Vauxhall Frontera MOT reliability

Vauxhall Fronteras passed their MOT first time 68% of the time across 527 tests in 2025. 17,961 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

68%

MOTs analysed

527

Still licensed (GB)

17,961

Body type

Suv

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

2002 diesel

35 MOTs

These figures come from 35 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 74%. Typical mileage 100,882 (most between 84,038 and 136,325).

2005: 86% → 2006: 82% → 2007: 77% → 2008: 69% → 2009: 64% → 2010: 60% → 2011: 56% → 2012: 52% → 2013: 50% → 2014: 47% → 2015: 52% → 2016: 51% → 2017: 50% → 2018: 51% → 2019: 51% → 2020: 61% → 2021: 57% → 2022: 55% → 2023: 61% → 2024: 59% → 2025: 74%

Most common failures

Service brake performance: excessively binding (5.7%)
Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.7%)
Registration plates: inscription illegible (2.9%)
On or after 01/01/2014: emissions likely to be affected by an exhaust leak (2.9%)
Master cylinder/servo mounting: prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.9%)

2002 petrol

30 MOTs

These figures come from 30 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 53%. Typical mileage 96,587 (most between 70,510 and 123,226).

2005: 81% → 2006: 84% → 2007: 74% → 2008: 68% → 2009: 67% → 2010: 65% → 2011: 59% → 2012: 59% → 2013: 55% → 2014: 55% → 2015: 58% → 2016: 56% → 2017: 58% → 2018: 55% → 2019: 57% → 2020: 54% → 2021: 56% → 2022: 58% → 2023: 62% → 2024: 70% → 2025: 53%

Most common failures

Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (10.0%)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (10.0%)
Position lamp: not working (6.7%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (6.7%)
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded (6.7%)

2002 lpg

1 MOT

These figures come from only 1 MOT test. 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 100%. Typical mileage 126,556 (most between 126,556 and 126,556).

2005: 100% → 2006: 83% → 2007: 71% → 2008: 100% → 2009: 33% → 2010: 80% → 2011: 20% → 2012: 0% → 2013: 75% → 2014: 40% → 2015: 100% → 2016: 33% → 2017: 33% → 2018: 100% → 2019: 100% → 2020: 100% → 2021: 100% → 2022: 100% → 2023: 100% → 2024: 0% → 2025: 100%

Most common failures

Where 2002 Fronteras fail

Body, structure & corrosion

11.4%

Suspension & axles

11.4%

Brakes

8.6%

Lights & electrics

8.6%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

5.7%

Visibility & wipers

2.9%

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.