Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Recorded pass rate

We are not publishing a ranking for the Giulia. The examples tested do not cover a wide enough spread of ages and mileages to compare it fairly, and an unadjusted pass rate mostly sorts models by how recently they were bought rather than how well they were built. The failure and advisory patterns below come from the same 7,408 tests and are worth reading on their own terms.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Alfa Romeo Giulia tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A tyre cords visible or damaged24.9%

   228 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

2. 2.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements24.8%

   227 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

3. 3.The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements17.4%

   159 occurrencesHeadlamp aim incorrect explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.8%

   99 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.A tyre seriously damaged9.6%

   88 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

6. 6.A tyre seriously damaged5.7%

   52 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

7. 7.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn4.9%

   45 occurrencesBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

8. 8.The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements4.8%

   44 occurrencesHeadlamp aim incorrect explained

9. 9.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn4.0%

   37 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

10. 10.Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction3.9%

    36 occurrencesEngine management light on, or not working explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Alfa Romeo Giulia tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1. 1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements26.8%

   1,989 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured15.9%

   1,179 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

3. 3.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.1%

   747 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

4. 4.A tyre seriously damaged4.1%

   303 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

5. 5.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements3.3%

   243 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

6. 6.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn3.1%

   230 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

7. 7.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn3.0%

   221 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

8. 8.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage1.9%

   142 testsShock absorber defective explained

How wear changes the picture

Pass rate by vehicle age

Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Giulia fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

49,421

Across examples of every age, so this is a description of the fleet rather than an annual figure.

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol77.8%

Diesel22.2%

Compare within the range

Other Alfa Romeo models

• Alfa Romeo Giulietta — 69.8% adjusted
• Alfa Romeo Mito — 61.6% adjusted
• Alfa Romeo Stelvio — 87.7% unadjusted
• Alfa Romeo Spider — 71.4% unadjusted
• Alfa Romeo 159 — 57.5% unadjusted
• Alfa Romeo Brera — 66.3% unadjusted
• All Alfa Romeo models →

Common questions

How reliable is the Alfa Romeo Giulia compared with other cars?

We do not publish a comparison for the Alfa Romeo Giulia, because the cars of this model that have been tested do not cover a wide enough range of ages and mileages. Its raw pass rate is 85.7% across 7,408 tests, but comparing a raw rate between models mostly ranks them by how new they are rather than how good they are. The failure and advisory patterns further down the page are still drawn from real tests and are worth reading.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Alfa Romeo Giulia?

The item recorded most often is "A tyre cords visible or damaged", which appears in 24.9% of failed Alfa Romeo Giulia tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Alfa Romeo Giulia?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 26.8% of all Alfa Romeo Giulia tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Alfa Romeo Giulia usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 49,421 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Does a Alfa Romeo Giulia get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 86.6% of Alfa Romeo Giulia tests pass. By 9 to 11 years, that falls to 82.7%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Alfa Romeo Giulia models petrol or diesel?

Of the Alfa Romeo Giulia cars tested, 78% are petrol, 22% are diesel. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. No adjusted rate is shown because this model's tested examples do not cover enough of the national age and mileage range for standardisation to mean anything.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.

Further reading

Make sense of the numbers

• How to judge reliability from evidence rather than reputation
• What counts as high or low mileage for a car’s age
• The most common MOT failures and how to avoid them
• What to check before buying a used Alfa Romeo