2008 Vauxhall Antara MOT pass rate

Pass rate

69.2%

Below average — 3.9 pts behind the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 1,988 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £41–£122

Most common fault

Suspension

24.7% of faults · 21.0% nationally

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

Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →

1.2 pts up across model years — 7.0% in 2007, 8.2% in 2016.

Every failure, with what it costs →

Which year to buy

  • Best 2016 76.2% pass
  • Avoid 2007 68.2% pass

Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 8 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
59.6%
Typical mileage
109k mi

The 2008 Vauxhall Antara MOT pass rate is 69.2% of its MOT tests — 3.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.7% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2008 Vauxhall Antara on the real record

69.2% of 2008 Vauxhall Antara MOTs passed — 1,988 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 Antara does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Body & chassis: 2.3× the national share

Body & chassis accounts for 12.6% of everything recorded on the 2008 Vauxhall Antara, against 5.6% nationally — 7.0 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 24.7%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.

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 Antara? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2008 Vauxhall Antara compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 3.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 59.6%. The median 2008 Vauxhall Antara in this dataset had covered 108,670 mi.

The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 99% of tests, with a 69.2% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 68.4% of the time, April–September 70.0%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 14.99% of tests.

  • 1,988 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 69.2% overall pass rate, 59.6% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Vauxhall Antara, the average is 72.7% — best year 2016 (76.2%), worst 2007 (68.2%).

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
1,988
Typical mileage (median)
108,670 mi
Make and model
Vauxhall Antara
Updated
2026-11-05

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

Top part to budget for

Body Panel Repair

Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.

Does mileage affect the Antara MOT pass rate?

0-30k 60.0%
30-60k 76.5%
60-90k 71.1%
90-120k 68.2%
120k+ 68.6%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 52% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Diesel 69.2%
Petrol 68.2%

Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (99% of tests).

Regional pass rates for the Antara

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 360 71.7%
East of England 254 68.5%
North West 244 69.7%
West Midlands 220 73.2%
South West 202 63.4%
East Midlands 176 65.3%
Yorkshire 172 73.3%
Wales 149 65.8%
Scotland 89 61.8%
North East 87 67.8%
London 35 88.6%

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 2008 Antara

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 24.7%
+3.7 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Brakes 18.2%
−2.7 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Body & chassis 12.6%
+7.0 pts vs national national 5.6% Find body panels
Lamps & electrics 11.7%
−0.5 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Tyres 10.8%
  • Emissions & leaks 8.9%
  • Steering 3.6%
  • Visibility 3.5%
  • Advisories 3.2%
  • Identification 1.4%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2008 Vauxhall Antara 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 2008 Antara

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 lights 9.2% of tests

    “registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”

    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.

  2. Check the battery 5.3% of tests

    “battery(ies) insecure”

    Check the battery is secure and its terminals are clean and tight — a loose battery is a fail on its own, and a weak one shows up as slow cranking on a cold morning.

  3. Check the exhaust and emissions 4.9% of tests

    “exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases”

    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 2008 Antara through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£122 — and 36% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£41–£122
Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
£3–£12
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
36%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,988 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 Antara, side by side

10 model years on record, from 2007 to 2016. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.2% to 76.2% — a spread of 8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2007 68.2% joints constant velocity boot…
  2. 2008 69.2%
    joints constant velocity boot…
  3. 2009 69.4% joints constant velocity boot…
  4. 2010 69.2% joints constant velocity boot…
  5. 2011 70.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
  6. 2012 71.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
  7. 2013 73.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
  8. 2014 74.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
  9. 2015 74.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  10. 2016 76.2% registration plate lamp(s)…

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 2008 Vauxhall Antara 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 2008 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2008 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Vauxhall Antara 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 7,286 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 1,826 24.70% 20.98% +3.72
Brakes 1,344 18.20% 20.89% −2.69
Body, chassis, structure 930 12.60% 5.57% +7.03
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 864 11.70% 12.21% −0.51
Tyres 796 10.80% 19.76% −8.96
Noise, emissions and leaks 657 8.90% 5.52% +3.38
Steering 266 3.60% 2.57% +1.03
Visibility 256 3.50% 4.97% −1.47
Non-component advisories 240 3.20% 4.18% −0.98
Identification of the vehicle 107 1.40% 1.76% −0.36

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 1,988 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure Minor 15.0% £80–250 Body Panel Repair →
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 9.2% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 5.3% £60–140 Battery →
Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure Major 4.9% £45–120 Exhaust →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 4.5% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Major 4.1% £40–150 Suspension Component →
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension Major 3.6% £25–65 Coil Spring →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks Major 3.6% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 3.6% £3–12 Stop Light Bulb →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 3.5% £80–200 Windscreen →

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
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 23.3% £45–95
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 20.5% £200–700
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 17.8% £45–110
Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension Advisory 11.7% £25–65
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 11.7% £40–150
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 11.7% £18–45

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 5 60.0% 23,918 mi
30-60k 51 76.5% 48,779 mi
60-90k 422 71.1% 78,361 mi
90-120k 859 68.2% 105,541 mi
120k+ 647 68.6% 138,965 mi

Source: 1,988 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.

2008 Antara MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Vauxhall Antara?

69.2% of the 1,988 2008 Vauxhall Antara tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 59.6%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Vauxhall Antara?

The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (14.99%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (9.21%), battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (5.28%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2008 Vauxhall Antara MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 60.0% of the time, falling to 68.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Vauxhall Antara in this dataset had covered 108,670 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 Vauxhall Antara?

Diesel: 69.2% pass rate across 1,966 tests. Petrol: 68.2% pass rate across 22 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2008 Vauxhall Antara MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 68.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 70.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.