Pass rate
79.4%
Around average — 8.5 pts behind the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 10,907 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£87
2018 Vauxhall Combo MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 63,641 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
24.2% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
0.5 pts down across model years — 7.3% in 2002, 6.8% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 88.1% pass
- Avoid 2001 65.7% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 22.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 74.5%
- Typical mileage
- 64k mi
The 2018 Vauxhall Combo MOT pass rate is 79.4% of its MOT tests — 8.5 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 18.0% of everything recorded on the 2018 Vauxhall Combo, against 12.2% nationally — 5.8 points above. Tyres are still the single largest share at 24.2%, but at 19.8% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 87.9%; this one manages 79.4% — 8.5 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not 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 Combo? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 Vauxhall Combo compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 8.5 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 74.5%. The median 2018 Vauxhall Combo in this dataset had covered 63,641 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 94% of tests, with a 79.2% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 79.9% of the time, April–September 78.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 7.00% of tests.
- 10,907 recorded tests behind this page.
- 79.4% overall pass rate, 74.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Vauxhall Combo, the average is 75.7% — best year 2023 (88.1%), worst 2001 (65.7%).
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
- 10,907
- Typical mileage (median)
- 63,641 mi
- Make and model
- Vauxhall Combo
- 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 Combo MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (94% of tests).
Where the Vauxhall Combo is most common
Across all Combo model years on record (2000–2023): 181,484 Vauxhall Combo cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 401,603 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 4,780 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 4,780 | 79.3% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 4,563 | 78.2% |
| 3 | Peterborough (PE) | 4,337 | 75.1% |
| 4 | Chester (CH) | 3,888 | 77.0% |
| 5 | Nottingham (NG) | 3,783 | 72.4% |
| 6 | Doncaster (DN) | 3,455 | 75.6% |
| 7 | Manchester (M) | 3,152 | 79.7% |
| 8 | Glasgow (G) | 3,120 | 77.2% |
| 9 | Cardiff (CF) | 2,919 | 73.5% |
| 10 | Derby (DE) | 2,873 | 76.9% |
| 11 | Bristol (BS) | 2,836 | 74.1% |
| 12 | Leicester (LE) | 2,688 | 77.9% |
| 13 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 2,668 | 77.4% |
| 14 | Norwich (NR) | 2,664 | 72.1% |
| 15 | Chelmsford (CM) | 2,562 | 79.5% |
| 16 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 2,442 | 73.5% |
| 17 | Northampton (NN) | 2,442 | 74.1% |
| 18 | Ipswich (IP) | 2,419 | 74.3% |
| 19 | Swansea (SA) | 2,390 | 74.2% |
| 20 | Edinburgh (EH) | 2,290 | 73.6% |
The twenty areas with the most Vauxhall Combo cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Combo
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,007 | 81.5% |
| Scotland | 1,594 | 76.5% |
| East of England | 1,222 | 79.5% |
| North West | 1,177 | 78.8% |
| South West | 939 | 78.8% |
| West Midlands | 923 | 78.5% |
| Yorkshire | 819 | 75.7% |
| East Midlands | 816 | 79.0% |
| London | 563 | 86.3% |
| North East | 430 | 82.1% |
| Wales | 416 | 79.6% |
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 2018 Combo
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 2018 Combo
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 7.0% 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 coil springs 4.6% 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.
-
Check the lights 3.5% 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.
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 2018 Combo through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£87 — and 42% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£87
- 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
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 42%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 10,907 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 Combo, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 65.7% to 88.1% — a spread of 22.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 67.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 65.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 66.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 65.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 66.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 67.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 66.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 67.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 68.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 68.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 72.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 74.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 70.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 71.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 73.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 74.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 75.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 76.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 79.4%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 83.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2020 83.1% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 84.0% wipers does not clear the…
- 2022 84.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2023 88.1% 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 2018 Vauxhall Combo 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz Citan 79.1%
- Fiat 500L 80.7%
- Nissan Navara 80.9%
- Renault Grand Scenic 81.2%
- Renault Zoe 77.5%
- Hyundai I800 81.8%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 Vauxhall Combo 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 14,467 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 3,570 | 24.20% | 19.76% | +4.44 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2,649 | 18.00% | 12.21% | +5.79 |
| Brakes | 2,407 | 16.30% | 20.89% | −4.59 |
| Suspension | 2,085 | 14.10% | 20.98% | −6.88 |
| Visibility | 1,412 | 9.60% | 4.97% | +4.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 948 | 6.40% | 5.52% | +0.88 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 476 | 3.20% | 5.57% | −2.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 476 | 3.20% | 4.18% | −0.98 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 246 | 1.70% | 1.76% | −0.06 |
| Road Wheels | 198 | 1.30% | 0.75% | +0.55 |
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 | 7.0% | £80–200 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.6% | £25–65 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.5% | £5–20 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.4% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £5–25 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.5% | £3–12 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.4% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.3% | £8–22 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 17.6% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 6.8% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.0% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.0% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 2.8% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,299 | 84.8% | 20,548 mi |
| 30-60k | 3,664 | 80.7% | 45,620 mi |
| 60-90k | 3,460 | 78.3% | 73,886 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,710 | 76.4% | 102,645 mi |
| 120k+ | 766 | 75.3% | 143,678 mi |
Source: 10,907 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.
2018 Combo MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Vauxhall Combo?
79.4% of the 10,907 2018 Vauxhall Combo tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 74.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Vauxhall Combo?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (7.00%), coil spring fractured or broken (4.58%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.46%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Vauxhall Combo MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 84.8% of the time, falling to 75.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Vauxhall Combo in this dataset had covered 63,641 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 Vauxhall Combo?
Diesel: 79.2% pass rate across 10,210 tests. Petrol: 81.8% pass rate across 697 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2018 Vauxhall Combo MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 79.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 78.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.