Pass rate
88.9%
Above average — 14.9 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 54 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £46–£127
2009 Toyota Starlet MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 117,539 mi
Only 54 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Brakes
28.6% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2017 88.9% pass
- Avoid 2010 79.2% pass
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 9.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 87.8%
- Typical mileage
- 118k mi
The 2009 Toyota Starlet MOT pass rate is 88.9% of its MOT tests — 14.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Toyota Starlet does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.8× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 15.6% of everything recorded on the 2009 Toyota Starlet, against 5.6% nationally — 10.0 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 28.6%, but at 20.9% 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 74.0% and this one manages 88.9% — 14.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 12% 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 Toyota Starlet? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Toyota Starlet compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 14.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 87.8%. The median 2009 Toyota Starlet in this dataset had covered 117,539 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 5.56% of tests.
- 54 recorded tests behind this page.
- 88.9% overall pass rate, 87.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Toyota Starlet, the average is 84.2% — best year 2017 (88.9%), worst 2010 (79.2%).
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
- 54
- Typical mileage (median)
- 117,539 mi
- Make and model
- Toyota Starlet
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Starlet MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 75% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2009 Starlet
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 2009 Starlet
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 exhaust and emissions 3.7% of tests
“exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases”
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.
-
Check the lights 3.7% 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 wheel bearings 3.7% of tests
“wheel bearings has excessive play”
Listen for a hum that rises and falls with speed and changes when you load one side in a bend. A noisy bearing is an easy pre-test diagnosis and an awkward surprise at the test station.
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 2009 Starlet through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £46–£127 — and 12% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £46–£127
- Cheapest common item: headlamp lens slightly defective
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 12%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 54 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 Starlet, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2005 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 79.2% to 88.9% — a spread of 9.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 84.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 82.5% service brake imbalance across an…
- 2007 81.8% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2008 86.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 88.9%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2010 79.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2017 88.9% service brake imbalance across an…
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 2009 Toyota Starlet 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- BMW M3 90.3%
- Porsche Cayman 90.3%
- Porsche 911 91.3%
- Porsche Boxster 91.4%
- BMW Z4 85.3%
- Jaguar Xk 83.8%
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 Toyota Starlet 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 8 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 77 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 | 22 | 28.60% | 20.89% | +7.71 |
| Suspension | 14 | 18.20% | 20.98% | −2.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 12 | 15.60% | 12.21% | +3.39 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 12 | 15.60% | 5.57% | +10.03 |
| Tyres | 8 | 10.40% | 19.76% | −9.36 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3 | 3.90% | 5.52% | −1.62 |
| Visibility | 3 | 3.90% | 4.97% | −1.07 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 3.90% | 4.18% | −0.28 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 5.6% | £80–250 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.7% | £45–120 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.7% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.7% | £45–110 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £20–55 |
| Battery(ies) insecure and likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.9% | £60–140 |
| Battery(ies) insecure and likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £60–140 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.9% | £60–140 |
| Exhaust system shield missing where fitted as original equipment creating a risk of fire Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.9% | £45–120 |
| Exhaust system system insecure Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.9% | £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 | 16.7% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 7.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.6% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system noise is clearly in excess of that emitted by a similar vehicle fitted with a standard silencer in… Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 5.6% | £45–120 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 5.6% | £80–180 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 5.6% | £35–85 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1 | 100.0% | 28,961 mi |
| 30-60k | 6 | 83.3% | 46,986 mi |
| 60-90k | 5 | 100.0% | 71,227 mi |
| 90-120k | 17 | 94.1% | 107,221 mi |
| 120k+ | 25 | 84.0% | 160,111 mi |
Source: 54 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.
2009 Starlet MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Toyota Starlet?
88.9% of the 54 2009 Toyota Starlet tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 87.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Toyota Starlet?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (5.56%), exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases (3.70%), headlamp lens slightly defective (3.70%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Toyota Starlet MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 84.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Toyota Starlet in this dataset had covered 117,539 mi.