Pass rate
Above average — 9.5 pts ahead of the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 943 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £11–£32
Pass rate
Above average — 9.5 pts ahead of the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 943 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £11–£32
Most common fault
Lamps & electrics
26.9% of faults · 12.2% nationally
Part only £6–£18 for Registration plate lamp inoperative (multiple lamps). What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 14.8 points. See every year →
The 2011 Toyota Vitz MOT pass rate is 85.4% of its MOT tests — 9.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Lamps & electrics is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics make up 26.9% of everything recorded on the 2011 Toyota Vitz, against 12.2% nationally — 14.7 points above. 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.
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 Vitz? Get an email when these numbers change .
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 9.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 83.4%. The median 2011 Toyota Vitz in this dataset had covered 53,458 mi.
98% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 85.3% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 85.9% of the time, April–September 85.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 4.14% of tests.
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (98% of tests).
Across all Vitz model years on record (2008–2021): 3,316 Toyota Vitz cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 5,405 tests. Manchester (M) has the most, with 300 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 | Manchester (M) | 300 | 92.1% |
| 2 | Birmingham (B) | 293 | 93.1% |
| 3 | Bolton (BL) | 155 | 88.6% |
| 4 | Romford (RM) | 150 | 92.7% |
| 5 | London (E) | 146 | 92.4% |
| 6 | Hayes (UB) | 117 | 92.8% |
| 7 | Ilford (IG) | 90 | 91.7% |
| 8 | Leicester (LE) | 81 | 92.4% |
| 9 | Croydon (CR) | 78 | 96.3% |
| 10 | Bradford (BD) | 76 | 92.9% |
| 11 | Wembley (HA) | 75 | 89.1% |
| 12 | London (N) | 71 | 94.0% |
| 13 | Blackburn (BB) | 69 | 97.2% |
| 14 | Oldham (OL) | 67 | 85.8% |
| 15 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 64 | 85.3% |
| 16 | Luton (LU) | 61 | 89.6% |
| 17 | Leeds (LS) | 57 | 90.1% |
| 18 | Southampton (SO) | 56 | 80.2% |
| 19 | London (NW) | 54 | 86.5% |
| 20 | Slough (SL) | 53 | 91.9% |
The twenty areas with the most Toyota Vitz 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 →
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 222 | 85.1% |
| West Midlands | 173 | 86.7% |
| South East | 153 | 85.6% |
| London | 107 | 87.9% |
| East of England | 77 | 79.2% |
| East Midlands | 75 | 86.7% |
| Yorkshire | 72 | 86.1% |
| Scotland | 34 | 82.4% |
| Wales | 16 | 87.5% |
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.
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
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 4.1% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover 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.
Check the lights 2.9% 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 1.9% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
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.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £11–£32 — and 54% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 943 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 →
14 model years on record, from 2008 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 79.8% to 94.6% — a spread of 14.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
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.
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Closest pass rates among 2011 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.
Shares of the 950 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 257 | 26.90% | 12.21% | +14.69 |
| Tyres | 231 | 24.10% | 19.76% | +4.34 |
| Suspension | 190 | 19.90% | 20.98% | −1.08 |
| Brakes | 123 | 12.90% | 20.89% | −7.99 |
| Visibility | 62 | 6.50% | 4.97% | +1.53 |
| Non-component advisories | 33 | 3.40% | 4.18% | −0.78 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 22 | 2.30% | 5.57% | −3.27 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 13 | 1.40% | 1.76% | −0.36 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 12 | 1.30% | 5.52% | −4.22 |
| Steering | 7 | 0.70% | 2.57% | −1.87 |
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.1% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.9% | £5–25 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Rear fog lamp missing Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.2% | £3–15 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.1% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.1% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.9% | £8–22 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.9% | £8–22 |
| Rear fog lamp does not emit a steady red light Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £3–15 |
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.6% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 8.6% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.7% | £40–150 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.6% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Advisory | 4.3% | £5–25 |
| Parking brake efficiency (trikes, quads and pre-68 vehicles) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Advisory | 2.0% | £25–80 |
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 125 | 85.6% | 21,636 mi |
| 30-60k | 452 | 86.7% | 45,974 mi |
| 60-90k | 316 | 84.2% | 71,251 mi |
| 90-120k | 42 | 78.6% | 98,157 mi |
| 120k+ | 6 | 83.3% | 134,753 mi |
Source: 943 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.
85.4% of the 943 2011 Toyota Vitz tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 83.4%.
The three most recorded items are linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (4.14%), headlamp lens slightly defective (2.86%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.44%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.6% of the time, falling to 83.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Toyota Vitz in this dataset had covered 53,458 mi.
Petrol: 85.3% pass rate across 928 tests. Hybrid: 86.7% pass rate across 15 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 85.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.