67.1%
Honda Civic pass rate
Used Honda Civic buying guide
In 2025, Honda Civic cars passed 67.1% of 260,618 initial MOT tests, 5.2 points below the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Civic? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Honda Civic MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
−5.2
percentage points below average
Ranked on pass rate the Civic sits 400th of 575 models in the data. Honda as a brand averaged 72.5%, so this model runs 5.3 points behind its own brand. Honda Civic cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 87.5% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 58.5%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Honda Civic MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Civic compares with similar cars.
Civic fuel types
Petrol was the most common fuel among Honda Civic cars tested in 2025. Diesel still made up 22.2% of tests.
Where the Civic fails its MOT
Where Honda Civic cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were position lamp not working (7%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (6.2%) and stop lamp not working (4.1%). See every common Civic MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Honda Civic that failed, not a claim that every Civic has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Civic?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting. 34.5% of Civic failure items.
2
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 19.1% of Civic failure items.
3
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 14.3% of Civic failure items.
4
Tyres
Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear. 9.7% of Civic failure items.
5
Visibility
Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 7.2% of Civic failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
Civic vs similar cars
Head-to-head comparisons on the same 2025 DVSA data.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Honda Civic failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact Civic you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Honda history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Honda models
The most-tested Honda models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Civic.
Used Honda Civic FAQs
Is the Honda Civic reliable?
MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 67.1% first-time pass rate for the Honda Civic across 260,618 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Honda Civic cars fail their MOT more often?
Honda Civic cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 87.5% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 58.5%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Honda Civic?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, suspension and brakes. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a Honda Civic's history?
Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.
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.