Pass rate
94.1%
Above average — 8.1 pts ahead of the 86.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 101 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £55–£142
2017 Morgan Roadster MOT pass rate
- 2017
- typical 8,708 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
27.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2013 97.8% pass
- Avoid 2015 87.4% pass
Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 10.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 93.8%
- Typical mileage
- 9k mi
The 2017 Morgan Roadster MOT pass rate is 94.1% of its MOT tests — 8.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Steering: 6.8× the national share
Steering accounts for 17.5% of everything recorded on the 2017 Morgan Roadster, against 2.6% nationally — 14.9 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 27.5%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
- 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 86.0% and this one manages 94.1% — 8.1 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 Morgan Roadster? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2017 Morgan Roadster compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 86.0%, so this figure is 8.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 93.8%. The median 2017 Morgan Roadster in this dataset had covered 8,708 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 94.6% of the time, April–September 93.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 2.97% of tests.
- 101 recorded tests behind this page.
- 94.1% overall pass rate, 93.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Morgan Roadster, the average is 92.2% — best year 2013 (97.8%), worst 2015 (87.4%).
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
- 101
- Typical mileage (median)
- 8,708 mi
- Make and model
- Morgan Roadster
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Steering Rack
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Roadster MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 72% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Roadster
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 39 | 89.7% |
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 2017 Roadster
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 2017 Roadster
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 steering 3.0% 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.
-
Check the lights 2.0% of tests
“headlamp aim too high”
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 wipers and washers 2.0% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the 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 2017 Roadster through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £55–£142 — and 33% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £55–£142
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- 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 101 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 Roadster, side by side
16 model years on record, from 2004 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 87.4% to 97.8% — a spread of 10.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 93.9% service brake imbalance across an…
- 2005 94.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 94.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 89.3% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2008 92.8% headlamp aim too high
- 2009 94.7% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2010 90.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2011 94.6% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2012 94.2% reversing lamps inoperative
- 2013 97.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 87.4% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2015 87.4% headlamp aim too high
- 2016 92.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2017 94.1%steering rack gaiter damaged or…
- 2018 89.9% steering rack gaiter missing or…
- 2019 89.6% steering rack gaiter missing or…
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 2017 Morgan Roadster 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 2017 cars with a similar record
- Porsche Boxster 94.3%
- Audi A8 93.8%
- Porsche Cayman 94.6%
- Lexus Nx 93.5%
- Porsche Macan 93.4%
- Lexus Rx 94.9%
Closest pass rates among 2017 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 2017 Morgan Roadster 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 40 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 | 11 | 27.50% | 20.98% | +6.52 |
| Steering | 7 | 17.50% | 2.57% | +14.93 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 6 | 15.00% | 12.21% | +2.79 |
| Tyres | 5 | 12.50% | 19.76% | −7.26 |
| Visibility | 4 | 10.00% | 4.97% | +5.03 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 3 | 7.50% | 5.57% | +1.93 |
| Brakes | 2 | 5.00% | 20.89% | −15.89 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1 | 2.50% | 5.52% | −3.02 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 1 | 2.50% | 0.82% | +1.68 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 3.0% | £120–300 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £30–80 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 2.0% | £120–300 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.0% | £8–22 |
| Exhaust system system insecure Body, chassis, structure | Rectified | 0.99% | £45–120 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.99% | £45–95 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.99% | £8–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Rectified | 0.99% | £3–12 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 0.99% | £40–150 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 0.99% | £5–20 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.0% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–95 |
| Stub axle has excessive vertical movement between stub axle and axle beam Suspension | Advisory | 2.0% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–95 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Advisory | 2.0% | £20–55 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 0.99% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 89 | 95.5% | 10,589 mi |
| 30-60k | 10 | 80.0% | 42,156 mi |
Source: 101 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.
2017 Roadster MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2017 Morgan Roadster?
94.1% of the 101 2017 Morgan Roadster tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 86.0% for cars first used in 2017. First-attempt pass rate: 93.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2017 Morgan Roadster?
The three most recorded items are steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.97%), headlamp aim too high (1.98%), steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (1.98%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2017 Morgan Roadster MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 95.5% of the time, falling to 80.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2017 Morgan Roadster in this dataset had covered 8,708 mi.
Does the season affect the 2017 Morgan Roadster MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 94.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 93.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.