Pass rate
71.2%
Below average — 1.9 pts behind the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 337 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £38–£134
2008 MINI Clubman MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 90,856 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
21.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 95.1% pass
- Avoid 2007 70.0% pass
Across the 15 years on record, a spread of 25.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 62.8%
- Typical mileage
- 91k mi
The 2008 MINI Clubman MOT pass rate is 71.2% of its MOT tests — 1.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how MINI Clubman does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 3.0× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 16.7% of everything recorded on the 2008 MINI Clubman, against 5.5% nationally — 11.2 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 21.5%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 33% 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. 337 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 MINI Clubman? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 MINI Clubman compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 1.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 62.8%. The median 2008 MINI Clubman in this dataset had covered 90,856 mi.
70% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 70.3% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.7% of the time, April–September 71.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 5.64% of tests.
- 337 recorded tests behind this page.
- 71.2% overall pass rate, 62.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the MINI Clubman, the average is 86.9% — best year 2021 (95.1%), worst 2007 (70.0%).
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
- 337
- Typical mileage (median)
- 90,856 mi
- Make and model
- MINI Clubman
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Clubman MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 53% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (70% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Clubman
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 118 | 74.6% |
| South West | 53 | 66.0% |
| West Midlands | 37 | 75.7% |
| East of England | 32 | 75.0% |
| Wales | 24 | 70.8% |
| Yorkshire | 19 | 57.9% |
| North West | 16 | 75.0% |
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 2008 Clubman
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 2008 Clubman
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 5.6% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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 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 4.2% 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 2008 Clubman through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £38–£134 — and 33% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £38–£134
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 33%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 337 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 Clubman, side by side
15 model years on record, from 2007 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.0% to 95.1% — a spread of 25.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2007 70.0% service brake performance…
- 2008 71.2%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 73.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 74.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 80.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 80.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 83.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 84.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 85.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 85.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 87.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 89.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 89.9% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2020 88.2% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 95.1% 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 2008 MINI Clubman 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Ford C-Max 71.3%
- Volvo C30 71.3%
- Renault Laguna 71.1%
- Citroen C5 71.1%
- Vauxhall Corsavan 71.1%
- Toyota Aygo 71.4%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 MINI Clubman 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 972 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 | 212 | 21.50% | 20.98% | +0.52 |
| Brakes | 175 | 17.80% | 20.89% | −3.09 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 164 | 16.70% | 5.52% | +11.18 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 151 | 15.30% | 12.21% | +3.09 |
| Tyres | 129 | 13.10% | 19.76% | −6.66 |
| Visibility | 39 | 4.00% | 4.97% | −0.97 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 37 | 3.80% | 5.57% | −1.77 |
| Non-component advisories | 37 | 3.80% | 4.18% | −0.38 |
| Road Wheels | 16 | 1.60% | 0.75% | +0.85 |
| Steering | 12 | 1.20% | 2.57% | −1.37 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.6% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.0% | £80–200 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.2% | £60–250 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.9% | £30–80 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.6% | £3–12 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.3% | £60–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.0% | £5–25 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.7% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.7% | £60–250 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.7% | £25–65 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 19.9% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.5% | £45–95 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 14.2% | £180–450 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.9% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.5% | £25–65 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.5% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 3 | 100.0% | 26,297 mi |
| 30-60k | 35 | 82.9% | 47,961 mi |
| 60-90k | 119 | 73.1% | 78,123 mi |
| 90-120k | 121 | 70.2% | 102,972 mi |
| 120k+ | 59 | 61.0% | 141,957 mi |
Source: 337 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.
2008 Clubman MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 MINI Clubman?
71.2% of the 337 2008 MINI Clubman tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 62.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 MINI Clubman?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.64%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (5.04%), catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (4.15%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 MINI Clubman MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 61.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 MINI Clubman in this dataset had covered 90,856 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 MINI Clubman?
Petrol: 70.3% pass rate across 236 tests. Diesel: 73.3% pass rate across 101 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2008 MINI Clubman MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.