Pass rate
94.5%
Above average — 21.9 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 128 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £25–£78
2003 Mazda Rx-7 MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 73,235 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
21.2% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2007 97.4% pass
- Avoid 2006 84.8% pass
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 12.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 94.4%
- Typical mileage
- 73k mi
The 2003 Mazda Rx-7 MOT pass rate is 94.5% of its MOT tests — 21.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.8× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 15.3% of everything recorded on the 2003 Mazda Rx-7, against 5.5% nationally — 9.8 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 21.2%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 72.6% and this one manages 94.5% — 21.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 20% 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 Rx-7? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Mazda Rx-7 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 21.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 94.4%. The median 2003 Mazda Rx-7 in this dataset had covered 73,235 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 94.6% of the time, April–September 94.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 2.34% of tests.
- 128 recorded tests behind this page.
- 94.5% overall pass rate, 94.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mazda Rx-7, the average is 92.9% — best year 2007 (97.4%), worst 2006 (84.8%).
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
- 128
- Typical mileage (median)
- 73,235 mi
- Make and model
- Mazda Rx-7
- 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 Rx-7 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 81% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Rx-7
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 54 | 92.6% |
| West Midlands | 26 | 100.0% |
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 Rx-7
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 Rx-7
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 2.3% 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 the exhaust and emissions 1.6% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside 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.
-
Check the brake pipes 1.6% of tests
“flexible brake hoses slightly damaged”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
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 Rx-7 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £25–£78 — and 20% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £25–£78
- Cheapest common item: rear fog lamp not working
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 20%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 128 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 Rx-7, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2003 to 2007. Across them the pass rate runs from 84.8% to 97.4% — a spread of 12.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 94.5%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 92.0% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2005 93.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 84.8% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2007 97.4% headlamp aim too low
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 Rx-7 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
- BMW M3 87.7%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
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 Rx-7 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 115 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 | 25 | 21.20% | 20.89% | +0.31 |
| Suspension | 21 | 17.80% | 20.98% | −3.18 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 18 | 15.30% | 5.52% | +9.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 15 | 12.70% | 12.21% | +0.49 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 10 | 8.50% | 5.57% | +2.93 |
| Tyres | 8 | 6.80% | 19.76% | −12.96 |
| Steering | 7 | 5.90% | 2.57% | +3.33 |
| Non-component advisories | 5 | 4.20% | 4.18% | +0.02 |
| Visibility | 3 | 2.50% | 4.97% | −2.47 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 2.50% | 1.76% | +0.74 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.3% | £18–45 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.3% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.6% | £60–250 |
| Flexible brake hoses slightly damaged Brakes | Minor | 1.6% | £25–70 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £5–25 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £3–15 |
| Registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements Identification of the vehicle | Major | 1.6% | £20–80 |
| Battery(ies) insecure and likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.78% | £60–140 |
| Buckle missing Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 0.78% | £40–120 |
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 | 7.8% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.0% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 5.5% | £80–180 |
| Exhaust system noise is clearly in excess of that emitted by a similar vehicle fitted with a standard silencer in… Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 4.7% | £45–120 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.9% | £40–150 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Advisory | 3.9% | £20–55 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 5 | 100.0% | 20,933 mi |
| 30-60k | 35 | 97.1% | 50,762 mi |
| 60-90k | 47 | 89.4% | 76,941 mi |
| 90-120k | 23 | 95.7% | 99,663 mi |
| 120k+ | 7 | 100.0% | 135,759 mi |
Source: 128 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 Rx-7 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Mazda Rx-7?
94.5% of the 128 2003 Mazda Rx-7 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 94.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Mazda Rx-7?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (2.34%), track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.34%), catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (1.56%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Mazda Rx-7 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Mazda Rx-7 in this dataset had covered 73,235 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Mazda Rx-7 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 94.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 94.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.