Pass rate
77.2%
Around average — 4.6 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 719 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £49–£130
2003 Mitsubishi Pajero MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 149,341 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
21.9% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2017 89.4% pass
- Avoid 2007 73.6% pass
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 15.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 73.1%
- Typical mileage
- 149k mi
The 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero MOT pass rate is 77.2% of its MOT tests — 4.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mitsubishi Pajero does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.8× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 15.6% of everything recorded on the 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero, against 5.6% nationally — 10.0 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 21.9%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- 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 77.2% — 4.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- 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.
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 Pajero? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 4.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 73.1%. The median 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero in this dataset had covered 149,341 mi.
92% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 76.8% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 77.7% of the time, April–September 76.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 8.21% of tests.
- 719 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.2% overall pass rate, 73.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mitsubishi Pajero, the average is 76.9% — best year 2017 (89.4%), worst 2007 (73.6%).
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
- 719
- Typical mileage (median)
- 149,341 mi
- Make and model
- Mitsubishi Pajero
- 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 Pajero MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (92% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Pajero
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 150 | 72.7% |
| South East | 123 | 75.6% |
| East of England | 99 | 76.8% |
| Yorkshire | 95 | 81.1% |
| North West | 78 | 79.5% |
| West Midlands | 53 | 81.1% |
| Wales | 31 | 64.5% |
| East Midlands | 31 | 77.4% |
| Scotland | 29 | 82.8% |
| North East | 17 | 88.2% |
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 Pajero
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 Pajero
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 8.2% 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 3.5% 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 suspension joints 3.1% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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.
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 Pajero through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £49–£130 — and 33% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £49–£130
- Cheapest common item: rear fog lamp not working
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: chassis condition or chassis has excessive…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 33%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 719 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 Pajero, side by side
14 model years on record, from 2000 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.6% to 89.4% — a spread of 15.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 76.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 73.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 74.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 77.2%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 76.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 78.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 76.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 73.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 73.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 74.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2014 79.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2016 88.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2017 89.4% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2018 84.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
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 Pajero 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
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 Pajero 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 2,271 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 | 501 | 21.90% | 20.98% | +0.92 |
| Brakes | 463 | 20.20% | 20.89% | −0.69 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 357 | 15.60% | 5.57% | +10.03 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 259 | 11.30% | 5.52% | +5.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 232 | 10.10% | 12.21% | −2.11 |
| Steering | 138 | 6.00% | 2.57% | +3.43 |
| Tyres | 119 | 5.20% | 19.76% | −14.56 |
| Non-component advisories | 87 | 3.80% | 4.18% | −0.38 |
| Visibility | 78 | 3.40% | 4.97% | −1.57 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 37 | 1.60% | 0.82% | +0.78 |
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 | 8.2% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.9% | £80–250 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.5% | £3–15 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.5% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.1% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.1% | £80–180 |
| Chassis condition or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a body mounting Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.9% | £180–450 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.8% | £60–140 |
| Prescribed areas prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 2.8% | £40–120 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.8% | £18–45 |
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 | 27.1% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 22.9% | £80–180 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Advisory | 11.8% | £20–55 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 9.7% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.3% | £45–110 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 9.0% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1 | 100.0% | 25,791 mi |
| 30-60k | 6 | 66.7% | 47,181 mi |
| 60-90k | 51 | 90.2% | 78,011 mi |
| 90-120k | 116 | 77.6% | 106,392 mi |
| 120k+ | 541 | 76.2% | 175,892 mi |
Source: 719 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 Pajero MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero?
77.2% of the 719 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 73.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.21%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (4.87%), rear fog lamp not working (4.45%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 76.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero in this dataset had covered 149,341 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero?
Diesel: 76.8% pass rate across 659 tests. Petrol: 81.8% pass rate across 55 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 Mitsubishi Pajero MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 77.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.