Alfa Romeo 156 MOT reliability

Alfa Romeo 156s passed their MOT first time 63% of the time across 1,008 tests in 2025. 687 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

63%

MOTs analysed

1,008

Still licensed (GB)

687

Body type

Sedan

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

2006 petrol

15 MOTs

These figures come from only 15 MOT tests. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 67%. Typical mileage 82,334 (most between 63,817 and 111,149).

2007: 100% → 2008: 80% → 2009: 63% → 2010: 54% → 2011: 55% → 2012: 50% → 2013: 44% → 2014: 48% → 2015: 35% → 2016: 38% → 2017: 39% → 2018: 43% → 2019: 50% → 2020: 62% → 2021: 65% → 2022: 68% → 2023: 50% → 2024: 52% → 2025: 67%

Most common failures

Tank: insecure (6.7%)
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.7%)
Rear fog lamp: not working (6.7%)
Condition: not functioning as intended (6.7%)
Rigid brake pipes: leaking on a hydraulic braking system (6.7%)

2006 diesel

4 MOTs

These figures come from only 4 MOT tests. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 75%. Typical mileage 62,454 (most between 48,808 and 84,120).

2006: 100% → 2007: 100% → 2008: 100% → 2009: 71% → 2010: 57% → 2011: 60% → 2012: 59% → 2013: 60% → 2014: 49% → 2015: 42% → 2016: 54% → 2017: 50% → 2018: 62% → 2019: 36% → 2020: 88% → 2021: 100% → 2022: 75% → 2023: 60% → 2024: 100% → 2025: 75%

Most common failures

On or after 01/07/2008: emits excessive smoke or vapour likely to obscure the vision of other road users (25.0%)

Where 2006 156s fail

Body, structure & corrosion

13.3%

Lights & electrics

13.3%

Wheels & tyres

6.7%

Brakes

6.7%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

6.7%

Seat belts & other equipment

6.7%

Suspension & axles

6.7%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB.