Pass rate
80.0%
Around average — 7.4 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 5,800 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £61–£179
2003 Subaru Impreza MOT pass rate
- 2003
- 4 trims combined
- typical 107,952 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
25.3% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2018 91.8% pass
- Avoid 2001 79.3% pass
Across the 22 years on record, a spread of 12.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 77.2%
- Typical mileage
- 108k mi
The 2003 Subaru Impreza MOT pass rate is 80.0% of its MOT tests — 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.3% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.1× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 11.6% of everything recorded on the 2003 Subaru Impreza, against 5.6% nationally — 6.0 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 25.3%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 72.6% and this one manages 80.0% — 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 30% 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 Subaru Impreza? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Subaru Impreza first registered in 2003 is combined here — 4 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2003 Subaru Impreza compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 77.2%. The median 2003 Subaru Impreza in this dataset had covered 107,952 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 79.3% of the time, April–September 80.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength", noted on 4.28% of tests.
- 5,800 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.0% overall pass rate, 77.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Subaru Impreza, the average is 81.2% — best year 2018 (91.8%), worst 2001 (79.3%).
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
- 5,800
- Typical mileage (median)
- 107,952 mi
- Make and model
- Subaru Impreza
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Corrosion Welding Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Impreza MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Subaru Impreza is most common
Across all Impreza model years on record (2000–2021): 25,960 Subaru Impreza cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 54,700 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 861 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) | 861 | 88.5% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 697 | 85.2% |
| 3 | Coventry (CV) | 551 | 85.3% |
| 4 | Bradford (BD) | 515 | 90.3% |
| 5 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 448 | 83.1% |
| 6 | Ashford (TN) | 440 | 80.9% |
| 7 | Guildford (GU) | 436 | 80.7% |
| 8 | Leicester (LE) | 431 | 83.7% |
| 9 | Nottingham (NG) | 430 | 78.9% |
| 10 | Reading (RG) | 420 | 81.6% |
| 11 | Peterborough (PE) | 412 | 78.0% |
| 12 | Gloucester (GL) | 405 | 76.0% |
| 13 | Derby (DE) | 396 | 80.3% |
| 14 | Portsmouth (PO) | 385 | 76.3% |
| 15 | Blackburn (BB) | 382 | 90.8% |
| 16 | Bristol (BS) | 354 | 76.4% |
| 17 | Glasgow (G) | 350 | 84.4% |
| 18 | High Wycombe (HP) | 345 | 85.4% |
| 19 | Aberdeen (AB) | 344 | 76.4% |
| 20 | Edinburgh (EH) | 328 | 78.8% |
The twenty areas with the most Subaru Impreza 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 Impreza
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,248 | 80.0% |
| South West | 793 | 74.0% |
| West Midlands | 640 | 82.2% |
| Yorkshire | 593 | 83.3% |
| East of England | 575 | 82.1% |
| North West | 562 | 81.0% |
| East Midlands | 435 | 76.3% |
| Scotland | 368 | 78.3% |
| Wales | 240 | 80.0% |
| North East | 212 | 83.0% |
| London | 134 | 90.3% |
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 2003 Impreza
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 2003 Impreza
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 corrosion 4.3% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the lights 4.0% 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 exhaust and emissions 3.0% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
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 2003 Impreza through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £61–£179 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £61–£179
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 5,800 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 Impreza, side by side
22 model years on record, from 2000 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 79.3% to 91.8% — a spread of 12.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 82.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 79.3% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 80.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 80.0%component mounting prescribed…
- 2004 82.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 80.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 80.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 79.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 79.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 80.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 81.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 82.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 90.9% position lamp not working
- 2013 91.7% headlamp aim too low
- 2014 84.5% ball joint excessively worn
- 2015 87.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 90.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 91.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 86.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2020 91.0% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2021 86.6% windscreen damaged but not…
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 2003 Subaru Impreza 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
- Jaguar Xj 78.8%
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 78.3%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Lexus IS200 78.0%
- BMW Z4 77.5%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Subaru Impreza 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 11,473 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 | 2,963 | 25.30% | 20.98% | +4.32 |
| Brakes | 2,108 | 18.00% | 20.89% | −2.89 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,700 | 14.50% | 12.21% | +2.29 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1,353 | 11.60% | 5.57% | +6.03 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,195 | 10.20% | 5.52% | +4.68 |
| Tyres | 1,088 | 9.30% | 19.76% | −10.46 |
| Visibility | 449 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Non-component advisories | 232 | 2.00% | 4.18% | −2.18 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 202 | 1.70% | 0.82% | +0.88 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 183 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.3% | £180–450 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.0% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.9% | £80–250 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.0% | £60–250 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.0% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.8% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.7% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.7% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.7% | £60–250 |
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 | 9.6% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 9.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.1% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 6.2% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 5.7% | £200–700 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.3% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 79 | 89.9% | 18,985 mi |
| 30-60k | 366 | 87.4% | 49,422 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,318 | 85.6% | 77,298 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,811 | 79.5% | 104,611 mi |
| 120k+ | 2,205 | 75.6% | 144,462 mi |
Source: 5,800 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.
2003 Impreza MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Subaru Impreza?
80.0% of the 5,800 2003 Subaru Impreza tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 77.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Subaru Impreza?
The three most recorded items are component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (4.28%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.95%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (3.93%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Subaru Impreza MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.9% of the time, falling to 75.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Subaru Impreza in this dataset had covered 107,952 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Subaru Impreza MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 79.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.