Pass rate
75.0%
Around average — 2.2 pts behind the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 64 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £59–£173
2012 Microcar Mgo MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 23,509 mi
Only 64 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Brakes
32.7% 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
- Avoid 2012 75.0% pass · this year
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 6.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 69.8%
- Typical mileage
- 24k mi
The 2012 Microcar Mgo MOT pass rate is 75.0% of its MOT tests — 2.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Microcar Mgo does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.6× the national share
Brakes make up 32.7% of everything recorded on the 2012 Microcar Mgo, against 20.9% nationally — 11.8 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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.
- Based on a small sample. 64 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 2012 Microcar Mgo compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 2.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 69.8%. The median 2012 Microcar Mgo in this dataset had covered 23,509 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Service brake imbalance across an axle", noted on 6.25% of tests.
- 64 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.0% overall pass rate, 69.8% 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
- 64
- Typical mileage (median)
- 23,509 mi
- Make and model
- Microcar Mgo
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Discs and Pads Set
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Mgo MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 55% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Mgo
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 17 | 58.8% |
| West Midlands | 17 | 82.4% |
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 2012 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 2012 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 suspension joints 4.7% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
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 4.7% of tests
“exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases”
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 steering 4.7% 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.
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 2012 Mgo through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £59–£173 — and 0% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £59–£173
- Cheapest common item: ball joint excessively worn
- £18–£45
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 30%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 0%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 64 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 2012 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Vauxhall Mokka 75.0%
- Vauxhall Corsa 74.9%
- Fiat 500 75.1%
- Kia Picanto 75.1%
- Ford S-Max 74.9%
- Fiat 500C 75.1%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Microcar Mgo 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 9 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 147 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 | 48 | 32.70% | 20.89% | +11.81 |
| Suspension | 41 | 27.90% | 20.98% | +6.92 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 14 | 9.50% | 5.57% | +3.93 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 13 | 8.80% | 5.52% | +3.28 |
| Tyres | 12 | 8.20% | 19.76% | −11.56 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8 | 5.40% | 12.21% | −6.81 |
| Steering | 7 | 4.80% | 2.57% | +2.23 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 2.00% | 4.18% | −2.18 |
| Visibility | 1 | 0.70% | 4.97% | −4.27 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 6.3% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.7% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.7% | £45–120 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.7% | £80–250 |
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.7% | £60–150 |
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 4.7% | £120–300 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.1% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions emissions likely to be affected by an exhaust leak Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.1% | £60–250 |
| Flexible brake hoses slightly chafed Brakes | Minor | 3.1% | £25–70 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.1% | £80–250 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 23.4% | £25–65 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 14.1% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.9% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.9% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 9.4% | £80–180 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 7.8% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 51 | 76.5% | 21,372 mi |
| 30-60k | 11 | 63.6% | 36,026 mi |
| 60-90k | 2 | 100.0% | 65,555 mi |
Source: 64 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.
2012 Mgo MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Microcar Mgo?
75.0% of the 64 2012 Microcar Mgo tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 69.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Microcar Mgo?
The three most recorded items are service brake imbalance across an axle (6.25%), ball joint excessively worn (4.69%), exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases (4.69%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Microcar Mgo MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 76.5% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Microcar Mgo in this dataset had covered 23,509 mi.