Pass rate
84.7%
Around average — 1.3 pts behind the 86.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 62,134 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £41–£115
2017 Skoda Fabia MOT pass rate
- 2017
- typical 46,311 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
28.6% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
6.6 pts down across model years — 9.7% in 2000, 3.1% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 97.0% pass
- Avoid 2003 70.1% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 26.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 82.0%
- Typical mileage
- 46k mi
The 2017 Skoda Fabia MOT pass rate is 84.7% of its MOT tests — 1.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Skoda Fabia does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.4× the national share
Tyres make up 28.6% of everything recorded on the 2017 Skoda Fabia, against 19.8% nationally — 8.8 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 8% 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 Skoda Fabia? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2017 Skoda Fabia compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 86.0%, so this figure is 1.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 82.0%. The median 2017 Skoda Fabia in this dataset had covered 46,311 mi.
94% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 84.8% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 84.9% of the time, April–September 84.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn", noted on 4.54% of tests.
- 62,134 recorded tests behind this page.
- 84.7% overall pass rate, 82.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Skoda Fabia, the average is 80.4% — best year 2023 (97.0%), worst 2003 (70.1%).
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
- 62,134
- Typical mileage (median)
- 46,311 mi
- Make and model
- Skoda Fabia
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Suspension Component
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Fabia MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (94% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Fabia
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 11,863 | 86.7% |
| Scotland | 7,257 | 79.1% |
| North West | 6,921 | 85.0% |
| Yorkshire | 6,890 | 83.9% |
| South West | 6,739 | 85.0% |
| West Midlands | 6,066 | 85.0% |
| East of England | 4,892 | 87.9% |
| East Midlands | 3,706 | 83.5% |
| North East | 3,227 | 83.5% |
| Wales | 2,885 | 85.6% |
| London | 1,686 | 86.7% |
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 2017 Fabia
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 2017 Fabia
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 4.5% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush 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.
-
Check the windscreen 1.7% 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 shock absorbers 1.4% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
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 2017 Fabia through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£115 — and 8% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £41–£115
- Cheapest common item: wipers does not clear the windscreen…
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 8%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 62,134 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 Fabia, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.1% to 97.0% — a spread of 26.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 71.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 71.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2002 71.8% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 70.1% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 70.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 70.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 71.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 72.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 71.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 73.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 77.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2011 78.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 79.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 81.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 82.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 83.7% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2016 83.5% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2017 84.7%pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2018 86.4% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2019 89.8% wipers does not clear the…
- 2020 90.7% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 90.8% wipers does not clear the…
- 2022 94.1% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2023 97.0% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2017 Skoda Fabia 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 2017 cars with a similar record
- Smart Mcc Forfour 84.7%
- Citroen C3 Aircross 84.8%
- Mercedes-Benz Cla 84.6%
- Fiat 500C 84.6%
- Renault Scenic 84.6%
- Ford Fiesta 84.9%
Closest pass rates among 2017 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 2017 Skoda Fabia 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 76,038 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 21,893 | 28.60% | 19.76% | +8.84 |
| Suspension | 20,705 | 27.00% | 20.98% | +6.02 |
| Brakes | 18,761 | 24.50% | 20.89% | +3.61 |
| Visibility | 3,522 | 4.60% | 4.97% | −0.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 3,277 | 4.30% | 4.18% | +0.12 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3,196 | 4.20% | 12.21% | −8.01 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1,445 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1,388 | 1.80% | 5.57% | −3.77 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,091 | 1.40% | 5.52% | −4.12 |
| Road Wheels | 760 | 1.00% | 0.75% | +0.25 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.5% | £40–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.7% | £80–200 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.4% | £30–75 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.2% | £8–22 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.87% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 0.71% | £45–110 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.69% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.63% | £30–80 |
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 | 14.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.4% | £45–110 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 13.2% | £30–75 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.7% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 10.3% | £40–150 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.1% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 12,997 | 90.6% | 21,524 mi |
| 30-60k | 31,800 | 84.7% | 44,596 mi |
| 60-90k | 13,759 | 80.5% | 71,633 mi |
| 90-120k | 2,937 | 78.5% | 100,749 mi |
| 120k+ | 630 | 79.5% | 143,283 mi |
Source: 62,134 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.
2017 Fabia MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2017 Skoda Fabia?
84.7% of the 62,134 2017 Skoda Fabia tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 86.0% for cars first used in 2017. First-attempt pass rate: 82.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2017 Skoda Fabia?
The three most recorded items are pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (4.54%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.72%), shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (1.35%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2017 Skoda Fabia MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.6% of the time, falling to 79.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2017 Skoda Fabia in this dataset had covered 46,311 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2017 Skoda Fabia?
Petrol: 84.8% pass rate across 58,570 tests. Diesel: 82.4% pass rate across 3,564 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2017 Skoda Fabia MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 84.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 84.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.