MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Mazda MPV?
67.6% of the 71 2003 Mazda MPV tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 59.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Mazda MPV?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (11.27%), component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (9.86%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (8.45%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Mazda MPV MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 60.0% of the time, falling to 59.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Mazda MPV in this dataset had covered 125,851 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Mazda MPV?
Petrol: 64.9% pass rate across 37 tests. Diesel: 70.6% pass rate across 34 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.