Pass rate
93.7%
Above average — 5.8 pts ahead of the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 13,140 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £25–£64
2018 Mazda Mx-5 MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 24,084 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
37.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£40 for Brake pads under 1.5 mm. What fitting it takes →
2.2 pts down across model years — 3.5% in 2000, 1.3% in 2021.
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
- 93.3%
- Typical mileage
- 24k mi
The 2018 Mazda Mx-5 MOT pass rate is 93.7% of its MOT tests — 5.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 37.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.8× the national share
Brakes make up 37.1% of everything recorded on the 2018 Mazda Mx-5, against 20.9% nationally — 16.2 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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 87.9% and this one manages 93.7% — 5.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 2018 Mazda Mx-5 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 5.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 93.3%. The median 2018 Mazda Mx-5 in this dataset had covered 24,084 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 94.0% of the time, April–September 93.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Wipers blade defective", noted on 1.77% of tests.
- 13,140 recorded tests behind this page.
- 93.7% overall pass rate, 93.3% 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
- 13,140
- Typical mileage (median)
- 24,084 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
Wiper Blade
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 58% 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 | 2,902 | 93.8% |
| East of England | 1,554 | 94.3% |
| North West | 1,547 | 93.5% |
| South West | 1,513 | 94.6% |
| West Midlands | 1,426 | 92.9% |
| Yorkshire | 1,198 | 93.2% |
| East Midlands | 961 | 94.2% |
| Scotland | 933 | 91.7% |
| Wales | 470 | 95.1% |
| North East | 447 | 93.7% |
| London | 189 | 93.1% |
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 2018 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 2018 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 wipers and washers 1.8% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
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.
-
Check the windscreen 1.4% 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.
-
Check the brakes 1.2% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
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 2018 Mx-5 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £25–£64 — and 53% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £25–£64
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 53%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 13,140 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 2018 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Lexus Nx 93.9%
- Audi A8 93.9%
- Honda Jazz 93.4%
- Porsche Macan 94.1%
- Toyota Prius 93.3%
- Honda Hr-V 93.3%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 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 9,706 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 3,606 | 37.10% | 20.89% | +16.21 |
| Tyres | 3,316 | 34.10% | 19.76% | +14.34 |
| Suspension | 988 | 10.20% | 20.98% | −10.78 |
| Visibility | 799 | 8.20% | 4.97% | +3.23 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 441 | 4.50% | 12.21% | −7.71 |
| Non-component advisories | 232 | 2.40% | 4.18% | −1.78 |
| Road Wheels | 166 | 1.70% | 0.75% | +0.95 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 67 | 0.70% | 5.52% | −4.82 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 50 | 0.50% | 1.76% | −1.26 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 41 | 0.40% | 5.57% | −5.17 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.8% | £8–22 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £80–200 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.2% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.0% | £5–20 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.96% | £8–22 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 0.80% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.78% | £30–80 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.77% | £45–95 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Rectified | 0.65% | £5–15 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 0.50% | £45–110 |
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 | 12.7% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.8% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 8.2% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 5.1% | £40–150 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 8,576 | 95.5% | 17,934 mi |
| 30-60k | 4,117 | 90.7% | 40,270 mi |
| 60-90k | 395 | 87.1% | 69,117 mi |
| 90-120k | 41 | 80.5% | 99,031 mi |
| 120k+ | 6 | 66.7% | 129,188 mi |
Source: 13,140 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.
2018 Mx-5 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Mazda Mx-5?
93.7% of the 13,140 2018 Mazda Mx-5 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 93.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Mazda Mx-5?
The three most recorded items are wipers blade defective (1.77%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.36%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (1.17%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Mazda Mx-5 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 95.5% of the time, falling to 66.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Mazda Mx-5 in this dataset had covered 24,084 mi.
Does the season affect the 2018 Mazda Mx-5 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 94.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 93.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.