2005 Vauxhall Agila MOT pass rate

Pass rate

75.4%

Around average — 3.0 pts ahead of the 72.4% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 4,677 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £41–£110

Most common fault

Brakes

22.6% of faults · 20.9% nationally

mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.

Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →

12.2 pts down across model years — 17.1% in 2000, 4.9% in 2014.

Every failure, with what it costs →

Which year to buy

  • Best 2015 85.9% pass
  • Avoid 2008 70.2% pass

Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 15.7 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
68.4%
Typical mileage
72k mi

The 2005 Vauxhall Agila MOT pass rate is 75.4% of its MOT tests — 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.6% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2005 Vauxhall Agila on the real record

75.4% of 2005 Vauxhall Agila MOTs passed — 4,677 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 Agila does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Fewer problems with tyres

Tyres are 14.6% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.

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 Agila? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2005 Vauxhall Agila compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 72.4%, so this figure is 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 68.4%. The median 2005 Vauxhall Agila in this dataset had covered 72,036 mi.

Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.6% of the time, April–September 75.2%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 5.17% of tests.

  • 4,677 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 75.4% overall pass rate, 68.4% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Vauxhall Agila, the average is 75.2% — best year 2015 (85.9%), worst 2008 (70.2%).

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
4,677
Typical mileage (median)
72,036 mi
Make and model
Vauxhall Agila
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 Agila MOT pass rate?

0-30k 84.7%
30-60k 77.9%
60-90k 76.1%
90-120k 70.8%
120k+ 70.5%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.

Regional pass rates for the Agila

Region Tests Pass rate
South West 1,099 72.4%
South East 912 79.1%
East of England 492 76.8%
West Midlands 467 77.1%
North West 448 77.9%
East Midlands 342 75.1%
Yorkshire 338 72.5%
Wales 227 72.7%
Scotland 149 71.8%
North East 124 70.2%
London 79 78.5%

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 2005 Agila

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.

Brakes 22.6%
+1.7 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Suspension 20.5%
in line with the national share national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Tyres 14.6%
−5.2 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Lamps & electrics 8.7%
−3.5 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Advisories 8.1%
  • Emissions & leaks 6.1%
  • Body & chassis 5.7%
  • Visibility 5.1%
  • Steering 3.8%
  • Identification 3.1%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2005 Vauxhall Agila 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 2005 Agila

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 5.2% 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.

  2. Check the windscreen 4.0% 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.

  3. Check the brake pipes 3.5% of tests

    “rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”

    Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.

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 2005 Agila through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£110 — and 17% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£41–£110
Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
£5–£20
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
17%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 4,677 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 Agila, side by side

16 model years on record, from 2000 to 2015. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.2% to 85.9% — a spread of 15.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2000 74.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
  2. 2001 73.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
  3. 2002 74.2% joints constant velocity boot…
  4. 2003 74.1% joints constant velocity boot…
  5. 2004 74.9% rigid brake pipes excessively…
  6. 2005 75.4%
    ball joint dust cover severely…
  7. 2006 75.5% joints constant velocity boot…
  8. 2007 76.8% track rod end ball joint dust…
  9. 2008 70.2% ball joint excessively worn
  10. 2009 71.4% coil spring fractured or broken
  11. 2010 73.5% coil spring fractured or broken
  12. 2011 74.5% coil spring fractured or broken
  13. 2012 77.7% ball joint excessively worn
  14. 2013 80.0% ball joint excessively worn
  15. 2014 82.3% ball joint excessively worn
  16. 2015 85.9% ball joint excessively worn

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 2005 Vauxhall Agila 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 2005 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2005 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2005 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 2005 Vauxhall Agila 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 12,735 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 2,926 22.60% 20.89% +1.71
Suspension 2,664 20.50% 20.98% −0.48
Tyres 1,899 14.60% 19.76% −5.16
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1,122 8.70% 12.21% −3.51
Non-component advisories 1,050 8.10% 4.18% +3.92
Noise, emissions and leaks 792 6.10% 5.52% +0.58
Body, chassis, structure 735 5.70% 5.57% +0.13
Visibility 660 5.10% 4.97% +0.13
Steering 489 3.80% 2.57% +1.23
Identification of the vehicle 398 3.10% 1.76% +1.34

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 4,677 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension Minor 5.2% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 4.0% £80–200 Windscreen →
Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes Major 3.5% £80–180 Brake Pipe →
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 3.0% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure Minor 2.9% £80–250 Body Panel Repair →
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Major 2.8% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering Minor 2.4% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 2.2% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension Major 2.0% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure Major 2.0% £80–250 Body Panel Repair →

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
Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes Advisory 28.7% £80–180
Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories Advisory 16.6% £120–300
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 16.5% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 15.3% £45–95
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 11.2% £200–700
Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension Advisory 10.3% £25–65

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 190 84.7% 23,644 mi
30-60k 1,423 77.9% 47,182 mi
60-90k 1,713 76.1% 74,575 mi
90-120k 946 70.8% 102,446 mi
120k+ 387 70.5% 135,476 mi

Source: 4,677 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.

2005 Agila MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2005 Vauxhall Agila?

75.4% of the 4,677 2005 Vauxhall Agila tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.4% for cars first used in 2005. First-attempt pass rate: 68.4%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2005 Vauxhall Agila?

The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.17%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.96%), rigid brake pipes excessively corroded (3.51%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2005 Vauxhall Agila MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 84.7% of the time, falling to 70.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2005 Vauxhall Agila in this dataset had covered 72,036 mi.

Does the season affect the 2005 Vauxhall Agila MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 75.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.