67.1%
Honda Civic
Honda Civic MOT pass rate and common problems
The Honda Civic passed 67.1% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 5.2 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was position lamp not working.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Civic compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
72.5%
Honda average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Civic runs 5.3 points behind the Honda average. It is 10th of the 12 Honda models in the data. The average Civic arrived at its test 13.9 years old with 91,868 miles recorded.
A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.
Civic MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Honda Civic cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 87.5% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 58.5%, a drop of 28.9 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 18,760 | 87.5% | 15.2 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 71,776 | 81.6% | 9.3 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 168,751 | 58.5% | 13.8 pts below |
That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Civic failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Honda Civic cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 53.5% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Civic MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Honda Civic cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 38.1% of everything testers recorded against failed Honda Civic cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Civic
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working, headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect, stop lamp not working and headlamp not working on dipped beam. 19.9% of failure items.
2
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively and washers provides insufficient washer liquid. 5.5% of failure items.
3
Suspension
Recorded most often: component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength and shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak. 5.4% of failure items.
4
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. 3.8% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Civic has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Honda Civic buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Honda Civic MOT FAQs
What is the Honda Civic MOT pass rate?
67.1% of Honda Civic cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 260,618 tests. That is 5.2 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 400th of 575 models.
What does a Honda Civic most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Honda Civic cars failing their 2025 MOT was position lamp not working, on 7% of failure items. Next were headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (6.2%) and stop lamp not working (4.1%).
Which area causes the most Honda Civic MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 34.5%, followed by suspension at 19.1%.
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, against 58.5% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Honda Civic has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Honda Civic that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.
How do I see a specific Honda Civic's MOT history?
Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.