Pass rate
73.9%
Below average — 0.8 pts behind the 74.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 19,603 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £26–£82
2010 Volvo C30 MOT pass rate
- 2010
- typical 105,278 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
22.4% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
0.9 pts up across model years — 4.8% in 2007, 5.7% in 2013.
Which year to buy
- Best 2013 77.8% pass
- Avoid 2006 70.9% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 6.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 65.9%
- Typical mileage
- 105k mi
The 2010 Volvo C30 MOT pass rate is 73.9% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.4% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 18.0% of everything recorded on the 2010 Volvo C30, against 12.2% nationally — 5.8 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 22.4%, but at 21.0% 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.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 58% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 Volvo C30? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2010 Volvo C30 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.7%, so this figure is 0.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 65.9%. The median 2010 Volvo C30 in this dataset had covered 105,278 mi.
71% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 73.7% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.9% of the time, April–September 73.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 13.46% of tests.
- 19,603 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.9% overall pass rate, 65.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volvo C30, the average is 73.7% — best year 2013 (77.8%), worst 2006 (70.9%).
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
- 19,603
- Typical mileage (median)
- 105,278 mi
- Make and model
- Volvo C30
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the C30 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (71% of tests).
Where the Volvo C30 is most common
Across all C30 model years on record (2006–2013): 34,435 Volvo C30 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 88,272 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 970 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) | 970 | 79.9% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 882 | 77.0% |
| 3 | Nottingham (NG) | 842 | 71.6% |
| 4 | Peterborough (PE) | 727 | 73.6% |
| 5 | Leicester (LE) | 685 | 75.6% |
| 6 | Doncaster (DN) | 584 | 74.7% |
| 7 | Coventry (CV) | 570 | 76.1% |
| 8 | York (YO) | 562 | 71.8% |
| 9 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 562 | 72.4% |
| 10 | Derby (DE) | 550 | 75.3% |
| 11 | Cardiff (CF) | 537 | 71.0% |
| 12 | Norwich (NR) | 525 | 72.3% |
| 13 | Ipswich (IP) | 514 | 75.2% |
| 14 | Manchester (M) | 501 | 76.5% |
| 15 | Swansea (SA) | 500 | 71.9% |
| 16 | Bristol (BS) | 497 | 67.5% |
| 17 | Wrexham (LL) | 490 | 72.4% |
| 18 | Glasgow (G) | 487 | 73.0% |
| 19 | Portsmouth (PO) | 473 | 73.5% |
| 20 | Northampton (NN) | 470 | 74.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Volvo C30 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 C30
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,612 | 75.9% |
| South West | 2,408 | 71.3% |
| North West | 2,398 | 74.9% |
| Yorkshire | 2,376 | 74.9% |
| East of England | 2,026 | 76.3% |
| West Midlands | 2,001 | 75.2% |
| East Midlands | 1,701 | 72.6% |
| Scotland | 1,558 | 69.1% |
| Wales | 1,302 | 71.5% |
| North East | 960 | 72.6% |
| London | 261 | 83.1% |
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 2010 C30
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 2010 C30
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 lights 13.5% 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.
-
Check the windscreen 3.5% 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 suspension joints 3.2% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush 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.
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 2010 C30 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £26–£82 — and 58% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £26–£82
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- 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
- 58%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 19,603 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 C30, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2006 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.9% to 77.8% — a spread of 6.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2006 70.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 71.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 71.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 72.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 73.9%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 74.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 76.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 77.8% 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 2010 Volvo C30 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 2010 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz B-Class 74.0%
- Peugeot Rcz 73.8%
- Subaru Forester 73.8%
- Ford S-Max 74.1%
- Vauxhall Corsa 73.7%
- Ford C-Max 73.7%
Closest pass rates among 2010 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 2010 Volvo C30 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 45,080 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 | 10,250 | 22.40% | 20.98% | +1.42 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8,222 | 18.00% | 12.21% | +5.79 |
| Tyres | 8,180 | 17.90% | 19.76% | −1.86 |
| Brakes | 7,815 | 17.10% | 20.89% | −3.79 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2,852 | 6.20% | 5.57% | +0.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2,736 | 6.00% | 5.52% | +0.48 |
| Visibility | 1,935 | 4.20% | 4.97% | −0.77 |
| Steering | 1,272 | 2.80% | 2.57% | +0.23 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,158 | 2.50% | 4.18% | −1.68 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 660 | 1.40% | 1.76% | −0.36 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 13.5% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.5% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.5% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.2% | £40–150 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £25–65 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 2.6% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.1% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.9% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | 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 | 22.0% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 13.7% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.0% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.2% | £18–45 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 7.9% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 319 | 86.2% | 22,890 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,690 | 82.0% | 47,951 mi |
| 60-90k | 4,486 | 76.7% | 76,952 mi |
| 90-120k | 6,442 | 72.5% | 104,976 mi |
| 120k+ | 6,663 | 70.7% | 144,434 mi |
Source: 19,603 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.
2010 C30 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2010 Volvo C30?
73.9% of the 19,603 2010 Volvo C30 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.7% for cars first used in 2010. First-attempt pass rate: 65.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2010 Volvo C30?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (13.46%), position lamp not working (4.52%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.48%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2010 Volvo C30 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 86.2% of the time, falling to 70.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2010 Volvo C30 in this dataset had covered 105,278 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2010 Volvo C30?
Diesel: 73.7% pass rate across 13,908 tests. Petrol: 74.4% pass rate across 5,695 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2010 Volvo C30 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 73.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.