71.1%
Dacia Duster
Dacia Duster vs Suzuki Vitara
Buying a used Dacia Duster or Suzuki Vitara? Compare their MOT pass rates, common problems, mileage and how they hold up as they get older.
Already found one of them? Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
MOT pass rate head to head
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. The UK average across all cars is 72.3%.
84.5%
Suzuki Vitara
13.3
percentage point gap in the Suzuki Vitara's favour
That is a wide gap by the standards of this data, and worth weighing. The figures come from 81,865 tests of the Dacia Duster and 72,087 of the Suzuki Vitara. The Dacia Duster also arrives at test with roughly 3,247 more miles on average, which usually says more about who buys it and what they use it for than about how long it lasts.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. It records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day.
Which one holds up better with age?
A headline pass rate mixes three-year-old cars with fifteen-year-old ones. Split by age, you can see what each model does over time.
The Dacia Duster gives up less as it gets older. Between cars aged 3 to 5 years and those aged 11 years and over it loses 18.8 percentage points against 31.6 for the Suzuki Vitara, a difference of 12.8 points.
| Age at test | Duster | Vitara |
|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 75.8% | 90.8% |
| 6 to 10 years | 66.5% | 81.3% |
| 11 years and over | 57% | 59.2% |
On a ten-year-old example that is the figure to weigh, not the headline number.
What each one fails on
The areas testers recorded most often across every failed 2025 test for each model, as a share of recorded failure items.
Dacia Duster
Suzuki Vitara
Both models fail most often on lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, which tells you what to look at on either. The difference between them is in what comes next on each list. These are recorded failure categories, not faults every car has.
The specific items testers wrote down
One level deeper than the category: the individual defects recorded most often on each model.
Dacia Duster
- Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively
- Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect
- Headlamp not working on dipped beam
Suzuki Vitara
- Tread depth tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm
- Position lamp not working
- Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively
What this comparison can't tell you
Everything above describes two models across the whole UK fleet. It says nothing about the one car in the advert. Two Dusters of the same year and mileage can be worth thousands apart because of finance, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer, none of which appear in MOT data.
Check the car you are about to buy. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Read more on each car
Dacia Duster vs Suzuki Vitara FAQs
Is the Dacia Duster or the Suzuki Vitara more likely to pass its MOT?
The Suzuki Vitara passed 84.5% of its initial MOT tests in the DVSA 2025 data against 71.1% for the Dacia Duster, a gap of 13.3 percentage points. That is a fleet-wide average, not a prediction about the specific car you are looking at.
Does a higher MOT pass rate mean a more reliable car?
No. An MOT records whether a vehicle met the roadworthiness standard on the day it was tested. It does not test the engine, clutch or gearbox, and it does not measure how often a car breaks down. Pass rates are useful for comparing how two models are holding up across the whole UK fleet, and nothing more than that.
Which holds up better with age, the Dacia Duster or the Suzuki Vitara?
The Dacia Duster. Between cars aged 3 to 5 years and those aged 11 years and over, it loses 18.8 percentage points of MOT pass rate against 31.6 for the Suzuki Vitara in the 2025 data.
Which is cheaper to keep on the road, the Dacia Duster or the Suzuki Vitara?
This data does not price servicing or repairs, so it cannot answer that directly. What it does show is what each model most often fails on, which is a fair guide to where the money goes. The Dacia Duster fails most often on lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment. The Suzuki Vitara fails most often on lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment.
Which one has covered more miles by MOT time?
The average Dacia Duster arrived at its 2025 MOT on 52,913 miles, against 49,666 for the Suzuki Vitara. That usually reflects who buys each car and what they use it for rather than how long it will last.
How do I check the actual Suzuki Vitara I have found?
Enter its registration. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, insurance write-off markers, stolen markers, the mileage recorded at every MOT, previous keepers, tax and MOT status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report. None of that appears in model-level MOT statistics.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.