Pass rate
80.5%
Around average — 6.5 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 14,915 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £37–£94
2009 Mazda Mx-5 MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 64,028 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
33.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 97.2% pass
- Avoid 2000 73.2% pass
Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 24 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 76.5%
- Typical mileage
- 64k mi
The 2009 Mazda Mx-5 MOT pass rate is 80.5% of its MOT tests — 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 33.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.6× the national share
Suspension accounts for 33.2% of everything recorded on the 2009 Mazda Mx-5, against 21.0% nationally — 12.2 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.
- 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 74.0% and this one manages 80.5% — 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 24% 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 Mx-5? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Mazda Mx-5 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 76.5%. The median 2009 Mazda Mx-5 in this dataset had covered 64,028 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 79.8% of the time, April–September 81.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 5.32% of tests.
- 14,915 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.5% overall pass rate, 76.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda Mx-5, the average is 82.1% — best year 2022 (97.2%), worst 2000 (73.2%).
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
- 14,915
- Typical mileage (median)
- 64,028 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda Mx-5
- 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 Mx-5 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 63% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Mazda Mx-5 is most common
Across all Mx-5 model years on record (2000–2022): 116,981 Mazda Mx-5 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 275,642 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 2,700 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) | 2,700 | 85.1% |
| 2 | Reading (RG) | 2,363 | 84.8% |
| 3 | Coventry (CV) | 2,350 | 83.3% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 2,339 | 84.0% |
| 5 | Bristol (BS) | 2,243 | 78.3% |
| 6 | Ashford (TN) | 2,206 | 82.1% |
| 7 | Guildford (GU) | 2,161 | 80.6% |
| 8 | Portsmouth (PO) | 2,143 | 80.0% |
| 9 | Peterborough (PE) | 2,141 | 83.8% |
| 10 | Nottingham (NG) | 2,012 | 81.5% |
| 11 | Gloucester (GL) | 1,966 | 79.5% |
| 12 | Southampton (SO) | 1,965 | 82.8% |
| 13 | Leicester (LE) | 1,934 | 83.1% |
| 14 | Norwich (NR) | 1,884 | 82.1% |
| 15 | Chelmsford (CM) | 1,824 | 85.9% |
| 16 | Poole (BH) | 1,812 | 81.0% |
| 17 | Brighton (BN) | 1,811 | 78.3% |
| 18 | Northampton (NN) | 1,811 | 82.7% |
| 19 | Derby (DE) | 1,801 | 85.3% |
| 20 | Ipswich (IP) | 1,736 | 83.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Mazda Mx-5 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 Mx-5
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 3,578 | 81.9% |
| South West | 1,917 | 81.6% |
| East of England | 1,842 | 82.0% |
| North West | 1,604 | 79.2% |
| West Midlands | 1,479 | 82.5% |
| Yorkshire | 1,193 | 78.0% |
| East Midlands | 1,092 | 80.4% |
| Scotland | 761 | 72.4% |
| Wales | 601 | 78.5% |
| North East | 530 | 78.1% |
| London | 317 | 84.5% |
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 2009 Mx-5
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 Mx-5
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 5.3% 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 suspension joints 3.0% 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 windscreen 2.3% 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 2009 Mx-5 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £37–£94 — and 24% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £37–£94
- 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
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 24%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 14,915 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 Mx-5, side by side
23 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.2% to 97.2% — a spread of 24 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 73.2% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2001 75.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 75.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 73.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 74.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2005 74.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 75.6% component mounting prescribed…
- 2007 78.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2008 78.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2009 80.5%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 81.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 83.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 85.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 86.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 87.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 90.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 90.7% service brake performance…
- 2017 93.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 93.7% wipers blade defective
- 2019 94.9% wipers blade defective
- 2020 95.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 96.6% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 97.2% windscreen damaged but not…
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 Mx-5 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
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 Mx-5 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 22,092 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 | 7,392 | 33.20% | 20.98% | +12.22 |
| Brakes | 5,250 | 23.60% | 20.89% | +2.71 |
| Tyres | 3,345 | 15.00% | 19.76% | −4.76 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2,316 | 10.40% | 12.21% | −1.81 |
| Visibility | 1,102 | 4.90% | 4.97% | −0.07 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 961 | 4.30% | 5.57% | −1.27 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 864 | 3.90% | 5.52% | −1.62 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 336 | 1.50% | 1.76% | −0.26 |
| Non-component advisories | 279 | 1.30% | 4.18% | −2.88 |
| Road Wheels | 247 | 1.10% | 0.75% | +0.35 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 5.3% | £25–65 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.0% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 2.7% | £60–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.3% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.2% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.1% | £5–20 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.2% | £8–22 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 1.2% | £180–450 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.1% | £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 | 9.6% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.3% | £45–95 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 8.4% | £180–450 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 7.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.3% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 6.0% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,141 | 87.8% | 21,881 mi |
| 30-60k | 5,411 | 84.4% | 46,602 mi |
| 60-90k | 5,344 | 79.1% | 73,438 mi |
| 90-120k | 2,246 | 74.1% | 101,934 mi |
| 120k+ | 761 | 71.1% | 139,755 mi |
Source: 14,915 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 Mx-5 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Mazda Mx-5?
80.5% of the 14,915 2009 Mazda Mx-5 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 76.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Mazda Mx-5?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (5.32%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.05%), service brake performance excessively binding (2.68%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Mazda Mx-5 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.8% of the time, falling to 71.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Mazda Mx-5 in this dataset had covered 64,028 mi.
Does the season affect the 2009 Mazda Mx-5 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 79.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.