Pass rate
72.3%
Below average — 1.0 pts behind the 73.3% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,234 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £58–£152
2001 Peugeot 406 MOT pass rate
- 2001
- typical 135,764 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
23.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2001 72.3% pass · this year
- Avoid 2003 70.0% pass
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 2.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 64.6%
- Typical mileage
- 136k mi
The 2001 Peugeot 406 MOT pass rate is 72.3% of its MOT tests — 1.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Peugeot 406 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 9.9% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 24% 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 Peugeot 406? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2001 Peugeot 406 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.3%, so this figure is 1.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 64.6%. The median 2001 Peugeot 406 in this dataset had covered 135,764 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 68% of tests, with a 72.1% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.7% of the time, April–September 70.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 4.92% of tests.
- 2,234 recorded tests behind this page.
- 72.3% overall pass rate, 64.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Peugeot 406, the average is 71.5% — best year 2001 (72.3%), worst 2003 (70.0%).
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
- 2,234
- Typical mileage (median)
- 135,764 mi
- Make and model
- Peugeot 406
- 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 406 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 63% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (68% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 406
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 555 | 72.6% |
| South West | 443 | 68.2% |
| East of England | 294 | 75.9% |
| West Midlands | 239 | 75.7% |
| North West | 198 | 71.2% |
| East Midlands | 164 | 72.0% |
| Wales | 106 | 67.0% |
| Yorkshire | 99 | 77.8% |
| London | 60 | 68.3% |
| North East | 40 | 82.5% |
| Scotland | 36 | 72.2% |
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 2001 406
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 2001 406
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 4.9% 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 corrosion 4.7% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.6% 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 2001 406 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £58–£152 — and 24% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £58–£152
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 24%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,234 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 406, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2000 to 2004. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.0% to 72.3% — a spread of 2.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 72.2% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 72.3%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 71.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 70.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 71.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
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 2001 Peugeot 406 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 2001 cars with a similar record
- Vauxhall Astra 72.3%
- Audi Tt 72.2%
- Volkswagen Golf 72.4%
- Ford Puma 72.1%
- Honda Civic 72.0%
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class 72.6%
Closest pass rates among 2001 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 2001 Peugeot 406 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 7,637 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 | 1,830 | 23.50% | 20.98% | +2.52 |
| Brakes | 1,799 | 23.10% | 20.89% | +2.21 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,120 | 14.40% | 12.21% | +2.19 |
| Tyres | 768 | 9.90% | 19.76% | −9.86 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 699 | 9.00% | 5.57% | +3.43 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 621 | 8.00% | 5.52% | +2.48 |
| Visibility | 282 | 3.60% | 4.97% | −1.37 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 196 | 2.50% | 1.76% | +0.74 |
| Steering | 166 | 2.10% | 2.57% | −0.47 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 156 | 2.00% | 0.82% | +1.18 |
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 | 4.9% | £5–20 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.7% | £180–450 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.6% | £80–250 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.5% | £5–25 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.1% | £45–120 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.0% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.0% | £30–80 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.0% | £45–110 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 3.0% | £60–150 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 22.0% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 19.7% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.4% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 12.1% | £25–65 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.6% | £80–180 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.7% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 5 | 80.0% | 24,162 mi |
| 30-60k | 113 | 74.3% | 49,269 mi |
| 60-90k | 314 | 75.8% | 76,970 mi |
| 90-120k | 426 | 73.5% | 105,220 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,343 | 71.0% | 174,120 mi |
Source: 2,234 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.
2001 406 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2001 Peugeot 406?
72.3% of the 2,234 2001 Peugeot 406 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.3% for cars first used in 2001. First-attempt pass rate: 64.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2001 Peugeot 406?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.92%), component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (4.74%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (3.63%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2001 Peugeot 406 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 80.0% of the time, falling to 71.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2001 Peugeot 406 in this dataset had covered 135,764 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2001 Peugeot 406?
Diesel: 72.1% pass rate across 1,530 tests. Petrol: 72.9% pass rate across 704 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2001 Peugeot 406 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 70.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.