61.2%
Toyota Celica
Toyota Celica MOT pass rate and common problems
The Toyota Celica passed 61.2% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 11.1 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Celica compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
75.1%
Toyota average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Celica runs 13.9 points behind the Toyota average. It is 31st of the 32 Toyota models in the data. The average Celica arrived at its test 23.3 years old with 117,608 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.
Celica MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years (small sample) | 7 | 100% | 27.7 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years (small sample) | 13 | 76.9% | 4.6 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 8,401 | 61.1% | 11.2 pts below |
Too few tests fall into some age groups to compare them reliably. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Celica failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Toyota Celica cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and brakes together account for 43.1% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Celica MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Toyota Celica cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 33% of everything testers recorded against failed Toyota Celica cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Celica
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect, position lamp not working and stop lamp not working. 11.4% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength and coil spring fractured or broken. 8.1% of failure items.
3
Brakes
Recorded most often: service brake imbalance across an axle and rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements. 4.4% of failure items.
4
Noise, emissions and leaks
Recorded most often: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits. 3.5% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Celica has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Toyota Celica buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Toyota Celica MOT FAQs
What is the Toyota Celica MOT pass rate?
61.2% of Toyota Celica cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 8,421 tests. That is 11.1 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 480th of 575 models.
What does a Toyota Celica most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Toyota Celica cars failing their 2025 MOT was component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength, on 5.6% of failure items. Next were headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.8%) and position lamp not working (4.4%).
Which area causes the most Toyota Celica MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 23.9%, followed by brakes at 19.2%.
Does this mean every Toyota Celica has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Toyota Celica 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 Toyota Celica'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.