Pass rate
72.5%
Below average — 0.3 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 7,092 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £43–£127
2004 Skoda Octavia MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 143,484 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
24.6% 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 →
9.9 pts down across model years — 10.6% in 2001, 0.7% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2025 100.0% pass
- Avoid 2000 69.7% pass
Across the 26 years on record, a spread of 30.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 64.2%
- Typical mileage
- 143k mi
The 2004 Skoda Octavia MOT pass rate is 72.5% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Skoda Octavia does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 10.4% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 25% 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 Octavia? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Skoda Octavia compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 0.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 64.2%. The median 2004 Skoda Octavia in this dataset had covered 143,484 mi.
75% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 71.8% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.6% of the time, April–September 72.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 8.60% of tests.
- 7,092 recorded tests behind this page.
- 72.5% overall pass rate, 64.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Skoda Octavia, the average is 83.2% — best year 2025 (100.0%), worst 2000 (69.7%).
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
- 7,092
- Typical mileage (median)
- 143,484 mi
- Make and model
- Skoda Octavia
- 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 Octavia MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 63% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (75% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Octavia
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,410 | 73.2% |
| South West | 1,127 | 67.1% |
| Yorkshire | 764 | 72.1% |
| East of England | 755 | 72.8% |
| West Midlands | 732 | 77.7% |
| North West | 693 | 73.0% |
| East Midlands | 538 | 74.0% |
| Scotland | 413 | 73.1% |
| North East | 299 | 70.6% |
| Wales | 283 | 68.9% |
| London | 78 | 89.7% |
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 2004 Octavia
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 2004 Octavia
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 8.6% 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 windscreen 5.7% 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 coil springs 3.6% 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.
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 2004 Octavia through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £43–£127 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £43–£127
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 7,092 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 Octavia, side by side
26 model years on record, from 2000 to 2025. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.7% to 100.0% — a spread of 30.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 69.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 71.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 74.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 72.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 72.5%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 71.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 71.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 72.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 72.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 74.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2010 75.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2011 76.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 77.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 81.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 84.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 85.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 87.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 87.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 89.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 89.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 91.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 92.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 92.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2023 96.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2024 97.2% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2025 100.0% no single leading item
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 2004 Skoda Octavia 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Honda Civic 72.5%
- Toyota Celica 72.5%
- Toyota Previa 72.5%
- Mitsubishi Shogun 72.6%
- Honda Accord 72.6%
- Suzuki Ignis 72.6%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Skoda Octavia 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 22,724 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 | 5,685 | 24.60% | 20.98% | +3.62 |
| Brakes | 5,053 | 21.90% | 20.89% | +1.01 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2,524 | 10.90% | 12.21% | −1.31 |
| Tyres | 2,403 | 10.40% | 19.76% | −9.36 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2,360 | 10.20% | 5.57% | +4.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,472 | 6.40% | 5.52% | +0.88 |
| Steering | 1,125 | 4.90% | 2.57% | +2.33 |
| Visibility | 979 | 4.20% | 4.97% | −0.77 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 565 | 2.40% | 1.76% | +0.64 |
| Non-component advisories | 558 | 2.40% | 4.18% | −1.78 |
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 | 8.6% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 7.8% | £80–250 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.7% | £80–200 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.9% | £80–250 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £25–65 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £40–150 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.1% | £45–110 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.3% | £5–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 18.6% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.6% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.4% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.2% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 11.9% | £200–700 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.2% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 31 | 74.2% | 24,079 mi |
| 30-60k | 179 | 84.9% | 49,954 mi |
| 60-90k | 746 | 75.6% | 77,392 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,225 | 74.0% | 106,079 mi |
| 120k+ | 4,880 | 71.1% | 170,463 mi |
Source: 7,092 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.
2004 Octavia MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Skoda Octavia?
72.5% of the 7,092 2004 Skoda Octavia tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 64.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Skoda Octavia?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.60%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (7.81%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (5.70%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Skoda Octavia MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 74.2% of the time, falling to 71.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Skoda Octavia in this dataset had covered 143,484 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 Skoda Octavia?
Diesel: 71.8% pass rate across 5,341 tests. Petrol: 74.5% pass rate across 1,748 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2004 Skoda Octavia MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 72.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.