84.5%
Suzuki Vitara pass rate
Used Suzuki Vitara buying guide
In 2025, Suzuki Vitara cars passed 84.5% of 72,087 initial MOT tests, 12.2 points above the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Vitara? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Suzuki Vitara MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
+12.2
percentage points above average
Ranked on pass rate the Vitara sits 127th of 575 models in the data. Suzuki as a brand averaged 73.6%, so this model runs 10.9 points ahead of its own brand. Suzuki Vitara cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 90.8% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 59.2%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Suzuki Vitara MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Vitara compares with similar cars.
Vitara fuel types
Petrol was the most common fuel among Suzuki Vitara cars tested in 2025. Diesel made up just 6.1% of tests.
Where the Vitara fails its MOT
Where Suzuki Vitara 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 tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (13.6%), position lamp not working (10.3%) and wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (8.4%). See every common Vitara MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Suzuki Vitara that failed, not a claim that every Vitara has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Vitara?
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. 30.7% of Vitara failure items.
2
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. 22.3% of Vitara 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. 17.4% of Vitara failure items.
4
Visibility
Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 12.4% of Vitara failure items.
5
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 7.3% of Vitara 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.
Vitara vs similar cars
Head-to-head comparisons on the same 2025 DVSA data.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Suzuki Vitara failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and tyres 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 Vitara you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Suzuki history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Suzuki models
The most-tested Suzuki models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Vitara.
Used Suzuki Vitara FAQs
Is the Suzuki Vitara 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 an 84.5% first-time pass rate for the Suzuki Vitara across 72,087 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Suzuki Vitara cars fail their MOT more often?
Suzuki Vitara cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 90.8% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 59.2%. 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 Suzuki Vitara?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, tyres 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 Suzuki Vitara'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.