Pass rate
95.5%
Above average — 22.6 pts ahead of the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 67 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £53–£146
2002 TVR Chimaera MOT pass rate
- 2002
- typical 45,758 mi
Only 67 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
24.4% of faults · 5.5% nationally
Which year to buy
- Best 2002 95.5% pass · this year
- Avoid 2000 89.5% pass
Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 95.3%
- Typical mileage
- 46k mi
The 2002 TVR Chimaera MOT pass rate is 95.5% of its MOT tests — 22.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Emissions & leaks is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.4% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 4.4× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 24.4% of everything recorded on the 2002 TVR Chimaera, against 5.5% nationally — 18.9 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 72.9% and this one manages 95.5% — 22.6 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 TVR Chimaera? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2002 TVR Chimaera compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 22.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 95.3%. The median 2002 TVR Chimaera in this dataset had covered 45,758 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 2.99% of tests.
- 67 recorded tests behind this page.
- 95.5% overall pass rate, 95.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the TVR Chimaera, the average is 91.1% — best year 2002 (95.5%), worst 2000 (89.5%).
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
- 67
- Typical mileage (median)
- 45,758 mi
- Make and model
- TVR Chimaera
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Chimaera MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 72% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Chimaera
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 22 | 95.5% |
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.
What fails a 2002 Chimaera
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 2002 Chimaera
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 windscreen 3.0% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the suspension joints 1.5% 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.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 1.5% of tests
“emissions not tested unable to be completed”
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.
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 2002 Chimaera through its MOT
Across the 7 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £53–£146 — and 12% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 7 common items
- £53–£146
- Cheapest common item: individual direction indicators not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 29%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 12%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 67 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 Chimaera, side by side
3 model years on record, from 2000 to 2002. Across them the pass rate runs from 89.5% to 95.5% — a spread of 6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 89.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2001 95.0% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 95.5%windscreen damaged but not…
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 2002 TVR Chimaera 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 2002 cars with a similar record
- BMW M3 86.7%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Honda S2000 84.6%
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 81.2%
- BMW Z3 80.7%
Closest pass rates among 2002 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 2002 TVR Chimaera 7 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 41 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 | 24.40% | 5.52% | +18.88 |
| Brakes | 8 | 19.50% | 20.89% | −1.39 |
| Suspension | 6 | 14.60% | 20.98% | −6.38 |
| Tyres | 4 | 9.80% | 19.76% | −9.96 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3 | 7.30% | 12.21% | −4.91 |
| Steering | 3 | 7.30% | 2.57% | +4.73 |
| Visibility | 2 | 4.90% | 4.97% | −0.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 4.90% | 1.76% | +3.14 |
| Road Wheels | 2 | 4.90% | 0.75% | +4.15 |
| Non-component advisories | 1 | 2.40% | 4.18% | −1.78 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.0% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.5% | £18–45 |
| Emissions not tested unable to be completed Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.5% | £60–250 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.5% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.5% | £30–80 |
| Individual direction indicators not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £3–12 |
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 1.5% | £120–300 |
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 | 11.9% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 4.5% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 4.5% | £45–95 |
| Service brake performance excessively fluctuating Brakes | Advisory | 4.5% | £60–150 |
| Badly distorted Road Wheels | Advisory | 3.0% | £20–55 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.0% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 19 | 100.0% | 25,039 mi |
| 30-60k | 31 | 96.8% | 45,724 mi |
| 60-90k | 10 | 80.0% | 65,683 mi |
| 90-120k | 7 | 100.0% | 104,231 mi |
Source: 67 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.
2002 Chimaera MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 TVR Chimaera?
95.5% of the 67 2002 TVR Chimaera tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 95.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 TVR Chimaera?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.99%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (1.49%), emissions not tested unable to be completed (1.49%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 TVR Chimaera MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 TVR Chimaera in this dataset had covered 45,758 mi.