Vauxhall Calibra MOT reliability

Vauxhall Calibras passed their MOT first time 74% of the time across 437 tests in 2025. 323 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

74%

MOTs analysed

437

Still licensed (GB)

323

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

1996 petrol

139 MOTs

Passed first time 78%. Typical mileage 110,179 (most between 76,805 and 131,258).

2005: 56% → 2006: 50% → 2007: 47% → 2008: 44% → 2009: 44% → 2010: 44% → 2011: 46% → 2012: 48% → 2013: 49% → 2014: 48% → 2015: 55% → 2016: 61% → 2017: 62% → 2018: 64% → 2019: 66% → 2020: 68% → 2021: 65% → 2022: 73% → 2023: 70% → 2024: 75% → 2025: 78%

Most common failures

Catalyst emissions: carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits (7.2%)
Headlamp aim: too high (2.2%)
Headlamp aim: too low (2.2%)
Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements (2.2%)
Side repeaters: not working (1.4%)

Where 1996 Calibras fail

Lights & electrics

11.5%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

10.1%

Brakes

6.5%

Suspension & axles

5.0%

Wheels & tyres

2.2%

Visibility & wipers

2.2%

Seat belts & other equipment

1.4%

Body, structure & corrosion

0.7%

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.