MG Maestro MOT reliability

MG Maestros passed their MOT first time 73% of the time across 49 tests in 2025. 69 are still licensed in Great Britain.

Example photo of a MG Maestro — Photo: Charles01 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

These figures come from 49 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

First-time pass rate

73%

MOTs analysed

49

Still licensed (GB)

69

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

1987 petrol

8 MOTs

These figures come from only 8 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 50%. Typical mileage 74,963 (most between 56,155 and 78,933).

2005: 69% → 2006: 50% → 2007: 41% → 2008: 59% → 2009: 56% → 2010: 69% → 2011: 69% → 2012: 56% → 2013: 71% → 2014: 53% → 2015: 36% → 2016: 57% → 2017: 30% → 2018: 60% → 2019: 73% → 2020: 67% → 2021: 44% → 2022: 75% → 2023: 80% → 2024: 29% → 2025: 50%

Most common failures

Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (12.5%)
Drag link end: ball joint has excessive play (12.5%)
Emissions not tested: unable to be completed (12.5%)
Exhaust system: has a major leak of exhaust gases (12.5%)
Headlamp: light source and lamp not compatible (12.5%)

Where 1987 Maestros fail

Lights & electrics

37.5%

Body, structure & corrosion

25.0%

Steering

25.0%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

25.0%

Suspension & axles

12.5%

Visibility & wipers

12.5%

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.