MOT pass rate · 2025 data
Saab 9-3 MOT pass rate
The Saab 9-3 passed 69.01% of its 31,008 initial MOT tests in 2025 — below the 77.3% average across all cars tested that year. That is 8.3 percentage points worse than average.
How the Saab 9-3 holds up with age
Every car fails the MOT more often as it gets older. What matters when you are buying is how steeply that happens for this particular model. These are the 2025 pass rates for the Saab 9-3 grouped by the vehicle's age at the time of the test.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| 11 years and over | 31,008 | 69.01% |
Why the Saab 9-3 fails its MOT
Across every Saab 9-3 that failed its 2025 MOT, the most common area of failure was suspension, accounting for 25.77% of all recorded failure items. These are the areas worth having checked before you buy, and worth budgeting for on an older example.
| Failure area | Share of failure items | Recorded items |
|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 25.77% | 7,408 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 18.6% | 5,347 |
| Brakes | 18.49% | 5,316 |
| Tyres | 9.62% | 2,766 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 8.2% | 2,357 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 7.25% | 2,084 |
How the Saab 9-3 compares
Ranked on pass rate, the Saab 9-3 sits 538th of 651 models in this data , and 3rd of the 3 Saab models covered . Saab as a whole averaged 69.44%, so this model runs level with its own brand average.
What this means when buying a used Saab 9-3
A pass rate is a population average, not a verdict on the specific car in front of you. The average Saab 9-3 came to its 2025 test at 115,434 miles and 18.2 years old. Most examples tested were petrol, though 43.16% were diesel.
The useful check is the individual car's own MOT record: how many times it has failed, what for, and whether advisories keep reappearing. A recurring advisory on corrosion, suspension or brakes tells you far more than a model-wide average, and a mileage that does not move consistently between tests is a warning in itself.
Check a specific Saab 9-3
Run the registration through a free MOT history check to see that car's test results, advisories and recorded mileages. For the risks an MOT never covers — outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers and ownership history — a full car history check brings them together in one £15 report.
Also useful: mileage check · write-off check · free car check
Other Saab models
Models with a similar pass rate
- MINI Mini 70% pass rate
- Citroen Berlingo 69.15% pass rate
- Vauxhall Zafira 69.21% pass rate
- Citroen C4 68.83% pass rate
- Peugeot 308 69.7% pass rate
- Peugeot 107 69.3% pass rate
Figures aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025, class 4 initial tests only, contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Retests are excluded, so these are first-time pass rates.