Pass rate
70.5%
Below average — 2.1 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,567 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £61–£162
2003 Suzuki Carry MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 89,722 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
22.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2013 92.7% pass
- Avoid 2000 69.2% pass
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 23.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 61.3%
- Typical mileage
- 90k mi
The 2003 Suzuki Carry MOT pass rate is 70.5% of its MOT tests — 2.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.3× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 12.7% of everything recorded on the 2003 Suzuki Carry, against 5.6% nationally — 7.1 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 22.5%, 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.
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 Suzuki Carry? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Suzuki Carry compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 2.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 61.3%. The median 2003 Suzuki Carry in this dataset had covered 89,722 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 69.6% of the time, April–September 71.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength", noted on 8.80% of tests.
- 2,567 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.5% overall pass rate, 61.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Suzuki Carry, the average is 71.7% — best year 2013 (92.7%), worst 2000 (69.2%).
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
- 2,567
- Typical mileage (median)
- 89,722 mi
- Make and model
- Suzuki Carry
- 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 Carry MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 57% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Suzuki Carry is most common
Across all Carry model years on record (2000–2013): 5,080 Suzuki Carry cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 13,976 tests. Portsmouth (PO) has the most, with 212 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 | Portsmouth (PO) | 212 | 70.2% |
| 2 | Brighton (BN) | 164 | 66.3% |
| 3 | Bristol (BS) | 146 | 64.1% |
| 4 | Birmingham (B) | 135 | 84.9% |
| 5 | Exeter (EX) | 132 | 66.0% |
| 6 | Plymouth (PL) | 118 | 64.9% |
| 7 | Poole (BH) | 115 | 66.4% |
| 8 | Newton Abbot (TQ) | 94 | 63.2% |
| 9 | Ashford (TN) | 94 | 72.8% |
| 10 | Norwich (NR) | 87 | 70.0% |
| 11 | Nottingham (NG) | 84 | 71.1% |
| 12 | Southampton (SO) | 83 | 69.7% |
| 13 | Yeovil (BA) | 81 | 69.0% |
| 14 | Sheffield (S) | 79 | 70.2% |
| 15 | Truro (TR) | 78 | 59.3% |
| 16 | Kingston upon Thames (KT) | 77 | 76.3% |
| 17 | Taunton (TA) | 76 | 68.5% |
| 18 | Swansea (SA) | 72 | 68.4% |
| 19 | Leicester (LE) | 72 | 78.7% |
| 20 | Crawley (RH) | 71 | 75.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Suzuki Carry 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 Carry
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 743 | 73.4% |
| South West | 562 | 63.9% |
| North West | 304 | 68.4% |
| East of England | 202 | 72.3% |
| Yorkshire | 159 | 69.2% |
| West Midlands | 147 | 74.8% |
| London | 134 | 84.3% |
| East Midlands | 130 | 72.3% |
| Wales | 121 | 66.9% |
| Scotland | 36 | 63.9% |
| North East | 29 | 75.9% |
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 Carry
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 Carry
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 8.8% 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 windscreen 5.1% 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 5.0% of tests
“ball joint 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 2003 Carry through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £61–£162 — and 41% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £61–£162
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 41%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,567 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 Carry, side by side
14 model years on record, from 2000 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.2% to 92.7% — a spread of 23.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 69.2% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 71.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 71.0% component mounting prescribed…
- 2003 70.5%component mounting prescribed…
- 2004 71.2% component mounting prescribed…
- 2005 71.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2006 73.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 75.9% rear fog lamp not working
- 2008 83.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 82.0% position lamp not working
- 2010 92.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2011 84.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2012 88.2% ball joint dust cover no longer…
- 2013 92.7% rear fog lamp missing
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 Suzuki Carry 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
- Ford Focus 70.6%
- Vauxhall Vectra 70.4%
- Volvo XC90 70.7%
- MINI Mini 70.9%
- Skoda Fabia 70.1%
- Vauxhall Zafira 70.1%
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 Suzuki Carry 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 7,187 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 | 1,647 | 22.50% | 20.98% | +1.52 |
| Brakes | 1,309 | 17.90% | 20.89% | −2.99 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,000 | 13.70% | 12.21% | +1.49 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 928 | 12.70% | 5.57% | +7.13 |
| Tyres | 785 | 10.70% | 19.76% | −9.06 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 532 | 7.30% | 5.52% | +1.78 |
| Visibility | 377 | 5.20% | 4.97% | +0.23 |
| Non-component advisories | 328 | 4.50% | 4.18% | +0.32 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 172 | 2.40% | 1.76% | +0.64 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 109 | 1.50% | 0.82% | +0.68 |
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 | 8.8% | £180–450 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.1% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.6% | £5–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.7% | £3–12 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.2% | £5–20 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.0% | £60–250 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.0% | £3–12 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.9% | £8–22 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £80–180 |
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 | 19.2% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 16.2% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.2% | £40–150 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 8.3% | £180–450 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 8.3% | £120–300 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.1% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 62 | 90.3% | 21,529 mi |
| 30-60k | 442 | 79.4% | 47,525 mi |
| 60-90k | 789 | 71.0% | 76,118 mi |
| 90-120k | 748 | 66.8% | 102,612 mi |
| 120k+ | 523 | 65.6% | 148,244 mi |
Source: 2,567 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 Carry MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Suzuki Carry?
70.5% of the 2,567 2003 Suzuki Carry tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 61.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Suzuki Carry?
The three most recorded items are component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (8.80%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (5.14%), ball joint excessively worn (4.95%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Suzuki Carry MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.3% of the time, falling to 65.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Suzuki Carry in this dataset had covered 89,722 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Suzuki Carry MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 69.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.