Pass rate
80.5%
Around average — 6.5 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 87 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£106
2009 MINI COOPER Graphite MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 73,285 mi
Only 87 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.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Lamps & electrics
21.0% of faults · 12.2% nationally
Part only £6–£18 for Registration plate lamp inoperative (multiple lamps). What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2009 80.5% pass · this year
- Avoid 2010 80.4% pass
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 0.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 80.0%
- Typical mileage
- 73k mi
The 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite MOT pass rate is 80.5% of its MOT tests — 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Lamps & electrics is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.8× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 15.4% of everything recorded on the 2009 MINI Cooper Graphite, against 5.5% nationally — 9.9 points above. Lamps & electrics are still the single largest share at 21.0%, but at 12.2% 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.
- 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 74.0% and this one manages 80.5% — 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 58% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 COOPER Graphite? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 6.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 80.0%. The median 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite in this dataset had covered 73,285 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 79.5% of the time, April–September 81.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 11.49% of tests.
- 87 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.5% overall pass rate, 80.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the MINI COOPER Graphite, the average is 80.4% — best year 2009 (80.5%), worst 2010 (80.4%).
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
- 87
- Typical mileage (median)
- 73,285 mi
- Make and model
- MINI COOPER Graphite
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 COOPER Graphite MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 65% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the COOPER Graphite
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 31 | 71.0% |
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 2009 COOPER Graphite
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 2009 COOPER Graphite
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 11.5% 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 lights 6.9% of tests
“position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning”
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 exhaust and emissions 3.5% of tests
“catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's 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 2009 COOPER Graphite through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£106 — and 58% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£106
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 58%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 87 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 COOPER Graphite, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2009 to 2010. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.4% to 80.5% — a spread of 0.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2009 80.5%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 80.4% position lamp with a multiple…
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 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite 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 2009 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite 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 195 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 41 | 21.00% | 12.21% | +8.79 |
| Brakes | 39 | 20.00% | 20.89% | −0.89 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 30 | 15.40% | 5.52% | +9.88 |
| Tyres | 26 | 13.30% | 19.76% | −6.46 |
| Suspension | 22 | 11.30% | 20.98% | −9.68 |
| Visibility | 18 | 9.20% | 4.97% | +4.23 |
| Non-component advisories | 9 | 4.60% | 4.18% | +0.42 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 6 | 3.10% | 5.57% | −2.47 |
| Road Wheels | 4 | 2.10% | 0.75% | +1.35 |
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 | 11.5% | £80–200 |
| Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.9% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.8% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.8% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.6% | £5–25 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.5% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions hydrocarbon content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.5% | £60–250 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Rectified | 3.5% | £5–15 |
| Brake fluid warning lamp illuminated Brakes | Minor | 2.3% | £3–15 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.3% | £60–250 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 16.1% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 14.9% | £200–700 |
| Individual direction indicators incorrect colour Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Advisory | 12.6% | £3–12 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.5% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 11.5% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.5% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 7 | 100.0% | 26,067 mi |
| 30-60k | 24 | 83.3% | 40,949 mi |
| 60-90k | 32 | 78.1% | 75,984 mi |
| 90-120k | 23 | 73.9% | 104,501 mi |
| 120k+ | 1 | 100.0% | 124,853 mi |
Source: 87 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.
2009 COOPER Graphite MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite?
80.5% of the 87 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 80.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (11.49%), position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning (6.90%), headlamp lens slightly defective (5.75%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite in this dataset had covered 73,285 mi.
Does the season affect the 2009 MINI COOPER Graphite MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 79.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.