Pass rate
78.8%
Around average — 5.2 pts behind the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 52 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £28–£80
2016 Mazda MX5 MOT pass rate
- 2016
- typical 109,003 mi
Only 52 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
Brakes
29.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 90.2% pass
- Avoid 2016 78.8% pass · this year
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 11.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 75.0%
- Typical mileage
- 109k mi
The 2016 Mazda MX5 MOT pass rate is 78.8% of its MOT tests — 5.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 29.1% 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
Brakes: 1.4× the national share
Brakes make up 29.1% of everything recorded on the 2016 Mazda Mx5, against 20.9% nationally — 8.2 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 84.0%; this one manages 78.8% — 5.2 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- Based on a small sample. 52 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 2016 Mazda MX5 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 5.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 75.0%. The median 2016 Mazda MX5 in this dataset had covered 109,003 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 11.54% of tests.
- 52 recorded tests behind this page.
- 78.8% overall pass rate, 75.0% 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
- 52
- Typical mileage (median)
- 109,003 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
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the MX5 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2016 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 2016 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 lights 11.5% 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 5.8% 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 exhaust and emissions 3.9% of tests
“catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
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 2016 MX5 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £28–£80 — and 37% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £28–£80
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 37%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 52 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 2016 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 2016 cars with a similar record
- Citroen C4 78.6%
- Vauxhall Mokka 79.1%
- SEAT Ibiza 78.5%
- Dacia Sandero 78.4%
- Vauxhall Adam 79.2%
- Alfa Romeo Mito 79.2%
Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 Mazda MX5 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 109 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 | 32 | 29.10% | 20.89% | +8.21 |
| Suspension | 25 | 22.70% | 20.98% | +1.72 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 16 | 14.50% | 12.21% | +2.29 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 15 | 13.60% | 5.52% | +8.08 |
| Tyres | 5 | 4.50% | 19.76% | −15.26 |
| Visibility | 5 | 4.50% | 4.97% | −0.47 |
| Steering | 5 | 4.50% | 2.57% | +1.93 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 3 | 2.70% | 5.57% | −2.87 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 1.80% | 1.76% | +0.04 |
| Non-component advisories | 1 | 0.90% | 4.18% | −3.28 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 11.5% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 5.8% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 5.8% | £45–110 |
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 5.8% | £60–150 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.9% | £60–250 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.9% | £25–65 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 3.9% | £60–150 |
| Position lamp insecure Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.9% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp light intensity obviously reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.9% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 3.9% | £18–45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 15.4% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.5% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.5% | £80–180 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.6% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.6% | £25–65 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 7.7% | £35–85 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 1 | 100.0% | 47,459 mi |
| 60-90k | 15 | 93.3% | 78,315 mi |
| 90-120k | 20 | 70.0% | 107,630 mi |
| 120k+ | 16 | 75.0% | 148,512 mi |
Source: 52 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.
2016 MX5 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Mazda MX5?
78.8% of the 52 2016 Mazda MX5 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 75.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Mazda MX5?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (11.54%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.77%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (5.77%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 Mazda MX5 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 75.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Mazda MX5 in this dataset had covered 109,003 mi.