Pass rate
66.1%
Below average — 6.1 pts behind the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 59 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £45–£115
2004 Opel Vivaro MOT pass rate
- 2004
- Van
- 2 trims combined
- typical 141,632 mi
Only 59 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
Brakes
21.3% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2004 66.1% pass · this year
- Avoid 2004 66.1% pass · this year
Across the 1 years on record, a spread of 0 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 53.5%
- Typical mileage
- 142k mi
The 2004 Opel Vivaro MOT pass rate is 66.1% of its MOT tests — 6.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.3% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Steering: 4.3× the national share
Steering accounts for 11.0% of everything recorded on the 2004 Opel Vivaro, against 2.6% nationally — 8.4 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 21.3%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, vans this age and mileage expect about 72.2%; this one manages 66.1% — 6.1 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 25% 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 Vivaro? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Opel Vivaro first registered in 2004 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2004 Opel Vivaro compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 6.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 53.5%. The median 2004 Opel Vivaro in this dataset had covered 141,632 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Track rod end ball joint has excessive play", noted on 15.25% of tests.
- 59 recorded tests behind this page.
- 66.1% overall pass rate, 53.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Opel Vivaro, the average is 66.1% — best year 2004 (66.1%), worst 2004 (66.1%).
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
- 59
- Typical mileage (median)
- 141,632 mi
- Make and model
- Opel Vivaro
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Vivaro MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 52% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Vivaro
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 23 | 65.2% |
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 2004 Vivaro
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 2004 Vivaro
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 suspension joints 15.3% of tests
“track rod end ball joint has excessive play”
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.
-
Check the windscreen 15.3% 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 lights 10.2% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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.
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 2004 Vivaro through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £45–£115 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £45–£115
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- 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
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 59 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 2004 Opel Vivaro 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 2004 vans with a similar record
- Citroen Relay 66.0%
- Citroen Dispatch 66.7%
- Peugeot Expert 66.7%
- Renault Trafic 66.9%
- Ford Transit Connect 67.1%
- Fiat Doblo 67.1%
Closest pass rates among 2004 vans with at least 1,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. Full rankings: best vans and worst vans for MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2004 Opel Vivaro 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 254 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 | 54 | 21.30% | 20.89% | +0.41 |
| Suspension | 53 | 20.90% | 20.98% | −0.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 37 | 14.60% | 12.21% | +2.39 |
| Steering | 28 | 11.00% | 2.57% | +8.43 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 22 | 8.70% | 5.57% | +3.13 |
| Tyres | 17 | 6.70% | 19.76% | −13.06 |
| Visibility | 17 | 6.70% | 4.97% | +1.73 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 11 | 4.30% | 5.52% | −1.22 |
| Non-component advisories | 9 | 3.50% | 4.18% | −0.68 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 6 | 2.40% | 1.76% | +0.64 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 15.3% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 15.3% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 10.2% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 10.2% | £5–25 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 6.8% | £180–450 |
| Headlamp lens seriously defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.1% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 5.1% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 5.1% | £80–180 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 5.1% | £5–15 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 3.4% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 25.4% | £80–180 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 18.6% | £25–65 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 16.9% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 16.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.3% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 15.3% | £120–300 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 8 | 75.0% | 53,274 mi |
| 90-120k | 8 | 87.5% | 106,121 mi |
| 120k+ | 43 | 60.5% | 163,286 mi |
Source: 59 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.
2004 Vivaro MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Opel Vivaro?
66.1% of the 59 2004 Opel Vivaro tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 53.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Opel Vivaro?
The three most recorded items are track rod end ball joint has excessive play (15.25%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (15.25%), ball joint excessively worn (10.17%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Opel Vivaro MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 75.0% of the time, falling to 60.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Opel Vivaro in this dataset had covered 141,632 mi.