2015 Vauxhall Adam MOT pass rate

Pass rate

78.4%

Around average — 3.7 pts behind the 82.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 40,281 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £23–£58

Most common fault

Suspension

26.9% of faults · 21.0% nationally

mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.

Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →

5.0 pts down across model years — 8.3% in 2013, 3.3% in 2019.

Every failure, with what it costs →

Which year to buy

  • Best 2019 87.4% pass
  • Avoid 2013 76.6% pass

Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 10.8 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
72.8%
Typical mileage
53k mi

The 2015 Vauxhall Adam MOT pass rate is 78.4% of its MOT tests — 3.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.9% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2015 Vauxhall Adam on the real record

78.4% of 2015 Vauxhall Adam MOTs passed — 40,281 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Vauxhall Adam does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Steering: 4.7× the national share

Steering accounts for 12.0% of everything recorded on the 2015 Vauxhall Adam, against 2.6% nationally — 9.4 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 26.9%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.

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 Vauxhall Adam? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2015 Vauxhall Adam compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 82.1%, so this figure is 3.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.8%. The median 2015 Vauxhall Adam in this dataset had covered 53,162 mi.

Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.6% of the time, April–September 78.1%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 10.88% of tests.

  • 40,281 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 78.4% overall pass rate, 72.8% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Vauxhall Adam, the average is 79.4% — best year 2019 (87.4%), worst 2013 (76.6%).

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
40,281
Typical mileage (median)
53,162 mi
Make and model
Vauxhall Adam
Updated
2026-11-05

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.

Top part to budget for

Ball Joint

Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.

Does mileage affect the Adam MOT pass rate?

0-30k 84.5%
30-60k 79.4%
60-90k 75.4%
90-120k 73.3%
120k+ 74.2%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 65% so small gaps stay visible.

Regional pass rates for the Adam

Region Tests Pass rate
North West 5,303 79.1%
South East 4,984 80.8%
West Midlands 4,526 80.4%
East of England 4,352 80.0%
Scotland 4,094 71.5%
Yorkshire 4,007 79.4%
North East 3,364 77.4%
Wales 3,050 76.7%
East Midlands 2,984 78.6%
South West 2,935 76.9%
London 677 84.5%

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 2015 Adam

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.

Suspension 26.9%
+5.9 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Tyres 23.9%
+4.1 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Brakes 14.7%
−6.2 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Steering 12.0%
+9.4 pts vs national national 2.6% Price steering parts
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Lamps & electrics 6.9%
  • Visibility 4.5%
  • Emissions & leaks 3.4%
  • Advisories 3.3%
  • Body & chassis 3.1%
  • Identification 0.8%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2015 Vauxhall Adam tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2015 Adam

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.

  1. Check the suspension joints 10.9% of tests

    “track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or 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.

  2. Check the coil springs 4.3% of tests

    “coil spring fractured or broken”

    Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.

  3. Check the shock absorbers 3.9% of tests

    “shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”

    Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.

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 2015 Adam through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £23–£58 — and 14% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£23–£58
Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
£3–£12
Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
£80–£200
Common items a careful owner can do at home
90%
Repairs that still cost under £30
14%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 40,281 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 Adam, side by side

8 model years on record, from 2012 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 76.6% to 87.4% — a spread of 10.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2012 79.0% coil spring fractured or broken
  2. 2013 76.6% coil spring fractured or broken
  3. 2014 76.7% track rod end ball joint dust…
  4. 2015 78.4%
    track rod end ball joint dust…
  5. 2016 79.2% track rod end ball joint dust…
  6. 2017 81.2% track rod end ball joint dust…
  7. 2018 84.2% track rod end ball joint dust…
  8. 2019 87.4% wipers does not clear the…

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 2015 Vauxhall Adam 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.

Compare 2015 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2015 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2015 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 2015 Vauxhall Adam 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 62,717 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 16,942 26.90% 20.98% +5.92
Tyres 15,067 23.90% 19.76% +4.14
Brakes 9,253 14.70% 20.89% −6.19
Steering 7,569 12.00% 2.57% +9.43
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4,343 6.90% 12.21% −5.31
Visibility 2,837 4.50% 4.97% −0.47
Noise, emissions and leaks 2,144 3.40% 5.52% −2.12
Non-component advisories 2,090 3.30% 4.18% −0.88
Body, chassis, structure 1,949 3.10% 5.57% −2.47
Identification of the vehicle 523 0.80% 1.76% −0.96

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 40,281 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering Minor 10.9% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of… Steering Major 4.9% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension Major 4.3% £25–65 Coil Spring →
Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension Major 3.9% £30–75 Shock Absorber →
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 2.2% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 1.8% £80–200 Windscreen →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Major 1.3% £45–95 Tyres →
Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility Major 1.3% £8–22 Wiper Blade →
Track rod end ball joint dust cover insecure so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering Major 1.2% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks Major 1.2% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension Advisory 15.9% £30–75
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 14.6% £45–95
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 13.8% £45–95
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 8.4% £45–110
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 5.3% £18–45
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 4.3% £40–150

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 4,625 84.5% 22,181 mi
30-60k 20,654 79.4% 46,024 mi
60-90k 12,549 75.4% 71,598 mi
90-120k 2,206 73.3% 99,760 mi
120k+ 236 74.2% 133,473 mi

Source: 40,281 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.

2015 Adam MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2015 Vauxhall Adam?

78.4% of the 40,281 2015 Vauxhall Adam tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 82.1% for cars first used in 2015. First-attempt pass rate: 72.8%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2015 Vauxhall Adam?

The three most recorded items are track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (10.88%), track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of… (4.91%), coil spring fractured or broken (4.27%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2015 Vauxhall Adam MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 84.5% of the time, falling to 74.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2015 Vauxhall Adam in this dataset had covered 53,162 mi.

Does the season affect the 2015 Vauxhall Adam MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 78.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.