Pass rate
70.0%
Below average — 3.3 pts behind the 73.3% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 180 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £41–£123
2001 Vauxhall Frontera MOT pass rate
- 2001
- typical 87,284 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
29.6% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2000 77.0% pass
- Avoid 2001 70.0% pass · this year
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 62.1%
- Typical mileage
- 87k mi
The 2001 Vauxhall Frontera MOT pass rate is 70.0% of its MOT tests — 3.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 29.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Vauxhall Frontera does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 3.1× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 17.5% of everything recorded on the 2001 Vauxhall Frontera, against 5.6% nationally — 11.9 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 29.6%, 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.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.3%; this one manages 70.0% — 3.3 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 32% 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 Vauxhall Frontera? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2001 Vauxhall Frontera compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.3%, so this figure is 3.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 62.1%. The median 2001 Vauxhall Frontera in this dataset had covered 87,284 mi.
57% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 70.6% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 71.3% of the time, April–September 69.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 12.78% of tests.
- 180 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.0% overall pass rate, 62.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Vauxhall Frontera, the average is 73.2% — best year 2000 (77.0%), worst 2001 (70.0%).
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
- 180
- Typical mileage (median)
- 87,284 mi
- Make and model
- Vauxhall Frontera
- 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 Frontera MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 52% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (57% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Frontera
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 34 | 73.5% |
| West Midlands | 34 | 73.5% |
| North West | 33 | 60.6% |
| South West | 22 | 68.2% |
| East of England | 21 | 57.1% |
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 2001 Frontera
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 2001 Frontera
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 suspension joints 7.8% 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 lights 7.8% 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.
-
Check the brake pipes 3.3% 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 2001 Frontera through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£123 — and 32% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £41–£123
- Cheapest common item: anti-lock braking system warning lamp…
- £3–£15
- 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
- 32%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 180 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 Frontera, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2000 to 2004. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.0% to 77.0% — a spread of 7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 77.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 70.0%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2002 73.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 73.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2004 71.8% joints constant velocity boot…
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 2001 Vauxhall Frontera 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 2001 cars with a similar record
- Peugeot 106 70.1%
- Peugeot 206 69.8%
- Land Rover Freelander 70.2%
- Nissan Micra 70.4%
- Honda Cr-V 70.4%
- Honda Accord 69.5%
Closest pass rates among 2001 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 2001 Vauxhall Frontera 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 685 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 | 206 | 29.60% | 20.98% | +8.62 |
| Brakes | 137 | 19.70% | 20.89% | −1.19 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 122 | 17.50% | 5.57% | +11.93 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 59 | 8.50% | 5.52% | +2.98 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 45 | 6.50% | 12.21% | −5.71 |
| Tyres | 36 | 5.20% | 19.76% | −14.56 |
| Steering | 30 | 4.30% | 2.57% | +1.73 |
| Non-component advisories | 20 | 2.90% | 4.18% | −1.28 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 19 | 2.70% | 0.82% | +1.88 |
| Visibility | 11 | 1.60% | 4.97% | −3.37 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 12.8% | £80–250 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 7.8% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.8% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 7.2% | £80–250 |
| Prescribed areas prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 3.9% | £40–120 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £3–15 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £5–20 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £80–180 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 28.9% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 22.2% | £200–700 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 14.4% | £25–65 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Advisory | 12.8% | £20–55 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.2% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.1% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 83.3% | 19,727 mi |
| 30-60k | 33 | 72.7% | 46,005 mi |
| 60-90k | 47 | 74.5% | 74,813 mi |
| 90-120k | 43 | 60.5% | 102,699 mi |
| 120k+ | 34 | 67.6% | 144,388 mi |
Source: 180 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.
2001 Frontera MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2001 Vauxhall Frontera?
70.0% of the 180 2001 Vauxhall Frontera tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.3% for cars first used in 2001. First-attempt pass rate: 62.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2001 Vauxhall Frontera?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (12.78%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (7.78%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.78%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2001 Vauxhall Frontera MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 67.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2001 Vauxhall Frontera in this dataset had covered 87,284 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2001 Vauxhall Frontera?
Petrol: 70.6% pass rate across 102 tests. Diesel: 69.2% pass rate across 78 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2001 Vauxhall Frontera MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 71.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 69.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.