Pass rate
70.3%
Below average — 2.3 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,726 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £27–£82
2003 Volvo XC70 MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 161,008 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
26.9% 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 →
13.5 pts down across model years — 16.4% in 2003, 2.9% in 2016.
Which year to buy
- Best 2015 84.9% pass
- Avoid 2003 70.3% pass · this year
Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 14.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 60.7%
- Typical mileage
- 161k mi
The 2003 Volvo XC70 MOT pass rate is 70.3% of its MOT tests — 2.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 26.9% of everything recorded on the 2003 Volvo Xc70, against 21.0% nationally — 5.9 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
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 XC70? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Volvo XC70 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 2.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 60.7%. The median 2003 Volvo XC70 in this dataset had covered 161,008 mi.
78% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 70.0% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 69.6% of the time, April–September 71.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 9.68% of tests.
- 1,726 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.3% overall pass rate, 60.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volvo XC70, the average is 79.1% — best year 2015 (84.9%), worst 2003 (70.3%).
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
- 1,726
- Typical mileage (median)
- 161,008 mi
- Make and model
- Volvo XC70
- 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 XC70 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (78% of tests).
Where the Volvo XC70 is most common
Across all XC70 model years on record (2002–2017): 24,718 Volvo XC70 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 63,153 tests. Nottingham (NG) has the most, with 643 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 | Nottingham (NG) | 643 | 83.4% |
| 2 | York (YO) | 607 | 75.9% |
| 3 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 503 | 79.7% |
| 4 | Peterborough (PE) | 496 | 82.0% |
| 5 | Sheffield (S) | 445 | 83.6% |
| 6 | Reading (RG) | 444 | 81.7% |
| 7 | Exeter (EX) | 440 | 75.5% |
| 8 | Southampton (SO) | 436 | 81.2% |
| 9 | Edinburgh (EH) | 431 | 74.7% |
| 10 | Ashford (TN) | 428 | 79.6% |
| 11 | Norwich (NR) | 397 | 78.0% |
| 12 | Guildford (GU) | 388 | 78.0% |
| 13 | Ipswich (IP) | 381 | 79.5% |
| 14 | Birmingham (B) | 381 | 82.5% |
| 15 | Glasgow (G) | 378 | 81.8% |
| 16 | Oxford (OX) | 367 | 78.9% |
| 17 | Cardiff (CF) | 363 | 79.3% |
| 18 | Doncaster (DN) | 363 | 81.1% |
| 19 | Gloucester (GL) | 344 | 75.4% |
| 20 | Swansea (SA) | 342 | 78.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Volvo XC70 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 XC70
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 301 | 68.4% |
| South West | 281 | 69.0% |
| East of England | 194 | 67.0% |
| Yorkshire | 187 | 72.7% |
| North West | 164 | 72.0% |
| Scotland | 135 | 65.2% |
| West Midlands | 135 | 71.1% |
| East Midlands | 117 | 73.5% |
| Wales | 108 | 75.9% |
| North East | 70 | 71.4% |
| London | 34 | 79.4% |
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 XC70
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 XC70
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 9.7% 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 suspension joints 5.4% 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.
-
Check the windscreen 3.3% 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.
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 XC70 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £27–£82 — and 37% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £27–£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
- 37%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,726 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 XC70, side by side
16 model years on record, from 2002 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.3% to 84.9% — a spread of 14.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 74.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 70.3%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 71.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 72.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 72.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 74.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 79.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 80.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 80.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 80.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 80.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 82.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 83.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 84.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 84.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 83.9% linkage ball joints ball joint…
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 Volvo XC70 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
- Vauxhall Vectra 70.4%
- Skoda Fabia 70.1%
- Vauxhall Zafira 70.1%
- Suzuki Carry 70.5%
- Ford Focus 70.6%
- Land Rover Freelander 70.0%
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 Volvo XC70 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 5,629 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 | 1,528 | 26.90% | 20.98% | +5.92 |
| Brakes | 1,059 | 18.70% | 20.89% | −2.19 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 895 | 15.80% | 12.21% | +3.59 |
| Tyres | 570 | 10.00% | 19.76% | −9.76 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 430 | 7.60% | 5.52% | +2.08 |
| Steering | 305 | 5.40% | 2.57% | +2.83 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 296 | 5.20% | 5.57% | −0.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 290 | 5.10% | 4.18% | +0.92 |
| Visibility | 162 | 2.90% | 4.97% | −2.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 94 | 1.70% | 1.76% | −0.06 |
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 | 9.7% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 6.7% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.4% | £40–150 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.1% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £45–110 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.3% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.2% | £30–80 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.0% | £80–250 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.7% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 27.4% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 19.4% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 19.1% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.8% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 13.8% | £120–300 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 7.9% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 20 | 80.0% | 43,177 mi |
| 60-90k | 89 | 70.8% | 75,357 mi |
| 90-120k | 199 | 75.4% | 106,401 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,394 | 69.7% | 181,530 mi |
Source: 1,726 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 XC70 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Volvo XC70?
70.3% of the 1,726 2003 Volvo XC70 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 60.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Volvo XC70?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (9.68%), position lamp not working (6.66%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (5.39%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Volvo XC70 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 80.0% of the time, falling to 69.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Volvo XC70 in this dataset had covered 161,008 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Volvo XC70?
Diesel: 70.0% pass rate across 1,353 tests. Petrol: 71.5% pass rate across 369 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 Volvo XC70 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 69.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.