Pass rate
90.2%
Above average — 13.0 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 51 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £22–£56
2012 Mazda MX5 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 38,022 mi
Only 51 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
Tyres
36.1% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 90.2% pass · this year
- Avoid 2016 78.8% pass
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 11.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.9%
- Typical mileage
- 38k mi
The 2012 Mazda MX5 MOT pass rate is 90.2% of its MOT tests — 13.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 36.1% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mazda MX5 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.8× the national share
Tyres make up 36.1% of everything recorded on the 2012 Mazda Mx5, against 19.8% nationally — 16.3 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- 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 77.2% and this one manages 90.2% — 13.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 51 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 MX5? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Mazda MX5 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 13.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.9%. The median 2012 Mazda MX5 in this dataset had covered 38,022 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 5.88% of tests.
- 51 recorded tests behind this page.
- 90.2% overall pass rate, 88.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda MX5, the average is 84.4% — best year 2012 (90.2%), worst 2016 (78.8%).
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
- 51
- Typical mileage (median)
- 38,022 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda MX5
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 MX5 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 80% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2012 MX5
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 2012 MX5
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 5.9% 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 5.9% 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.
-
Check the lights 2.0% of tests
“headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect”
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.
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 2012 MX5 through its MOT
Across the 8 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £22–£56 — and 42% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 8 common items
- £22–£56
- Cheapest common item: wipers does not clear the windscreen…
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 75%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 42%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 51 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 MX5, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2012 to 2016. Across them the pass rate runs from 78.8% to 90.2% — a spread of 11.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2012 90.2%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2016 78.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
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 2012 Mazda MX5 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Audi A8 90.2%
- Honda Fit 89.3%
- Porsche Boxster 91.6%
- Toyota Estima 88.3%
- Lexus Rx 88.3%
- Lexus RX450H 88.0%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Mazda MX5 8 failure items · 6 advisories · 6 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 36 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 13 | 36.10% | 19.76% | +16.34 |
| Suspension | 9 | 25.00% | 20.98% | +4.02 |
| Brakes | 5 | 13.90% | 20.89% | −6.99 |
| Visibility | 5 | 13.90% | 4.97% | +8.93 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2 | 5.60% | 12.21% | −6.61 |
| Non-component advisories | 2 | 5.60% | 4.18% | +1.42 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 5.9% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 5.9% | £8–22 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 2.0% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £5–25 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.0% | £80–200 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.0% | £8–22 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 15.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.9% | £18–45 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 5.9% | £30–75 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 5.9% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Items removed from drivers view prior to test Non-component advisories | Advisory | 3.9% | £20–80 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 3.9% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 11 | 90.9% | 21,238 mi |
| 30-60k | 29 | 89.7% | 42,604 mi |
| 60-90k | 9 | 88.9% | 71,546 mi |
| 90-120k | 2 | 100.0% | 95,471 mi |
Source: 51 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.
2012 MX5 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Mazda MX5?
90.2% of the 51 2012 Mazda MX5 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 88.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Mazda MX5?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.88%), wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (5.88%), has ply or cords exposed (1.96%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Mazda MX5 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.9% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Mazda MX5 in this dataset had covered 38,022 mi.