Pass rate
68.8%
Below average — 3.8 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,499 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £32–£84
2003 Vauxhall Meriva MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 88,012 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
23.0% 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 →
17.9 pts down across model years — 18.5% in 2003, 0.6% in 2014.
Which year to buy
- Best 2018 87.5% pass
- Avoid 2004 67.4% pass
Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 20.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 58.3%
- Typical mileage
- 88k mi
The 2003 Vauxhall Meriva MOT pass rate is 68.8% of its MOT tests — 3.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Vauxhall Meriva does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 10.6% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 72.6%; this one manages 68.8% — 3.8 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 30% 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 Meriva? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Vauxhall Meriva compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 3.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 58.3%. The median 2003 Vauxhall Meriva in this dataset had covered 88,012 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 68.1% of the time, April–September 69.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 6.87% of tests.
- 1,499 recorded tests behind this page.
- 68.8% overall pass rate, 58.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Vauxhall Meriva, the average is 75.6% — best year 2018 (87.5%), worst 2004 (67.4%).
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
- 1,499
- Typical mileage (median)
- 88,012 mi
- Make and model
- Vauxhall Meriva
- 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 Meriva MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 57% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Meriva
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 339 | 72.3% |
| East of England | 225 | 71.6% |
| South West | 217 | 65.4% |
| North West | 206 | 65.0% |
| East Midlands | 127 | 69.3% |
| West Midlands | 124 | 71.8% |
| Yorkshire | 95 | 66.3% |
| London | 67 | 74.6% |
| Wales | 40 | 62.5% |
| North East | 30 | 60.0% |
| Scotland | 29 | 55.2% |
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 2003 Meriva
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 2003 Meriva
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 6.9% 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 6.7% 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 5.3% 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 2003 Meriva through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £32–£84 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £32–£84
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot split or…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,499 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 Meriva, side by side
16 model years on record, from 2003 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 67.4% to 87.5% — a spread of 20.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 68.8%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 67.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 67.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 67.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 68.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 69.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 70.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 73.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 76.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 77.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 77.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 80.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 81.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 82.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 83.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 87.5% coil spring fractured or broken
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 2003 Vauxhall Meriva 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Renault Clio 68.7%
- Peugeot 307 68.7%
- Fiat Punto 68.7%
- Nissan X-Trail 68.9%
- Citroen Xsara 68.4%
- Volkswagen Polo 68.3%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Vauxhall Meriva 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 5,802 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 | 1,351 | 23.00% | 20.89% | +2.11 |
| Suspension | 1,320 | 22.50% | 20.98% | +1.52 |
| Tyres | 622 | 10.60% | 19.76% | −9.16 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 596 | 10.20% | 12.21% | −2.01 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 530 | 9.00% | 5.52% | +3.48 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 395 | 6.70% | 5.57% | +1.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 381 | 6.50% | 4.18% | +2.32 |
| Steering | 266 | 4.50% | 2.57% | +1.93 |
| Visibility | 192 | 3.30% | 4.97% | −1.67 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 149 | 2.50% | 1.76% | +0.74 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 6.9% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.7% | £5–20 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 5.3% | £80–180 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £18–45 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 4.8% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.8% | £45–120 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.7% | £80–200 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.6% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.4% | £5–25 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.9% | £80–250 |
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 | 31.6% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 22.6% | £200–700 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 19.4% | £120–300 |
| 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 | 14.9% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 14.6% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 8 | 75.0% | 23,324 mi |
| 30-60k | 179 | 73.7% | 47,091 mi |
| 60-90k | 592 | 69.4% | 75,550 mi |
| 90-120k | 487 | 65.5% | 104,840 mi |
| 120k+ | 222 | 71.2% | 141,380 mi |
Source: 1,499 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.
2003 Meriva MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Vauxhall Meriva?
68.8% of the 1,499 2003 Vauxhall Meriva tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 58.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Vauxhall Meriva?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (6.87%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.74%), rigid brake pipes excessively corroded (5.34%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Vauxhall Meriva MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 75.0% of the time, falling to 71.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Vauxhall Meriva in this dataset had covered 88,012 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Vauxhall Meriva MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 68.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 69.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.