MG Metro MOT reliability

MG Metros passed their MOT first time 81% of the time across 103 tests in 2025. 151 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

81%

MOTs analysed

103

Still licensed (GB)

151

Body type

Hatchback

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

1988 petrol

20 MOTs

These figures come from 20 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

Passed first time 80%. Typical mileage 53,199 (most between 36,484 and 67,261).

2005: 46% → 2006: 54% → 2007: 42% → 2008: 56% → 2009: 60% → 2010: 62% → 2011: 51% → 2012: 55% → 2013: 69% → 2014: 60% → 2015: 60% → 2016: 48% → 2017: 76% → 2018: 60% → 2019: 90% → 2020: 54% → 2021: 69% → 2022: 85% → 2023: 74% → 2024: 91% → 2025: 80%

Most common failures

Non catalyst emissions: emissions carbon monoxide content excessive (5.0%)
Brake fluid : significantly below minimum mark (5.0%)
Reservoirs: fluid not visible (5.0%)
Service brake performance: effort inadequate at a wheel (5.0%)
Service brake performance: efficiency below requirements (5.0%)

Where 1988 Metros fail

Lights & electrics

15.0%

Brakes

10.0%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

5.0%

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.