Pass rate
73.2%
Below average — 0.6 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 82 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £69–£195
2003 Proton Satria MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 62,753 mi
Only 82 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.
Most common fault
Suspension
24.8% 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 2001 86.5% pass
- Avoid 2003 73.2% pass · this year
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 13.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.6%
- Typical mileage
- 63k mi
The 2003 Proton Satria MOT pass rate is 73.2% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Proton Satria does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Steering: 3.1× the national share
Steering accounts for 8.0% of everything recorded on the 2003 Proton Satria, against 2.6% nationally — 5.4 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 24.8%, 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.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 28% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 82 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 Proton Satria? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Proton Satria compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 0.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.6%. The median 2003 Proton Satria in this dataset had covered 62,753 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 68.2% of the time, April–September 78.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 12.20% of tests.
- 82 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.2% overall pass rate, 67.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Proton Satria, the average is 79.8% — best year 2001 (86.5%), worst 2003 (73.2%).
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
- 82
- Typical mileage (median)
- 62,753 mi
- Make and model
- Proton Satria
- 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 Satria MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Satria
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 24 | 58.3% |
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 Satria
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 Satria
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 12.2% 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 the steering 11.0% 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 exhaust and emissions 4.9% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
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 Satria through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £69–£195 — and 28% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £69–£195
- 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
- 30%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 28%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 82 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 Satria, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2001 to 2004. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.2% to 86.5% — a spread of 13.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 86.5% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2002 79.0% battery(ies) insecure but not…
- 2003 73.2%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 78.9% battery(ies) insecure but not…
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 2003 Proton Satria 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
- Volkswagen Passat 73.1%
- Suzuki Jimny 73.1%
- Toyota YARIS 73.0%
- Mazda Mx-5 73.6%
- Volkswagen Golf 72.8%
- Subaru Forester 73.7%
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 Proton Satria 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 221 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 | 56 | 24.80% | 20.98% | +3.82 |
| Brakes | 44 | 19.50% | 20.89% | −1.39 |
| Tyres | 29 | 12.80% | 19.76% | −6.96 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 24 | 10.60% | 12.21% | −1.61 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 23 | 10.20% | 5.52% | +4.68 |
| Steering | 18 | 8.00% | 2.57% | +5.43 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 13 | 5.80% | 5.57% | +0.23 |
| Road Wheels | 6 | 2.70% | 0.75% | +1.95 |
| Visibility | 4 | 1.80% | 4.97% | −3.17 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4 | 1.80% | 0.82% | +0.98 |
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 | 12.2% | £5–20 |
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 11.0% | £120–300 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 7.3% | £120–300 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.9% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.9% | £60–250 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.9% | £180–450 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.9% | £5–25 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.7% | £45–120 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £40–150 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.7% | £45–110 |
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 | 14.6% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.6% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 13.4% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 13.4% | £80–180 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.8% | £35–85 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 8.5% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 7 | 100.0% | 21,320 mi |
| 30-60k | 29 | 75.9% | 48,119 mi |
| 60-90k | 19 | 68.4% | 70,842 mi |
| 90-120k | 15 | 66.7% | 105,962 mi |
| 120k+ | 12 | 66.7% | 143,318 mi |
Source: 82 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 Satria MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Proton Satria?
73.2% of the 82 2003 Proton Satria tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 67.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Proton Satria?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (12.20%), steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (10.98%), steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (7.32%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Proton Satria MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 66.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Proton Satria in this dataset had covered 62,753 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Proton Satria MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 68.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 78.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.