Vauxhall Mokka MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Mokka is 3.7 percentage points below the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is below average. The unadjusted figure is 69.2%; the difference is what the age and mileage of this model’s fleet was hiding.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

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

1. 1.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc37.1%

   23,928 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

2. 2.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened22.1%

   14,260 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained

3. 3.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen11.8%

   7,630 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

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

   6,666 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc9.0%

   5,803 occurrencesSteering rack gaiter split, damaged or missing explained

6. 6.A tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative8.9%

   5,767 occurrencesTyre pressure monitoring system inoperative explained

7. 7.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements8.3%

   5,364 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

8. 8.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn8.3%

   5,341 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

9. 9.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning7.3%

   4,687 occurrencesLamp not working explained

10. 10.A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play6.9%

    4,464 occurrencesBall joint worn explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Vauxhall Mokka 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 requirements18.4%

   46,648 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A tyre seriously damaged17.1%

   43,350 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

3. 3.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.7%

   27,228 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

4. 4.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured9.2%

   23,304 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

5. 5.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users7.9%

   20,057 tests

6. 6.Exhaust system leaking or insecure4.9%

   12,515 testsExhaust leaking or insecure explained

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

   9,234 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

8. 8.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn3.1%

   7,931 testsSuspension arm bush worn 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 Mokka fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

56,813

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol74.2%

Diesel22.2%

Electric3.6%

Compare within the range

Other Vauxhall models

• Vauxhall Corsa — 64.4% adjusted
• Vauxhall Astra — 71.0% adjusted
• Vauxhall Vivaro — 62.2% adjusted
• Vauxhall Insignia — 72.5% adjusted
• Vauxhall Zafira — 66.0% adjusted
• Vauxhall Combo — 63.5% adjusted
• All Vauxhall models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Toyota Aygo — 70.4% adjusted, ranked 168
• Hyundai I10 — 67.7% adjusted, ranked 199
• Volkswagen Tiguan — 77.3% adjusted, ranked 83
• Honda Civic — 74.8% adjusted, ranked 113

Common questions

Is the Vauxhall Mokka reliable?

On MOT evidence the Vauxhall Mokka is below average. It passes 68.6% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 78% of the national age and mileage range, which is enough to quote but not to rank. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Vauxhall Mokka?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc", which appears in 37.1% of failed Vauxhall Mokka 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 Vauxhall Mokka?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 18.4% of all Vauxhall Mokka tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Vauxhall Mokka usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 56,813 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 Vauxhall Mokka get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 87.1% of Vauxhall Mokka tests pass. By 12 to 14 years, that falls to 62.2%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Vauxhall Mokka models petrol or diesel?

Of the Vauxhall Mokka cars tested, 74% are petrol, 22% are diesel, 4% are electric. 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. The adjusted rate is directly standardised across twenty-five age and mileage bands and reweighted onto the national distribution, so this model is compared against cars that have lived a similar life rather than against a younger or lighter-used fleet.

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 Vauxhall