Vauxhall Cavalier MOT reliability

Vauxhall Cavaliers passed their MOT first time 75% of the time across 977 tests in 2025. 987 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

75%

MOTs analysed

977

Still licensed (GB)

987

Body type

Coupe

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

1995 petrol

197 MOTs

Passed first time 68%. Typical mileage 103,402 (most between 77,162 and 129,306).

2005: 56% → 2006: 52% → 2007: 47% → 2008: 46% → 2009: 44% → 2010: 44% → 2011: 44% → 2012: 45% → 2013: 46% → 2014: 46% → 2015: 51% → 2016: 51% → 2017: 55% → 2018: 56% → 2019: 59% → 2020: 65% → 2021: 65% → 2022: 65% → 2023: 63% → 2024: 66% → 2025: 68%

Most common failures

Catalyst emissions: carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits (7.1%)
Catalyst emissions: carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits (5.6%)
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (4.6%)
Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (4.6%)
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded (4.1%)

1995 diesel

28 MOTs

These figures come from 28 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 64%. Typical mileage 151,884 (most between 115,456 and 184,288).

2005: 51% → 2006: 48% → 2007: 45% → 2008: 42% → 2009: 42% → 2010: 40% → 2011: 42% → 2012: 45% → 2013: 44% → 2014: 47% → 2015: 50% → 2016: 51% → 2017: 57% → 2018: 57% → 2019: 55% → 2020: 68% → 2021: 66% → 2022: 60% → 2023: 72% → 2024: 66% → 2025: 64%

Most common failures

Prescribed areas: prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced (10.7%)
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (10.7%)
Position lamp: not working (7.1%)
Headlamp aim: too high (7.1%)
Service brake imbalance: across an axle (7.1%)

Where 1995 Cavaliers fail

Lights & electrics

14.2%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

14.2%

Suspension & axles

13.7%

Body, structure & corrosion

11.2%

Brakes

10.7%

Wheels & tyres

5.1%

Steering

4.6%

Seat belts & other equipment

4.1%

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.