Pass rate
70.9%
Below average — 6.3 pts behind the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 529 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £16–£46
2012 Renault Modus MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 58,441 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
21.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2009 71.8% pass
- Avoid 2004 66.3% pass
Across the 9 years on record, a spread of 5.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 59.8%
- Typical mileage
- 58k mi
The 2012 Renault Modus MOT pass rate is 70.9% of its MOT tests — 6.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.4× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 17.4% of everything recorded on the 2012 Renault Modus, against 12.2% nationally — 5.2 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 21.2%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 77.2%; this one manages 70.9% — 6.3 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
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 Modus? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Renault Modus compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, 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 59.8%. The median 2012 Renault Modus in this dataset had covered 58,441 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 80% of tests, with a 70.6% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.2% of the time, April–September 72.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 12.10% of tests.
- 529 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.9% overall pass rate, 59.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Renault Modus, the average is 69.2% — best year 2009 (71.8%), worst 2004 (66.3%).
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
- 529
- Typical mileage (median)
- 58,441 mi
- Make and model
- Renault Modus
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Modus MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 53% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (80% of tests).
Where the Renault Modus is most common
Across all Modus model years on record (2004–2012): 17,323 Renault Modus cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 49,463 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 509 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) | 509 | 75.0% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 383 | 71.2% |
| 3 | Bristol (BS) | 382 | 65.4% |
| 4 | Portsmouth (PO) | 370 | 68.4% |
| 5 | Norwich (NR) | 368 | 69.8% |
| 6 | Exeter (EX) | 358 | 67.1% |
| 7 | Peterborough (PE) | 336 | 70.3% |
| 8 | Swansea (SA) | 311 | 67.4% |
| 9 | Cardiff (CF) | 309 | 65.4% |
| 10 | Ashford (TN) | 287 | 70.2% |
| 11 | Nottingham (NG) | 285 | 66.7% |
| 12 | Brighton (BN) | 269 | 68.0% |
| 13 | Leicester (LE) | 268 | 72.0% |
| 14 | Manchester (M) | 261 | 72.8% |
| 15 | Gloucester (GL) | 260 | 67.5% |
| 16 | Plymouth (PL) | 247 | 65.3% |
| 17 | Doncaster (DN) | 244 | 66.9% |
| 18 | Coventry (CV) | 244 | 71.3% |
| 19 | Canterbury (CT) | 233 | 69.8% |
| 20 | Guildford (GU) | 233 | 71.2% |
The twenty areas with the most Renault Modus 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 Modus
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 121 | 72.7% |
| South West | 85 | 65.9% |
| Yorkshire | 58 | 65.5% |
| West Midlands | 55 | 76.4% |
| East of England | 49 | 69.4% |
| North West | 42 | 73.8% |
| East Midlands | 31 | 58.1% |
| North East | 28 | 71.4% |
| Wales | 26 | 80.8% |
| Scotland | 20 | 80.0% |
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 2012 Modus
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 2012 Modus
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 coil springs 12.1% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the suspension joints 5.1% 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 lights 4.3% 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.
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 2012 Modus through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £16–£46 — and 37% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £16–£46
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: buckle not functioning as intended
- £40–£120
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 37%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 529 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 Modus, side by side
9 model years on record, from 2004 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 66.3% to 71.8% — a spread of 5.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 66.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 67.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 68.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 68.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2008 69.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2009 71.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 71.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 69.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 70.9%coil spring fractured or broken
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 2012 Renault Modus 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Chevrolet Aveo 71.1%
- Citroen Grand C4 Picasso 71.3%
- Citroen DS3 70.4%
- Peugeot 5008 70.4%
- Nissan Navara 71.5%
- Nissan Qashqai 70.1%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Renault Modus 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 1,118 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 | 242 | 21.20% | 20.98% | +0.22 |
| Brakes | 225 | 19.70% | 20.89% | −1.19 |
| Tyres | 208 | 18.20% | 19.76% | −1.56 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 199 | 17.40% | 12.21% | +5.19 |
| Steering | 55 | 4.80% | 2.57% | +2.23 |
| Non-component advisories | 51 | 4.50% | 4.18% | +0.32 |
| Visibility | 43 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 41 | 3.60% | 5.52% | −1.92 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 33 | 2.90% | 5.57% | −2.67 |
| Road Wheels | 21 | 1.80% | 0.75% | +1.05 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 12.1% | £25–65 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 5.1% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.3% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.4% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.5% | £5–25 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.5% | £3–12 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.3% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.3% | £5–25 |
| Buckle not functioning as intended Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 2.1% | £40–120 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 17.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 16.8% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.2% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 6.2% | £200–700 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.9% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 4.9% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 77 | 87.0% | 23,334 mi |
| 30-60k | 202 | 72.8% | 46,258 mi |
| 60-90k | 182 | 64.3% | 73,100 mi |
| 90-120k | 49 | 67.3% | 102,001 mi |
| 120k+ | 18 | 61.1% | 135,458 mi |
Source: 529 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.
2012 Modus MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Renault Modus?
70.9% of the 529 2012 Renault Modus tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 59.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Renault Modus?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (12.10%), track rod end ball joint has excessive play (5.10%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.35%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Renault Modus MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.0% of the time, falling to 61.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Renault Modus in this dataset had covered 58,441 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Renault Modus?
Petrol: 70.6% pass rate across 422 tests. Diesel: 72.0% pass rate across 107 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Renault Modus MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 72.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.