Pass rate
74.6%
Below average — 2.6 pts behind the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 639 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £44–£132
2012 Skoda Rapid MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 98,280 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
22.8% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 90.1% pass
- Avoid 2012 74.6% pass · this year
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 15.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.1%
- Typical mileage
- 98k mi
The 2012 Skoda Rapid MOT pass rate is 74.6% of its MOT tests — 2.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.8% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
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 Skoda Rapid? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Skoda Rapid compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 2.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.1%. The median 2012 Skoda Rapid in this dataset had covered 98,280 mi.
67% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 73.3% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.7% of the time, April–September 78.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 5.01% of tests.
- 639 recorded tests behind this page.
- 74.6% overall pass rate, 67.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Skoda Rapid, the average is 82.1% — best year 2019 (90.1%), worst 2012 (74.6%).
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
- 639
- Typical mileage (median)
- 98,280 mi
- Make and model
- Skoda Rapid
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 Rapid MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (67% of tests).
Where the Skoda Rapid is most common
Across all Rapid model years on record (2012–2019): 30,205 Skoda Rapid cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 79,239 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 1,098 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) | 1,098 | 85.5% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 781 | 83.8% |
| 3 | Glasgow (G) | 778 | 77.9% |
| 4 | Manchester (M) | 723 | 84.0% |
| 5 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 720 | 80.8% |
| 6 | Portsmouth (PO) | 607 | 83.3% |
| 7 | Nottingham (NG) | 572 | 80.5% |
| 8 | Edinburgh (EH) | 567 | 73.6% |
| 9 | Southampton (SO) | 516 | 83.0% |
| 10 | Leeds (LS) | 473 | 79.2% |
| 11 | Peterborough (PE) | 449 | 84.4% |
| 12 | Reading (RG) | 442 | 86.5% |
| 13 | Bristol (BS) | 430 | 78.1% |
| 14 | Leicester (LE) | 424 | 83.5% |
| 15 | Coventry (CV) | 410 | 82.9% |
| 16 | Oxford (OX) | 409 | 82.1% |
| 17 | Bradford (BD) | 395 | 82.3% |
| 18 | Cardiff (CF) | 394 | 81.2% |
| 19 | Maidstone (ME) | 390 | 87.4% |
| 20 | Middlesbrough (TS) | 386 | 79.7% |
The twenty areas with the most Skoda Rapid 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 Rapid
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 142 | 78.2% |
| South West | 85 | 70.6% |
| Yorkshire | 74 | 67.6% |
| West Midlands | 62 | 83.9% |
| Scotland | 55 | 78.2% |
| North West | 55 | 72.7% |
| East Midlands | 52 | 67.3% |
| East of England | 49 | 75.5% |
| North East | 33 | 69.7% |
| Wales | 23 | 78.3% |
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 Rapid
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 Rapid
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 5.0% 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 3.0% 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 suspension joints 2.8% 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.
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 Rapid through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £44–£132 — and 23% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £44–£132
- 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
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 23%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 639 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 Rapid, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2012 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.6% to 90.1% — a spread of 15.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2012 74.6%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 80.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2014 80.9% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2015 81.4% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2016 82.0% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2017 83.3% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2018 85.6% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2019 90.1% 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 2012 Skoda Rapid 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
- Mitsubishi L200 74.6%
- Peugeot 308 74.5%
- Chrysler Ypsilon 74.5%
- Ford Fiesta 74.7%
- SEAT Ibiza 74.7%
- Hyundai I40 74.7%
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 Skoda Rapid 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 1,313 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 | 302 | 22.80% | 20.89% | +1.91 |
| Suspension | 251 | 19.00% | 20.98% | −1.98 |
| Tyres | 223 | 16.80% | 19.76% | −2.96 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 137 | 10.30% | 12.21% | −1.91 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 110 | 8.30% | 5.57% | +2.73 |
| Non-component advisories | 110 | 8.30% | 4.18% | +4.12 |
| Steering | 67 | 5.10% | 2.57% | +2.53 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 47 | 3.50% | 5.52% | −2.02 |
| Visibility | 41 | 3.10% | 4.97% | −1.87 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 25 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
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 | 5.0% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.8% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.1% | £80–250 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.0% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.8% | £40–150 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 2.5% | £30–75 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £25–65 |
| Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.2% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.2% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.7% | £45–120 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 16.9% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 13.5% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.2% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 11.4% | £120–300 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.9% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 7.7% | £30–75 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 11 | 81.8% | 26,723 mi |
| 30-60k | 74 | 82.4% | 49,783 mi |
| 60-90k | 190 | 73.2% | 76,475 mi |
| 90-120k | 198 | 74.7% | 105,972 mi |
| 120k+ | 166 | 72.3% | 156,411 mi |
Source: 639 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 Rapid MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Skoda Rapid?
74.6% of the 639 2012 Skoda Rapid tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 67.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Skoda Rapid?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.01%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (4.85%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.07%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Skoda Rapid MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 81.8% of the time, falling to 72.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Skoda Rapid in this dataset had covered 98,280 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Skoda Rapid?
Diesel: 73.3% pass rate across 430 tests. Petrol: 77.5% pass rate across 209 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Skoda Rapid MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 78.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.