61.5%
Vauxhall Zafira
Vauxhall Zafira MOT pass rate and common problems
The Vauxhall Zafira passed 61.5% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 10.8 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was coil spring fractured or broken.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Zafira compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
65.8%
Vauxhall average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Zafira runs 4.3 points behind the Vauxhall average. It is 12th of the 20 Vauxhall models in the data. The average Zafira arrived at its test 13 years old with 95,557 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.
Zafira MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Vauxhall Zafira cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 70.5% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 57.2%, a drop of 13.3 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years (small sample) | 5 | 80% | 7.7 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 56,766 | 70.5% | 1.8 pts below |
| 11 years and over | 117,694 | 57.2% | 15.1 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 Zafira failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Vauxhall Zafira cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 45.5% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Zafira MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Vauxhall Zafira cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 38.5% of everything testers recorded against failed Vauxhall Zafira cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Zafira
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: coil spring fractured or broken and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn. 10.7% of failure items.
2
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working, headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect and stop lamp not working. 9.7% of failure items.
3
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm and condition has ply or cords exposed. 7% of failure items.
4
Noise, emissions and leaks
Recorded most often: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction. 4.7% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Zafira has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Vauxhall Zafira buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Vauxhall Zafira MOT FAQs
What is the Vauxhall Zafira MOT pass rate?
61.5% of Vauxhall Zafira cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 174,465 tests. That is 10.8 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 474th of 575 models.
What does a Vauxhall Zafira most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Vauxhall Zafira cars failing their 2025 MOT was coil spring fractured or broken, on 6.4% of failure items. Next were malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (4.7%) and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (4.3%).
Which area causes the most Vauxhall Zafira MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 24.6%, followed by suspension at 20.8%.
Do older Vauxhall Zafira cars fail their MOT more often?
Vauxhall Zafira cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 70.5% of MOT tests in 2025, against 57.2% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Vauxhall Zafira has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Vauxhall Zafira 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 Vauxhall Zafira'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.