Pass rate
80.0%
Around average — 6.0 pts behind the 86.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,213 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £22–£59
2017 MG Zs MOT pass rate
- 2017
- typical 44,324 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
32.8% 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 →
1.7 pts up across model years — 1.4% in 2002, 3.1% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2024 96.9% pass
- Avoid 2003 70.4% pass
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 26.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 75.7%
- Typical mileage
- 44k mi
The 2017 MG Zs MOT pass rate is 80.0% of its MOT tests — 6.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.8% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.6× the national share
Brakes make up 32.8% of everything recorded on the 2017 MG Zs, against 20.9% nationally — 11.9 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 86.0%; this one manages 80.0% — 6.0 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
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 MG Zs? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2017 MG Zs compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 86.0%, so this figure is 6.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 75.7%. The median 2017 MG Zs in this dataset had covered 44,324 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 80.9% of the time, April–September 77.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 6.51% of tests.
- 1,213 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.0% overall pass rate, 75.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the MG Zs, the average is 87.4% — best year 2024 (96.9%), worst 2003 (70.4%).
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
- 1,213
- Typical mileage (median)
- 44,324 mi
- Make and model
- MG Zs
- 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 Zs MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the MG Zs is most common
Across all Zs model years on record (2001–2024): 65,937 MG Zs cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 122,759 tests. Cardiff (CF) has the most, with 2,874 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 | Cardiff (CF) | 2,874 | 83.1% |
| 2 | Swansea (SA) | 1,626 | 83.6% |
| 3 | Glasgow (G) | 1,575 | 82.8% |
| 4 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 1,476 | 86.3% |
| 5 | Birmingham (B) | 1,427 | 87.2% |
| 6 | Portsmouth (PO) | 1,279 | 87.4% |
| 7 | Peterborough (PE) | 1,160 | 88.1% |
| 8 | Sheffield (S) | 1,135 | 90.8% |
| 9 | Basildon (SS) | 1,097 | 93.2% |
| 10 | Chelmsford (CM) | 1,034 | 89.7% |
| 11 | Warrington (WA) | 1,031 | 90.7% |
| 12 | Preston (PR) | 993 | 90.4% |
| 13 | Bristol (BS) | 904 | 87.4% |
| 14 | Newport (NP) | 883 | 85.6% |
| 15 | Edinburgh (EH) | 865 | 83.1% |
| 16 | Paisley (PA) | 817 | 84.0% |
| 17 | Liverpool (L) | 811 | 88.5% |
| 18 | Gloucester (GL) | 808 | 87.8% |
| 19 | Southampton (SO) | 800 | 87.1% |
| 20 | Ipswich (IP) | 798 | 87.9% |
The twenty areas with the most MG Zs 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 Zs
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 195 | 83.6% |
| Wales | 181 | 75.1% |
| South East | 143 | 82.5% |
| West Midlands | 127 | 84.3% |
| Yorkshire | 109 | 80.7% |
| North West | 99 | 78.8% |
| Scotland | 88 | 69.3% |
| South West | 84 | 82.1% |
| North East | 78 | 76.9% |
| East Midlands | 72 | 80.6% |
| London | 37 | 86.5% |
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 2017 Zs
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 2017 Zs
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 6.5% 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 lights 3.0% of tests
“headlamp not working on dipped beam”
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 tyre pressures and valves 2.1% of tests
“tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative”
Set the pressures to the figures on the door pillar, not the tyre wall, and check the valves do not hiss. A leaking valve is a two-minute fix that fails a test.
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 2017 Zs through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £22–£59 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £22–£59
- Cheapest common item: anti-lock braking system warning lamp…
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 44%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,213 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 Zs, side by side
14 model years on record, from 2001 to 2024. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.4% to 96.9% — a spread of 26.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 71.2% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 72.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 70.4% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2004 73.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 75.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 74.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2017 80.0%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 83.9% headlamp not working on dipped…
- 2019 85.5% headlamp not working on dipped…
- 2020 89.1% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 91.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 89.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2023 91.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2024 96.9% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2017 MG Zs 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 2017 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2017 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 2017 MG Zs 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 1,864 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 | 618 | 32.80% | 20.89% | +11.91 |
| Tyres | 454 | 24.10% | 19.76% | +4.34 |
| Suspension | 336 | 17.90% | 20.98% | −3.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 182 | 9.70% | 12.21% | −2.51 |
| Non-component advisories | 84 | 4.50% | 4.18% | +0.32 |
| Visibility | 83 | 4.40% | 4.97% | −0.57 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 63 | 3.30% | 5.52% | −2.22 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 20 | 1.10% | 5.57% | −4.47 |
| Steering | 14 | 0.70% | 2.57% | −1.87 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 10 | 0.50% | 1.76% | −1.26 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 6.5% | £25–65 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.0% | £5–25 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £3–15 |
| Headlamp not working on main beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.2% | £5–25 |
| Tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative Tyres | Major | 2.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 1.9% | £45–110 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.6% | £8–22 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.5% | £80–200 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.4% | £18–45 |
| Electronic stability control warning lamp indicates a fault Brakes | Major | 1.4% | £3–15 |
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 | 24.3% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.0% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.9% | £18–45 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 3.6% | £200–700 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 3.6% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 239 | 89.1% | 21,709 mi |
| 30-60k | 706 | 77.6% | 44,563 mi |
| 60-90k | 235 | 78.3% | 70,663 mi |
| 90-120k | 33 | 75.8% | 99,129 mi |
Source: 1,213 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.
2017 Zs MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2017 MG Zs?
80.0% of the 1,213 2017 MG Zs tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 86.0% for cars first used in 2017. First-attempt pass rate: 75.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2017 MG Zs?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (6.51%), headlamp not working on dipped beam (2.97%), anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an abs fault (2.47%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2017 MG Zs MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.1% of the time, falling to 75.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2017 MG Zs in this dataset had covered 44,324 mi.
Does the season affect the 2017 MG Zs MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 80.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 77.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.