Pass rate
83.9%
Around average — 4.0 pts behind the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 17,089 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £27–£69
2018 MG Zs MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 39,599 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
35.7% 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
- 81.2%
- Typical mileage
- 40k mi
The 2018 MG Zs MOT pass rate is 83.9% of its MOT tests — 4.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 35.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how MG Zs does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.7× the national share
Brakes make up 35.7% of everything recorded on the 2018 MG Zs, against 20.9% nationally — 14.8 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 87.9%; this one manages 83.9% — 4.0 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 2018 MG Zs compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 4.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 81.2%. The median 2018 MG Zs in this dataset had covered 39,599 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 83.5% of the time, April–September 84.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp not working on dipped beam", noted on 2.15% of tests.
- 17,089 recorded tests behind this page.
- 83.9% overall pass rate, 81.2% 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
- 17,089
- Typical mileage (median)
- 39,599 mi
- Make and model
- MG Zs
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Zs MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Zs
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,624 | 85.4% |
| Wales | 2,574 | 80.0% |
| East of England | 2,397 | 87.6% |
| Scotland | 1,727 | 76.8% |
| North West | 1,712 | 85.0% |
| West Midlands | 1,380 | 85.1% |
| Yorkshire | 1,297 | 84.7% |
| South West | 1,191 | 84.6% |
| North East | 840 | 81.0% |
| East Midlands | 827 | 88.5% |
| London | 519 | 87.9% |
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 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 2018 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 lights 2.1% 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 the brakes 1.5% of tests
“brake discs significantly and obviously worn”
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.
-
Check the coil springs 1.4% 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.
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 Zs through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £27–£69 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £27–£69
- Cheapest common item: wipers blade defective
- £8–£22
- 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 17,089 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 2018 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Dacia Logan 83.9%
- Peugeot Horizon 84.0%
- Tesla Model X 84.0%
- SEAT Toledo 84.1%
- DS DS3 83.7%
- Vauxhall Mokka 84.2%
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 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 22,579 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 | 8,116 | 35.70% | 20.89% | +14.81 |
| Tyres | 6,087 | 26.80% | 19.76% | +7.04 |
| Suspension | 2,751 | 12.10% | 20.98% | −8.88 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,969 | 8.70% | 12.21% | −3.51 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,468 | 6.50% | 4.18% | +2.32 |
| Visibility | 930 | 4.10% | 4.97% | −0.87 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 691 | 3.00% | 5.52% | −2.52 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 224 | 1.00% | 5.57% | −4.57 |
| Steering | 194 | 0.90% | 2.57% | −1.67 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 149 | 0.70% | 1.76% | −1.06 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.1% | £5–25 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 1.5% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 1.4% | £25–65 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp not working on main beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.4% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.3% | £80–200 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.2% | £8–22 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.2% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £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 | 21.1% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.8% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.9% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 7.6% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 3.7% | £20–80 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 3.7% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 4,896 | 90.8% | 21,110 mi |
| 30-60k | 9,353 | 82.4% | 43,153 mi |
| 60-90k | 2,443 | 77.2% | 70,581 mi |
| 90-120k | 338 | 72.5% | 100,675 mi |
| 120k+ | 59 | 72.9% | 139,560 mi |
Source: 17,089 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 Zs MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 MG Zs?
83.9% of the 17,089 2018 MG Zs tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 81.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 MG Zs?
The three most recorded items are headlamp not working on dipped beam (2.15%), brake discs significantly and obviously worn (1.46%), coil spring fractured or broken (1.45%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 MG Zs MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.8% of the time, falling to 72.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 MG Zs in this dataset had covered 39,599 mi.
Does the season affect the 2018 MG Zs MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 83.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 84.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.