Pass rate
66.5%
Below average — 6.1 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 8,277 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £49–£130
2003 Vauxhall Vivaro MOT pass rate
- 2003
- Van
- typical 157,885 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
23.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 90.5% pass
- Avoid 2003 66.5% pass · this year
Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 24 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 54.1%
- Typical mileage
- 158k mi
The 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro MOT pass rate is 66.5% of its MOT tests — 6.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Vauxhall Vivaro does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 7.2% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a van of this age.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, vans this age and mileage expect about 72.6%; this one manages 66.5% — 6.1 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 17% 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 Vivaro? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 6.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 54.1%. The median 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro in this dataset had covered 157,885 mi.
100% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 66.5% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 65.9% of the time, April–September 67.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 7.94% of tests.
- 8,277 recorded tests behind this page.
- 66.5% overall pass rate, 54.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Vauxhall Vivaro, the average is 72.8% — best year 2023 (90.5%), worst 2003 (66.5%).
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
- 8,277
- Typical mileage (median)
- 157,885 mi
- Make and model
- Vauxhall Vivaro
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Vivaro MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 53% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (100% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Vivaro
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 1,565 | 61.9% |
| South East | 1,217 | 68.0% |
| West Midlands | 1,034 | 70.2% |
| Yorkshire | 878 | 67.0% |
| East of England | 789 | 69.6% |
| North West | 777 | 65.9% |
| East Midlands | 732 | 64.6% |
| Wales | 717 | 64.6% |
| Scotland | 293 | 63.1% |
| North East | 204 | 75.5% |
| London | 71 | 80.3% |
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 Vivaro
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 Vivaro
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 7.9% 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 suspension joints 7.3% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
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 5.0% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 2003 Vivaro through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £49–£130 — and 17% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £49–£130
- Cheapest common item: headlamp lens slightly defective
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 17%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 8,277 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 Vivaro, side by side
23 model years on record, from 2001 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 66.5% to 90.5% — a spread of 24 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 70.6% ball joint excessively worn
- 2002 66.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 66.5%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 67.4% ball joint excessively worn
- 2005 67.7% ball joint excessively worn
- 2006 66.9% ball joint excessively worn
- 2007 67.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 67.7% ball joint excessively worn
- 2009 67.1% ball joint excessively worn
- 2010 66.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 67.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 68.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 69.3% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2014 70.7% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2015 72.8% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2016 74.4% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2017 76.0% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2018 78.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 82.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2020 84.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2021 84.6% wipers does not clear the…
- 2022 84.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2023 90.5% 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 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro 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 vans with a similar record
- Fiat Doblo 66.6%
- Ford Transit Connect 67.1%
- Renault Trafic 67.2%
- Nissan Primastar 65.5%
- Renault Kangoo 67.7%
- Citroen Dispatch 67.9%
Closest pass rates among 2003 vans with at least 1,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. Full rankings: best vans and worst vans for MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro 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 34,927 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 | 8,482 | 23.90% | 20.89% | +3.01 |
| Suspension | 7,375 | 20.70% | 20.98% | −0.28 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4,756 | 13.40% | 12.21% | +1.19 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2,969 | 8.30% | 5.52% | +2.78 |
| Tyres | 2,546 | 7.20% | 19.76% | −12.56 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2,534 | 7.10% | 5.57% | +1.53 |
| Visibility | 2,000 | 5.60% | 4.97% | +0.63 |
| Steering | 1,832 | 5.20% | 2.57% | +2.63 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,687 | 4.70% | 4.18% | +0.52 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 746 | 2.10% | 1.76% | +0.34 |
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 | 7.9% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 7.3% | £18–45 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 6.4% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 6.0% | £45–110 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 5.2% | £80–250 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.0% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.2% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.0% | £30–80 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 3.8% | £180–450 |
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.8% | £60–150 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 29.5% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 20.4% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 19.8% | £80–180 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 16.2% | £120–300 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.8% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 11.9% | £30–75 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 13 | 84.6% | 25,091 mi |
| 30-60k | 55 | 61.8% | 48,150 mi |
| 60-90k | 377 | 68.4% | 79,355 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,077 | 66.9% | 107,558 mi |
| 120k+ | 6,660 | 66.3% | 174,079 mi |
Source: 8,277 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 Vivaro MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro?
66.5% of the 8,277 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 54.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (7.94%), ball joint excessively worn (7.31%), track rod end ball joint has excessive play (6.37%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 84.6% of the time, falling to 66.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro in this dataset had covered 157,885 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro?
Diesel: 66.5% pass rate across 8,254 tests. Petrol: 60.9% pass rate across 23 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 Vauxhall Vivaro MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 65.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 67.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.