Pass rate
90.4%
Above average — 17.8 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 758 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £62–£193
2003 Mitsubishi Lancer MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 78,639 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
20.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
2.4 pts up across model years — 4.4% in 2004, 6.8% in 2011.
Which year to buy
- Best 2018 96.2% pass
- Avoid 2010 72.6% pass
Across the 20 years on record, a spread of 23.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 89.7%
- Typical mileage
- 79k mi
The 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer MOT pass rate is 90.4% of its MOT tests — 17.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 20.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.6× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 14.1% of everything recorded on the 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer, against 5.5% nationally — 8.6 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 20.9%, but at 20.9% 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 72.6% and this one manages 90.4% — 17.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 30% 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 Mitsubishi Lancer? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 17.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 89.7%. The median 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer in this dataset had covered 78,639 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 87.2% of the time, April–September 92.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength", noted on 1.45% of tests.
- 758 recorded tests behind this page.
- 90.4% overall pass rate, 89.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mitsubishi Lancer, the average is 76.9% — best year 2018 (96.2%), worst 2010 (72.6%).
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
- 758
- Typical mileage (median)
- 78,639 mi
- Make and model
- Mitsubishi Lancer
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Corrosion Welding Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Lancer MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 73% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Mitsubishi Lancer is most common
Across all Lancer model years on record (2000–2020): 14,963 Mitsubishi Lancer cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 34,730 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 541 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 541 | 85.1% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 370 | 82.6% |
| 3 | Bristol (BS) | 294 | 72.3% |
| 4 | Peterborough (PE) | 279 | 74.5% |
| 5 | Gloucester (GL) | 274 | 70.2% |
| 6 | High Wycombe (HP) | 264 | 90.9% |
| 7 | Manchester (M) | 258 | 79.8% |
| 8 | Reading (RG) | 247 | 79.2% |
| 9 | Coventry (CV) | 241 | 84.8% |
| 10 | Leicester (LE) | 239 | 79.6% |
| 11 | Portsmouth (PO) | 232 | 70.6% |
| 12 | Doncaster (DN) | 232 | 75.0% |
| 13 | Nottingham (NG) | 229 | 73.5% |
| 14 | Exeter (EX) | 223 | 69.4% |
| 15 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 219 | 77.8% |
| 16 | Cardiff (CF) | 206 | 74.0% |
| 17 | Glasgow (G) | 202 | 78.3% |
| 18 | Swansea (SA) | 194 | 75.8% |
| 19 | Derby (DE) | 194 | 78.3% |
| 20 | Plymouth (PL) | 191 | 69.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Mitsubishi Lancer cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Lancer
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 124 | 88.7% |
| South West | 103 | 89.3% |
| East of England | 88 | 87.5% |
| Yorkshire | 86 | 98.8% |
| West Midlands | 86 | 94.2% |
| North West | 82 | 85.4% |
| Scotland | 65 | 86.2% |
| East Midlands | 53 | 90.6% |
| North East | 28 | 92.9% |
| Wales | 27 | 92.6% |
| London | 16 | 93.8% |
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 Lancer
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 Lancer
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 corrosion 1.4% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the lights 1.4% 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 1.4% 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.
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 Lancer through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £62–£193 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £62–£193
- Cheapest common item: rear fog lamp not working
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 30%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 758 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 Lancer, side by side
20 model years on record, from 2000 to 2020. Across them the pass rate runs from 72.6% to 96.2% — a spread of 23.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 91.4% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2001 90.6% position lamp with a multiple…
- 2002 90.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 90.4%component mounting prescribed…
- 2004 89.7% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2005 78.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 77.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 76.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 75.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 74.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 72.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 73.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 83.5% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2014 92.9% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2015 92.4% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2016 91.2% window excessively tinted but not…
- 2017 94.0% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2018 96.2% rear fog lamp missing
- 2019 94.9% rear fog lamp not working
- 2020 89.9% catalyst emissions carbon…
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 Mitsubishi Lancer 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
- BMW M3 87.7%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
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 Mitsubishi Lancer 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 641 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 | 135 | 20.90% | 20.89% | +0.01 |
| Suspension | 98 | 15.10% | 20.98% | −5.88 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 95 | 14.70% | 12.21% | +2.49 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 91 | 14.10% | 5.52% | +8.58 |
| Tyres | 62 | 9.60% | 19.76% | −10.16 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 55 | 8.50% | 5.57% | +2.93 |
| Steering | 37 | 5.70% | 2.57% | +3.13 |
| Visibility | 29 | 4.50% | 4.97% | −0.47 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 21 | 3.20% | 1.76% | +1.44 |
| Non-component advisories | 18 | 2.80% | 4.18% | −1.38 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 1.4% | £180–450 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.4% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £80–200 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.2% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.2% | £60–250 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.2% | £3–15 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.1% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.92% | £60–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.92% | £5–25 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 0.92% | £80–180 |
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 | 8.4% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 4.2% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 3.3% | £200–700 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Advisory | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 2.9% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 1.7% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 37 | 97.3% | 18,958 mi |
| 30-60k | 129 | 93.0% | 48,095 mi |
| 60-90k | 329 | 90.0% | 75,004 mi |
| 90-120k | 202 | 90.6% | 101,112 mi |
| 120k+ | 58 | 81.0% | 135,963 mi |
Source: 758 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 Lancer MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer?
90.4% of the 758 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 89.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer?
The three most recorded items are component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (1.45%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (1.45%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.45%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 97.3% of the time, falling to 81.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer in this dataset had covered 78,639 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 87.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 92.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.