Pass rate
96.0%
Above average — 23.4 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 50 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £57–£186
2003 TVR Cerbera MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 30,153 mi
Only 50 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.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Emissions & leaks
34.5% of faults · 5.5% nationally
Which year to buy
- Best 2003 96.0% pass · this year
- Avoid 2000 85.8% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 10.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 95.8%
- Typical mileage
- 30k mi
The 2003 TVR Cerbera MOT pass rate is 96.0% of its MOT tests — 23.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Emissions & leaks is the biggest single reason it fails, at 34.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 6.3× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 34.5% of everything recorded on the 2003 TVR Cerbera, against 5.5% nationally — 29.0 points above. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 96.0% — 23.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 33% 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 TVR Cerbera? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 TVR Cerbera compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 23.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 95.8%. The median 2003 TVR Cerbera in this dataset had covered 30,153 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 6.00% of tests.
- 50 recorded tests behind this page.
- 96.0% overall pass rate, 95.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the TVR Cerbera, the average is 88.1% — best year 2003 (96.0%), worst 2000 (85.8%).
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
- 50
- Typical mileage (median)
- 30,153 mi
- Make and model
- TVR Cerbera
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Steering Rack
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Cerbera MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 87% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Cerbera
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 15 | 93.3% |
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 Cerbera
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 Cerbera
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 steering 6.0% of tests
“steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 4.0% of tests
“catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits”
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 wipers and washers 4.0% 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.
What it costs to get a 2003 Cerbera through its MOT
Across the 8 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £57–£186 — and 33% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 8 common items
- £57–£186
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 38%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 33%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 50 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 Cerbera, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2000 to 2003. Across them the pass rate runs from 85.8% to 96.0% — a spread of 10.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 85.8% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2001 86.9% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2002 88.9% washers not working
- 2003 96.0%steering rack gaiter damaged or…
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 TVR Cerbera 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
- BMW M3 87.7%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
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 TVR Cerbera 8 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 29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 10 | 34.50% | 5.52% | +28.98 |
| Steering | 6 | 20.70% | 2.57% | +18.13 |
| Brakes | 4 | 13.80% | 20.89% | −7.09 |
| Suspension | 2 | 6.90% | 20.98% | −14.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2 | 6.90% | 12.21% | −5.31 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2 | 6.90% | 5.57% | +1.33 |
| Visibility | 2 | 6.90% | 4.97% | +1.93 |
| Tyres | 1 | 3.40% | 19.76% | −16.36 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 6.0% | £120–300 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.0% | £60–250 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 4.0% | £8–22 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions hydrocarbon content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £5–25 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £3–12 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.0% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 4.0% | £45–110 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 4.0% | £45–120 |
| Other components leaking Steering | Advisory | 4.0% | £60–200 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 4.0% | £60–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 25 | 96.0% | 24,379 mi |
| 30-60k | 24 | 95.8% | 45,982 mi |
| 60-90k | 1 | 100.0% | 61,323 mi |
Source: 50 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 Cerbera MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 TVR Cerbera?
96.0% of the 50 2003 TVR Cerbera tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 95.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 TVR Cerbera?
The three most recorded items are steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (6.00%), catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits (4.00%), wipers blade defective (4.00%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 TVR Cerbera MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 96.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 TVR Cerbera in this dataset had covered 30,153 mi.