Pass rate
67.0%
Below average — 6.3 pts behind the 73.3% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 100 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £45–£121
2001 Renault Grand Espace MOT pass rate
- 2001
- typical 113,316 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
22.7% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2003 76.3% pass
- Avoid 2001 67.0% pass · this year
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 9.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 54.8%
- Typical mileage
- 113k mi
The 2001 Renault Grand Espace MOT pass rate is 67.0% of its MOT tests — 6.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.1× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 11.6% of everything recorded on the 2001 Renault Grand Espace, against 5.5% nationally — 6.1 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 22.7%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.3%; this one manages 67.0% — 6.3 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- Based on a small sample. 100 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 Renault Grand Espace? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2001 Renault Grand Espace compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.3%, so this figure is 6.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 54.8%. The median 2001 Renault Grand Espace in this dataset had covered 113,316 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 60% of tests, with a 66.7% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 69.4% of the time, April–September 63.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier", noted on 9.00% of tests.
- 100 recorded tests behind this page.
- 67.0% overall pass rate, 54.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Renault Grand Espace, the average is 70.1% — best year 2003 (76.3%), worst 2001 (67.0%).
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
- 100
- Typical mileage (median)
- 113,316 mi
- Make and model
- Renault Grand Espace
- 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 Grand Espace MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 42% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (60% of tests).
Where the Renault Grand Espace is most common
Across all Grand Espace model years on record (2001–2012): 2,423 Renault Grand Espace cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 6,373 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 79 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 79 | 76.4% |
| 2 | Ashford (TN) | 71 | 73.2% |
| 3 | Peterborough (PE) | 63 | 68.2% |
| 4 | Leicester (LE) | 56 | 77.2% |
| 5 | Brighton (BN) | 52 | 67.1% |
| 6 | Portsmouth (PO) | 51 | 64.5% |
| 7 | Reading (RG) | 50 | 69.6% |
| 8 | Norwich (NR) | 47 | 73.6% |
| 9 | Ipswich (IP) | 46 | 69.2% |
| 10 | Sheffield (S) | 45 | 72.6% |
| 11 | Guildford (GU) | 42 | 69.6% |
| 12 | Coventry (CV) | 42 | 67.7% |
| 13 | Maidstone (ME) | 41 | 74.3% |
| 14 | Nottingham (NG) | 40 | 68.0% |
| 15 | Southampton (SO) | 38 | 70.6% |
| 16 | Northampton (NN) | 37 | 72.3% |
| 17 | Poole (BH) | 36 | 67.2% |
| 18 | Cambridge (CB) | 36 | 70.6% |
| 19 | Oxford (OX) | 36 | 75.7% |
| 20 | High Wycombe (HP) | 36 | 71.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Renault Grand Espace cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Grand Espace
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 31 | 64.5% |
| East of England | 16 | 62.5% |
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 Grand Espace
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 Grand Espace
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 9.0% 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 wipers and washers 5.0% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
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 suspension joints 4.0% 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 2001 Grand Espace through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £45–£121 — and 37% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £45–£121
- Cheapest common item: individual direction indicators adversely…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 37%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 100 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 Grand Espace, side by side
12 model years on record, from 2001 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 67.0% to 76.3% — a spread of 9.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 67.0%battery(ies) insecure but not…
- 2002 72.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 76.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 71.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 71.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 69.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 68.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 69.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 68.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 70.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 70.9% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2012 73.9% track rod end ball joint has…
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 Renault Grand Espace 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
- Volkswagen Beetle 67.8%
- Citroen Xsara 68.1%
- MINI Mini 68.2%
- Ford Fiesta 69.0%
- Vauxhall Corsa 69.1%
- Honda Accord 69.5%
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 Renault Grand Espace 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 392 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 | 90 | 22.70% | 20.89% | +1.81 |
| Suspension | 72 | 18.20% | 20.98% | −2.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 52 | 13.10% | 12.21% | +0.89 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 46 | 11.60% | 5.52% | +6.08 |
| Tyres | 36 | 9.10% | 19.76% | −10.66 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 35 | 8.80% | 5.57% | +3.23 |
| Non-component advisories | 21 | 5.30% | 4.18% | +1.12 |
| Steering | 21 | 5.30% | 2.57% | +2.73 |
| Visibility | 10 | 2.50% | 4.97% | −2.47 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 9 | 2.30% | 0.82% | +1.48 |
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 | 9.0% | £60–140 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 5.0% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.0% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.0% | £60–250 |
| Individual direction indicators adversely affected by the operation of another lamp Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.0% | £3–12 |
| Individual direction indicators lens defective which has no effect on emitted light Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.0% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp adversely affected by the operation of another lamp Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.0% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.0% | £45–110 |
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 4.0% | £120–300 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 4.0% | £120–300 |
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 | 31.0% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 21.0% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 20.0% | £25–65 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 19.0% | £60–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 17.0% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 15.0% | £80–180 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 13 | 69.2% | 13,876 mi |
| 30-60k | 6 | 50.0% | 56,077 mi |
| 60-90k | 26 | 73.1% | 74,569 mi |
| 90-120k | 11 | 81.8% | 111,762 mi |
| 120k+ | 42 | 59.5% | 144,360 mi |
Source: 100 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 Grand Espace MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2001 Renault Grand Espace?
67.0% of the 100 2001 Renault Grand Espace tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.3% for cars first used in 2001. First-attempt pass rate: 54.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2001 Renault Grand Espace?
The three most recorded items are battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (9.00%), wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (5.00%), ball joint excessively worn (4.00%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2001 Renault Grand Espace MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 69.2% of the time, falling to 59.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2001 Renault Grand Espace in this dataset had covered 113,316 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2001 Renault Grand Espace?
Petrol: 66.7% pass rate across 60 tests. Diesel: 67.5% pass rate across 40 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2001 Renault Grand Espace MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 69.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 63.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.