Pass rate
75.7%
Around average — 3.1 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 371 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £22–£66
2003 Toyota Estima MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 133,430 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
23.4% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 88.8% pass
- Avoid 2000 70.4% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 18.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 69.6%
- Typical mileage
- 133k mi
The 2003 Toyota Estima MOT pass rate is 75.7% of its MOT tests — 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.4% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 18.7% of everything recorded on the 2003 Toyota Estima, against 12.2% nationally — 6.5 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 23.4%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- 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 75.7% — 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 63% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 Toyota Estima? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Toyota Estima compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 69.6%. The median 2003 Toyota Estima in this dataset had covered 133,430 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 75% of tests, with a 75.0% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.2% of the time, April–September 80.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 8.89% of tests.
- 371 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.7% overall pass rate, 69.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Toyota Estima, the average is 85.4% — best year 2022 (88.8%), worst 2000 (70.4%).
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
- 371
- Typical mileage (median)
- 133,430 mi
- Make and model
- Toyota Estima
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Estima 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. Petrol is the most common here (75% of tests).
Where the Toyota Estima is most common
Across all Estima model years on record (2000–2023): 26,692 Toyota Estima cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 59,616 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 4,607 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) | 4,607 | 88.0% |
| 2 | London (E) | 2,069 | 91.5% |
| 3 | London (N) | 1,343 | 87.8% |
| 4 | London (NW) | 1,331 | 81.4% |
| 5 | Manchester (M) | 1,319 | 81.3% |
| 6 | Romford (RM) | 1,163 | 90.2% |
| 7 | Ilford (IG) | 946 | 90.2% |
| 8 | Wembley (HA) | 939 | 89.5% |
| 9 | Hayes (UB) | 856 | 92.6% |
| 10 | Croydon (CR) | 525 | 93.5% |
| 11 | London (SE) | 513 | 86.4% |
| 12 | Leicester (LE) | 499 | 91.8% |
| 13 | London (SW) | 450 | 92.0% |
| 14 | Walsall (WS) | 391 | 78.7% |
| 15 | Bradford (BD) | 372 | 93.3% |
| 16 | High Wycombe (HP) | 359 | 91.5% |
| 17 | Hounslow (TW) | 344 | 88.1% |
| 18 | Slough (SL) | 319 | 87.7% |
| 19 | Coventry (CV) | 289 | 86.0% |
| 20 | Luton (LU) | 257 | 91.9% |
The twenty areas with the most Toyota Estima 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 Estima
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 95 | 78.9% |
| North West | 90 | 74.4% |
| London | 37 | 83.8% |
| South West | 35 | 65.7% |
| Yorkshire | 28 | 78.6% |
| East of England | 23 | 73.9% |
| West Midlands | 20 | 85.0% |
| East Midlands | 19 | 73.7% |
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 2003 Estima
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 Estima
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 8.9% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 wipers and washers 3.2% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the suspension joints 2.7% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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 Estima through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £22–£66 — and 63% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £22–£66
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: door condition cannot be opened from outside…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 63%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 371 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 Estima, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.4% to 88.8% — a spread of 18.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 70.4% headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2001 79.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 73.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 75.7%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 77.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 75.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 82.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2007 82.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2008 84.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2009 86.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2010 85.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2011 85.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2012 88.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2013 87.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2014 86.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 84.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 84.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2017 87.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2018 85.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2019 86.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2020 81.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2021 83.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2022 88.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2023 87.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
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 Toyota Estima 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
- Land Rover Defender 75.7%
- Rover 25 75.7%
- SEAT Leon 75.8%
- BMW 316 75.6%
- Mercedes-Benz Clk 75.5%
- Land Rover Range Rover 76.0%
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 Toyota Estima 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 1,182 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 | 280 | 23.40% | 20.98% | +2.42 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 224 | 18.70% | 12.21% | +6.49 |
| Brakes | 213 | 17.80% | 20.89% | −3.09 |
| Tyres | 132 | 11.00% | 19.76% | −8.76 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 120 | 10.00% | 5.52% | +4.48 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 81 | 6.80% | 5.57% | +1.23 |
| Visibility | 43 | 3.60% | 4.97% | −1.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 40 | 3.30% | 4.18% | −0.88 |
| Steering | 30 | 2.50% | 2.57% | −0.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 19 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 8.9% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.0% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.6% | £30–80 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 3.2% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.7% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.7% | £5–25 |
| Door condition cannot be opened from outside the vehicle Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.4% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.4% | £80–250 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £3–12 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.2% | £60–140 |
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 | 25.6% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 22.6% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 21.6% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 14.3% | £80–180 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 13.5% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 11.1% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 21 | 95.2% | 49,627 mi |
| 60-90k | 57 | 84.2% | 76,420 mi |
| 90-120k | 63 | 73.0% | 106,341 mi |
| 120k+ | 225 | 72.9% | 167,468 mi |
Source: 371 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 Estima MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Toyota Estima?
75.7% of the 371 2003 Toyota Estima tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 69.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Toyota Estima?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (8.89%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.01%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.58%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Toyota Estima MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 95.2% of the time, falling to 72.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Toyota Estima in this dataset had covered 133,430 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Toyota Estima?
Petrol: 75.0% pass rate across 280 tests. Diesel: 76.3% pass rate across 76 tests. Hybrid: 90.9% pass rate across 11 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 Toyota Estima MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.