Pass rate
81.8%
Around average — 5.9 pts ahead of the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 121 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £74–£206
2011 Microcar Mgo MOT pass rate
- 2011
- typical 26,559 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
34.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2011 81.8% pass · this year
- Avoid 2012 75.0% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 6.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 78.4%
- Typical mileage
- 27k mi
The 2011 Microcar Mgo MOT pass rate is 81.8% of its MOT tests — 5.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 34.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.7× the national share
Brakes make up 34.9% of everything recorded on the 2011 Microcar Mgo, against 20.9% nationally — 14.0 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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 75.9% and this one manages 81.8% — 5.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 0% 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 Microcar Mgo? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2011 Microcar Mgo compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 5.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.4%. The median 2011 Microcar Mgo in this dataset had covered 26,559 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 80.5% of the time, April–September 84.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 9.09% of tests.
- 121 recorded tests behind this page.
- 81.8% overall pass rate, 78.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Microcar Mgo, the average is 80.1% — best year 2011 (81.8%), worst 2012 (75.0%).
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
- 121
- Typical mileage (median)
- 26,559 mi
- Make and model
- Microcar Mgo
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Mgo MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Mgo
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Yorkshire | 27 | 88.9% |
| East Midlands | 21 | 81.0% |
| South West | 19 | 73.7% |
| South East | 18 | 88.9% |
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 2011 Mgo
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 2011 Mgo
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 steering 5.0% of tests
“steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
-
Check the windscreen 5.0% 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 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.
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 2011 Mgo through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £74–£206 — and 0% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £74–£206
- Cheapest common item: flexible brake hoses slightly chafed
- £25–£70
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 20%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 0%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 121 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 Mgo, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2009 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.0% to 81.8% — a spread of 6.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2009 78.8% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2010 81.2% wheel bearings rough when rotated
- 2011 81.8%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2012 75.0% service brake imbalance across an…
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 2011 Microcar Mgo 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 2011 cars with a similar record
- Toyota YARIS 81.7%
- Toyota Urban Cruiser 81.9%
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 81.6%
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 82.1%
- Ford Fusion 81.5%
- Jaguar Xj 82.1%
Closest pass rates among 2011 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 2011 Microcar Mgo 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 278 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 | 97 | 34.90% | 20.89% | +14.01 |
| Suspension | 60 | 21.60% | 20.98% | +0.62 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 34 | 12.20% | 5.57% | +6.63 |
| Tyres | 27 | 9.70% | 19.76% | −10.06 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 14 | 5.00% | 5.52% | −0.52 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 11 | 4.00% | 12.21% | −8.21 |
| Steering | 11 | 4.00% | 2.57% | +1.43 |
| Non-component advisories | 10 | 3.60% | 4.18% | −0.58 |
| Visibility | 9 | 3.20% | 4.97% | −1.77 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 5 | 1.80% | 1.76% | +0.04 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 9.1% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 5.0% | £80–250 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 5.0% | £45–110 |
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 5.0% | £120–300 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.0% | £80–200 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £60–150 |
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £60–150 |
| Brake performance not tested unable to be tested Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £60–150 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.6% | £60–250 |
| Flexible brake hoses slightly chafed Brakes | Minor | 1.6% | £25–70 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 18.2% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.5% | £80–180 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.9% | £18–45 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 9.9% | £30–75 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.1% | £25–65 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 8.3% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 77 | 83.1% | 20,313 mi |
| 30-60k | 42 | 78.6% | 37,341 mi |
| 60-90k | 1 | 100.0% | 60,615 mi |
Source: 121 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.
2011 Mgo MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 Microcar Mgo?
81.8% of the 121 2011 Microcar Mgo tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 78.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 Microcar Mgo?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (9.09%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.96%), service brake imbalance across an axle (4.96%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 Microcar Mgo MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.1% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Microcar Mgo in this dataset had covered 26,559 mi.
Does the season affect the 2011 Microcar Mgo MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 80.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 84.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.