Pass rate
76.0%
Around average — 10.0 pts behind the 86.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 47,781 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £25–£64
2017 Vauxhall Vivaro MOT pass rate
- 2017
- Van
- 2 trims combined
- typical 86,794 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
24.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
2.2 pts down across model years — 4.0% in 2002, 1.8% in 2019.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 90.5% pass
- Avoid 2003 66.5% pass
Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 24 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 69.1%
- Typical mileage
- 87k mi
The 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro MOT pass rate is 76.0% of its MOT tests — 10.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.0% 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
Steering: 3.3× the national share
Steering accounts for 8.5% of everything recorded on the 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro, against 2.6% nationally — 5.9 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 24.0%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, vans this age and mileage expect about 86.0%; this one manages 76.0% — 10.0 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 Vivaro? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Vauxhall Vivaro first registered in 2017 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 86.0%, so this figure is 10.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 69.1%. The median 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro in this dataset had covered 86,794 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 76.1% of the time, April–September 75.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Track rod end ball joint has excessive play", noted on 7.23% of tests.
- 47,781 recorded tests behind this page.
- 76.0% overall pass rate, 69.1% 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
- 47,781
- Typical mileage (median)
- 86,794 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
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Vivaro MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Vivaro
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 9,548 | 78.2% |
| East of England | 5,547 | 78.0% |
| South West | 5,106 | 72.4% |
| North West | 5,057 | 76.2% |
| West Midlands | 4,355 | 76.6% |
| Scotland | 4,153 | 70.8% |
| Yorkshire | 4,152 | 74.7% |
| East Midlands | 3,080 | 76.4% |
| London | 2,714 | 81.7% |
| Wales | 2,433 | 73.9% |
| North East | 1,622 | 75.0% |
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 2017 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 2017 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 suspension joints 7.2% of tests
“track rod end ball joint has excessive play”
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 windscreen 6.5% 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 lights 6.0% 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 2017 Vivaro through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £25–£64 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £25–£64
- 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
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 47,781 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 2017 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 2017 vans with a similar record
- Renault Kangoo 76.0%
- Renault Trafic 76.1%
- Nissan NV300 77.2%
- Fiat Doblo 77.7%
- Citroen Berlingo 78.0%
- Peugeot Partner 79.1%
Closest pass rates among 2017 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 2017 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 80,946 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 | 19,775 | 24.00% | 20.98% | +3.02 |
| Brakes | 14,715 | 17.90% | 20.89% | −2.99 |
| Tyres | 12,509 | 15.20% | 19.76% | −4.56 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 10,021 | 12.20% | 12.21% | −0.01 |
| Steering | 6,960 | 8.50% | 2.57% | +5.93 |
| Visibility | 6,087 | 7.40% | 4.97% | +2.43 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5,421 | 6.60% | 5.52% | +1.08 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,909 | 3.50% | 4.18% | −0.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1,690 | 2.10% | 5.57% | −3.47 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 859 | 1.00% | 0.82% | +0.18 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 7.2% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 6.5% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.0% | £5–20 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.6% | £3–12 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £25–65 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.4% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.4% | £18–45 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 3.1% | £30–75 |
| Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility | Minor | 1.9% | £3–15 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.7% | £18–45 |
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 | 13.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.8% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.8% | £45–110 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 7.6% | £30–75 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Advisory | 5.3% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 5.0% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,470 | 85.6% | 22,142 mi |
| 30-60k | 9,334 | 78.8% | 47,564 mi |
| 60-90k | 14,350 | 75.4% | 74,841 mi |
| 90-120k | 11,462 | 74.0% | 103,699 mi |
| 120k+ | 10,877 | 75.2% | 153,090 mi |
Source: 47,781 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.
2017 Vivaro MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro?
76.0% of the 47,781 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 86.0% for cars first used in 2017. First-attempt pass rate: 69.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro?
The three most recorded items are track rod end ball joint has excessive play (7.23%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (6.47%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.01%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.6% of the time, falling to 75.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro in this dataset had covered 86,794 mi.
Does the season affect the 2017 Vauxhall Vivaro MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 76.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 75.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.