Pass rate
75.8%
Around average — 1.8 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 95 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £41–£105
2009 Opel Insignia MOT pass rate
- 2009
- 2 trims combined
- typical 120,849 mi
Only 95 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
28.6% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2009 75.8% pass · this year
- Avoid 2009 75.8% pass · this year
Across the 1 years on record, a spread of 0 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 69.3%
- Typical mileage
- 121k mi
The 2009 Opel Insignia MOT pass rate is 75.8% of its MOT tests — 1.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.6% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.4× the national share
Suspension accounts for 28.6% of everything recorded on the 2009 Opel Insignia, against 21.0% nationally — 7.6 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- Based on a small sample. 95 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 Insignia? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Opel Insignia first registered in 2009 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2009 Opel Insignia compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 1.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 69.3%. The median 2009 Opel Insignia in this dataset had covered 120,849 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.0% of the time, April–September 77.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction", noted on 4.21% of tests.
- 95 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.8% overall pass rate, 69.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Opel Insignia, the average is 75.8% — best year 2009 (75.8%), worst 2009 (75.8%).
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
- 95
- Typical mileage (median)
- 120,849 mi
- Make and model
- Opel Insignia
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Indicator Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Insignia MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Insignia
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 23 | 73.9% |
| East of England | 16 | 93.8% |
| East Midlands | 16 | 68.8% |
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 2009 Insignia
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 Insignia
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 4.2% of tests
“malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction”
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 4.2% of tests
“washers provides insufficient washer liquid”
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.
-
Check the windscreen 4.2% 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 2009 Insignia through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£105 — and 41% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £41–£105
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 41%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 95 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 2009 Opel Insignia 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
- Jaguar Xf 75.8%
- Volkswagen Golf 75.7%
- Toyota RAV4 75.7%
- Volkswagen Passat 75.9%
- Volvo XC90 75.9%
- Hyundai I20 75.6%
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 Opel Insignia 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 314 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 | 90 | 28.60% | 20.98% | +7.62 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 41 | 13.00% | 5.52% | +7.48 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 36 | 11.40% | 5.57% | +5.83 |
| Brakes | 32 | 10.20% | 20.89% | −10.69 |
| Tyres | 32 | 10.20% | 19.76% | −9.56 |
| Non-component advisories | 31 | 9.80% | 4.18% | +5.62 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 25 | 7.90% | 12.21% | −4.31 |
| Visibility | 16 | 5.10% | 4.97% | +0.13 |
| Steering | 8 | 2.50% | 2.57% | −0.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 1.00% | 1.76% | −0.76 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.2% | £3–12 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 4.2% | £45–110 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Rectified | 4.2% | £5–15 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.2% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 3.2% | £180–450 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.2% | £45–120 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.2% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.2% | £5–20 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 3.2% | £30–75 |
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 | 30.5% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.8% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 14.7% | £40–150 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 14.7% | £180–450 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 13.7% | £25–65 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 13.7% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60-90k | 19 | 89.5% | 76,717 mi |
| 90-120k | 27 | 77.8% | 106,725 mi |
| 120k+ | 49 | 69.4% | 140,014 mi |
Source: 95 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 Insignia MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Opel Insignia?
75.8% of the 95 2009 Opel Insignia tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 69.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Opel Insignia?
The three most recorded items are malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (4.21%), service brake imbalance across an axle (4.21%), washers provides insufficient washer liquid (4.21%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Opel Insignia MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.5% of the time, falling to 69.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Opel Insignia in this dataset had covered 120,849 mi.
Does the season affect the 2009 Opel Insignia MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 77.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.