Pass rate
70.2%
Below average — 2.4 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 799 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £42–£108
2003 MG Zt-T MOT pass rate
- 2003
- 2 trims combined
- typical 128,759 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
29.1% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2006 76.0% pass
- Avoid 2003 70.2% pass · this year
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 5.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 61.0%
- Typical mileage
- 129k mi
The 2003 MG Zt-T MOT pass rate is 70.2% of its MOT tests — 2.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension 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 MG Zt-T does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.4× the national share
Suspension accounts for 29.1% of everything recorded on the 2003 MG Zt-T, against 21.0% nationally — 8.1 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 27% 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 MG Zt-T? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every MG Zt-T first registered in 2003 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2003 MG Zt-T compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 2.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 61.0%. The median 2003 MG Zt-T in this dataset had covered 128,759 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 60% of tests, with a 67.6% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.7% of the time, April–September 69.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 6.13% of tests.
- 799 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.2% overall pass rate, 61.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the MG Zt-T, the average is 72.6% — best year 2006 (76.0%), worst 2003 (70.2%).
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
- 799
- Typical mileage (median)
- 128,759 mi
- Make and model
- MG Zt-T
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Zt-T MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 59% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (60% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Zt-T
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 164 | 69.5% |
| West Midlands | 158 | 75.3% |
| South West | 146 | 66.4% |
| East of England | 98 | 78.6% |
| East Midlands | 49 | 71.4% |
| Wales | 43 | 62.8% |
| Yorkshire | 40 | 70.0% |
| Scotland | 36 | 55.6% |
| North West | 34 | 61.8% |
| North East | 20 | 65.0% |
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 Zt-T
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 Zt-T
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 windscreen 6.1% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the suspension joints 5.1% 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 lights 4.5% of tests
“srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault”
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 2003 Zt-T through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £42–£108 — and 27% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £42–£108
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 27%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 799 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 Zt-T, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2001 to 2006. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.2% to 76.0% — a spread of 5.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 70.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 74.9% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2003 70.2%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 74.1% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2005 71.3% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 76.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
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 MG Zt-T 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
- Skoda Fabia 70.1%
- Vauxhall Zafira 70.1%
- Land Rover Freelander 70.0%
- Ford Mondeo 70.0%
- SEAT Ibiza 70.0%
- Vauxhall Vectra 70.4%
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 MG Zt-T 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 2,510 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 745 | 29.10% | 20.98% | +8.12 |
| Brakes | 573 | 22.40% | 20.89% | +1.51 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 317 | 12.40% | 12.21% | +0.19 |
| Tyres | 263 | 10.30% | 19.76% | −9.46 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 198 | 7.70% | 5.57% | +2.13 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 107 | 4.20% | 5.52% | −1.32 |
| Visibility | 98 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Steering | 88 | 3.40% | 2.57% | +0.83 |
| Non-component advisories | 61 | 2.40% | 4.18% | −1.78 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 60 | 2.30% | 0.82% | +1.48 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 6.1% | £80–200 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 5.6% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 5.1% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.5% | £18–45 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 4.5% | £3–12 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.4% | £5–20 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.1% | £180–450 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.4% | £30–80 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.1% | £5–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 22.0% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.6% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.5% | £45–110 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 10.1% | £180–450 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.1% | £35–85 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.9% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 10 | 90.0% | 19,551 mi |
| 30-60k | 47 | 80.9% | 47,044 mi |
| 60-90k | 120 | 70.8% | 77,075 mi |
| 90-120k | 163 | 73.0% | 104,124 mi |
| 120k+ | 450 | 67.3% | 167,608 mi |
Source: 799 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 Zt-T MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 MG Zt-T?
70.2% of the 799 2003 MG Zt-T tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 61.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 MG Zt-T?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (6.13%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (5.63%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.13%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 MG Zt-T MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.0% of the time, falling to 67.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 MG Zt-T in this dataset had covered 128,759 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 MG Zt-T?
Diesel: 67.6% pass rate across 478 tests. Petrol: 74.2% pass rate across 318 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 MG Zt-T MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 69.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.