Pass rate
69.0%
Below average — 8.2 pts behind the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 18,410 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £38–£105
2012 Renault Trafic MOT pass rate
- 2012
- Van
- typical 132,981 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
25.1% 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 →
8.7 pts down across model years — 12.7% in 2002, 4.0% in 2014.
Which year to buy
- Best 2025 98.3% pass
- Avoid 2004 66.9% pass
Across the 26 years on record, a spread of 31.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 56.7%
- Typical mileage
- 133k mi
The 2012 Renault Trafic MOT pass rate is 69.0% of its MOT tests — 8.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.1% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Renault Trafic 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 van of this age.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, vans this age and mileage expect about 77.2%; this one manages 69.0% — 8.2 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 23% 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 Renault Trafic? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Renault Trafic compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 8.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 56.7%. The median 2012 Renault Trafic in this dataset had covered 132,981 mi.
100% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 69.1% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 69.1% of the time, April–September 69.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Track rod end ball joint has excessive play", noted on 8.74% of tests.
- 18,410 recorded tests behind this page.
- 69.0% overall pass rate, 56.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Renault Trafic, the average is 73.4% — best year 2025 (98.3%), worst 2004 (66.9%).
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
- 18,410
- Typical mileage (median)
- 132,981 mi
- Make and model
- Renault Trafic
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Trafic MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 60% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (100% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Trafic
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 3,286 | 70.5% |
| South West | 2,997 | 66.2% |
| East of England | 2,310 | 70.9% |
| North West | 1,903 | 68.6% |
| Scotland | 1,692 | 66.3% |
| West Midlands | 1,549 | 70.8% |
| Yorkshire | 1,481 | 68.5% |
| East Midlands | 1,178 | 69.8% |
| Wales | 1,148 | 69.8% |
| North East | 645 | 67.8% |
| London | 221 | 79.2% |
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 2012 Trafic
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 Trafic
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 8.7% 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 8.7% 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 5.0% of tests
“position lamp not working”
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 Trafic through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £38–£105 — and 23% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £38–£105
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot split or…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 23%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 18,410 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 Trafic, side by side
26 model years on record, from 2000 to 2025. Across them the pass rate runs from 66.9% to 98.3% — a spread of 31.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 78.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2001 67.6% ball joint excessively worn
- 2002 68.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 67.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 66.9% ball joint excessively worn
- 2005 68.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 67.4% ball joint excessively worn
- 2007 68.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 68.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 68.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 67.9% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2011 67.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 69.0%track rod end ball joint has…
- 2013 70.5% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2014 70.9% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2015 72.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 74.8% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2017 76.1% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2018 78.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 81.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 84.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 84.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 84.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2023 91.1% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2024 94.7% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2025 98.3% headlamp aim too high
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 Trafic 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 vans with a similar record
- Vauxhall Vivaro 68.1%
- Nissan Primastar 68.0%
- Nissan NV200 70.5%
- Ford Transit 70.6%
- Citroen Dispatch 71.3%
- Fiat Scudo 71.4%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Renault Trafic 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 52,539 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 | 13,363 | 25.10% | 20.89% | +4.21 |
| Suspension | 11,354 | 21.30% | 20.98% | +0.32 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 7,624 | 14.30% | 12.21% | +2.09 |
| Tyres | 5,254 | 9.90% | 19.76% | −9.86 |
| Visibility | 3,600 | 6.70% | 4.97% | +1.73 |
| Steering | 3,509 | 6.60% | 2.57% | +4.03 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2,604 | 4.90% | 5.52% | −0.62 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2,454 | 4.60% | 5.57% | −0.97 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,934 | 3.60% | 4.18% | −0.58 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 843 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
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 | 8.7% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 8.7% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 7.1% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.0% | £5–25 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.6% | £80–250 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.0% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.8% | £40–150 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.5% | £3–12 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.4% | £80–180 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £5–20 |
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 | 17.5% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.0% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 10.9% | £40–150 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.9% | £18–45 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 7.5% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 186 | 84.9% | 21,241 mi |
| 30-60k | 742 | 75.1% | 48,032 mi |
| 60-90k | 2,185 | 70.4% | 76,710 mi |
| 90-120k | 3,979 | 68.7% | 105,448 mi |
| 120k+ | 11,094 | 68.2% | 168,771 mi |
Source: 18,410 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 Trafic MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Renault Trafic?
69.0% of the 18,410 2012 Renault Trafic tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 56.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Renault Trafic?
The three most recorded items are track rod end ball joint has excessive play (8.74%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (8.70%), ball joint excessively worn (7.11%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Renault Trafic MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 84.9% of the time, falling to 68.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Renault Trafic in this dataset had covered 132,981 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Renault Trafic?
Diesel: 69.1% pass rate across 18,361 tests. Petrol: 61.2% pass rate across 49 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Renault Trafic MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 69.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 69.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.