Pass rate
77.9%
Around average — 0.7 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 13,704 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£86
2012 Suzuki Splash MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 57,108 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
30.3% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
4.8 pts down across model years — 9.6% in 2008, 4.8% in 2014.
Which year to buy
- Best 2015 82.7% pass
- Avoid 2008 69.6% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 13.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 71.9%
- Typical mileage
- 57k mi
The 2012 Suzuki Splash MOT pass rate is 77.9% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.3% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.5× the national share
Brakes make up 30.3% of everything recorded on the 2012 Suzuki Splash, against 20.9% nationally — 9.4 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 28% 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 Suzuki Splash? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Suzuki Splash compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 0.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 71.9%. The median 2012 Suzuki Splash in this dataset had covered 57,108 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.1% of the time, April–September 77.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint excessively worn", noted on 5.20% of tests.
- 13,704 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.9% overall pass rate, 71.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Suzuki Splash, the average is 75.9% — best year 2015 (82.7%), worst 2008 (69.6%).
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
- 13,704
- Typical mileage (median)
- 57,108 mi
- Make and model
- Suzuki Splash
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Splash MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 60% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Suzuki Splash is most common
Across all Splash model years on record (2008–2015): 22,942 Suzuki Splash cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 66,622 tests. Peterborough (PE) has the most, with 545 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 | Peterborough (PE) | 545 | 76.0% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 545 | 78.7% |
| 3 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 502 | 75.4% |
| 4 | Cardiff (CF) | 493 | 72.9% |
| 5 | Birmingham (B) | 488 | 77.8% |
| 6 | Nottingham (NG) | 453 | 74.7% |
| 7 | Portsmouth (PO) | 444 | 80.4% |
| 8 | Swansea (SA) | 423 | 74.4% |
| 9 | Brighton (BN) | 407 | 77.3% |
| 10 | Norwich (NR) | 387 | 75.6% |
| 11 | Leeds (LS) | 365 | 71.5% |
| 12 | Bristol (BS) | 363 | 72.1% |
| 13 | Ipswich (IP) | 363 | 79.8% |
| 14 | Glasgow (G) | 360 | 71.8% |
| 15 | York (YO) | 351 | 71.7% |
| 16 | Manchester (M) | 344 | 79.4% |
| 17 | Gloucester (GL) | 340 | 75.7% |
| 18 | Leicester (LE) | 309 | 77.9% |
| 19 | Southampton (SO) | 306 | 79.9% |
| 20 | Warrington (WA) | 293 | 75.5% |
The twenty areas with the most Suzuki Splash 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 Splash
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,207 | 82.3% |
| Yorkshire | 1,653 | 75.2% |
| South West | 1,642 | 77.8% |
| North West | 1,513 | 76.9% |
| East of England | 1,327 | 79.9% |
| Scotland | 1,208 | 72.6% |
| West Midlands | 1,110 | 79.1% |
| Wales | 1,095 | 76.9% |
| East Midlands | 866 | 76.8% |
| North East | 795 | 75.1% |
| London | 288 | 86.1% |
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 Splash
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 Splash
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 5.2% 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.
-
Check the lights 3.9% 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 coil springs 3.5% 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 2012 Splash through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£86 — and 28% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£86
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 28%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 13,704 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 Splash, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2008 to 2015. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.6% to 82.7% — a spread of 13.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2008 69.6% ball joint excessively worn
- 2009 70.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 72.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 73.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 77.9%ball joint excessively worn
- 2013 79.5% ball joint excessively worn
- 2014 81.4% ball joint excessively worn
- 2015 82.7% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
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 Suzuki Splash 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
- Vauxhall Meriva 77.9%
- BMW 120 77.9%
- Audi A3 78.0%
- Nissan Micra 78.0%
- Volkswagen Tiguan 78.0%
- Abarth 500 77.8%
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 Suzuki Splash 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 26,581 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 | 8,117 | 30.30% | 20.89% | +9.41 |
| Suspension | 7,182 | 26.80% | 20.98% | +5.82 |
| Tyres | 4,487 | 16.80% | 19.76% | −2.96 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2,775 | 10.40% | 12.21% | −1.81 |
| Visibility | 1,309 | 4.90% | 4.97% | −0.07 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 812 | 3.00% | 5.57% | −2.57 |
| Non-component advisories | 714 | 2.70% | 4.18% | −1.48 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 649 | 2.40% | 5.52% | −3.12 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 391 | 1.50% | 1.76% | −0.26 |
| Road Wheels | 145 | 0.50% | 0.75% | −0.25 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.2% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.9% | £5–20 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £25–65 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 2.7% | £60–150 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £80–180 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.4% | £45–110 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.2% | £8–22 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.0% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.8% | £40–150 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.8% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 22.0% | £80–180 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 15.5% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.6% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 12.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 6.1% | £45–110 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 4.1% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,614 | 87.4% | 22,425 mi |
| 30-60k | 5,785 | 80.2% | 45,372 mi |
| 60-90k | 4,225 | 74.4% | 73,417 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,624 | 71.5% | 101,660 mi |
| 120k+ | 452 | 68.8% | 137,297 mi |
Source: 13,704 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 Splash MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Suzuki Splash?
77.9% of the 13,704 2012 Suzuki Splash tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 71.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Suzuki Splash?
The three most recorded items are ball joint excessively worn (5.20%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.90%), coil spring fractured or broken (3.52%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Suzuki Splash MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.4% of the time, falling to 68.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Suzuki Splash in this dataset had covered 57,108 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 Suzuki Splash MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 77.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.