Pass rate
64.0%
Below average — 8.6 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 50 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £46–£127
2003 Opel Corsa MOT pass rate
- 2003
- 2 trims combined
- typical 89,313 mi
Only 50 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
Suspension
20.7% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2003 64.0% pass · this year
- Avoid 2003 64.0% pass · this year
Across the 1 years on record, a spread of 0 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 47.1%
- Typical mileage
- 89k mi
The 2003 Opel Corsa MOT pass rate is 64.0% of its MOT tests — 8.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 20.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.1× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 11.5% of everything recorded on the 2003 Opel Corsa, against 5.6% nationally — 5.9 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 20.7%, 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.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 72.6%; this one manages 64.0% — 8.6 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 8% 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 Opel Corsa? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Opel Corsa first registered in 2003 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2003 Opel Corsa compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 8.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 47.1%. The median 2003 Opel Corsa in this dataset had covered 89,313 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier", noted on 16.00% of tests.
- 50 recorded tests behind this page.
- 64.0% overall pass rate, 47.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Opel Corsa, the average is 64.0% — best year 2003 (64.0%), worst 2003 (64.0%).
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
- 50
- Typical mileage (median)
- 89,313 mi
- Make and model
- Opel Corsa
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Battery
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Corsa MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 42% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Corsa
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 17 | 52.9% |
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 Corsa
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 Corsa
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 battery 16.0% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure”
Check the battery is secure and its terminals are clean and tight — a loose battery is a fail on its own, and a weak one shows up as slow cranking on a cold morning.
-
Check the coil springs 10.0% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the suspension joints 6.0% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
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 Corsa through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £46–£127 — and 8% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £46–£127
- Cheapest common item: headlamp lens seriously defective
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 8%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 50 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 →
Compare the 2003 Opel Corsa 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
- Vauxhall Combo 65.8%
- Volkswagen Beetle 67.1%
- Volvo V40 67.3%
- Ford Ka 68.0%
- Ford Galaxy 68.0%
- Citroen C3 68.2%
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 Opel Corsa 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 174 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 | 36 | 20.70% | 20.98% | −0.28 |
| Brakes | 30 | 17.20% | 20.89% | −3.69 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 23 | 13.20% | 12.21% | +0.99 |
| Tyres | 21 | 12.10% | 19.76% | −7.66 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 20 | 11.50% | 5.57% | +5.93 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 19 | 10.90% | 5.52% | +5.38 |
| Non-component advisories | 8 | 4.60% | 4.18% | +0.42 |
| Steering | 8 | 4.60% | 2.57% | +2.03 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 6 | 3.40% | 1.76% | +1.64 |
| Visibility | 3 | 1.70% | 4.97% | −3.27 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 16.0% | £60–140 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 10.0% | £25–65 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 8.0% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 8.0% | £80–250 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 6.0% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 6.0% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp lens seriously defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 6.0% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 6.0% | £45–110 |
| Cable damaged Brakes | Major | 4.0% | £45–110 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.0% | £45–120 |
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 | 30.0% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 22.0% | £45–95 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 14.0% | £45–120 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 12.0% | £18–45 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Advisory | 12.0% | £20–55 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 10.0% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 50.0% | 25,560 mi |
| 30-60k | 10 | 60.0% | 42,033 mi |
| 60-90k | 13 | 69.2% | 78,980 mi |
| 90-120k | 25 | 64.0% | 100,034 mi |
Source: 50 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 Corsa MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Opel Corsa?
64.0% of the 50 2003 Opel Corsa tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 47.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Opel Corsa?
The three most recorded items are battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (16.00%), coil spring fractured or broken (10.00%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (8.00%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Opel Corsa MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 50.0% of the time, falling to 64.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Opel Corsa in this dataset had covered 89,313 mi.