Chevrolet Spark MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Chevrolet Spark in Great Britain in 2025 — 13,365 tests. Figures cover every Spark first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the Spark ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
54.5%
17.8 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
13,365
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
10.1%
of Spark first tests; national 7.3%

How many Chevrolet Spark cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 13,685 Chevrolet Spark cars that were taxed or on SORN: 12,680 taxed and 1,005 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper). The MOT figures above count tests; these count cars, across the whole United Kingdom, cars only. Chevrolet Spark vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
12,680
92.7% of the 13,685 Spark cars taxed or on SORN; 6 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
1,005
declared off the road by their keepers — 7.3% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed Spark cars peaked at 19,243 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 6,563 (34.1%) to 12,680 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 66 at the end of 2014 to 1,005 at the end of 2025, up 1422.7%. A car leaves the taxed count when it is scrapped, exported or declared off the road; the year-end counts do not say which.

Taxed Spark cars, year by year

Cars of this model taxed and on the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025.

05k10k15k20k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed Spark cars, year 2014: 19kTaxed Spark cars, year 2015: 19kTaxed Spark cars, year 2016: 19kTaxed Spark cars, year 2017: 19kTaxed Spark cars, year 2018: 18kTaxed Spark cars, year 2019: 18kTaxed Spark cars, year 2020: 17kTaxed Spark cars, year 2021: 17kTaxed Spark cars, year 2022: 16kTaxed Spark cars, year 2023: 15kTaxed Spark cars, year 2024: 14kTaxed Spark cars, year 2025: 13k13k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed Spark cars
201419,243
201519,051
201619,037
201718,781
201818,458
201918,022
202017,470
202116,844
202216,147
202315,325
202414,124
202512,680

Spark cars on SORN, year by year

Cars of this model declared off the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025. Its own scale — SORN counts are a fraction of the taxed count.

05001k2k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Spark cars on SORN, year 2014: 66Spark cars on SORN, year 2015: 71Spark cars on SORN, year 2016: 131Spark cars on SORN, year 2017: 168Spark cars on SORN, year 2018: 245Spark cars on SORN, year 2019: 294Spark cars on SORN, year 2020: 376Spark cars on SORN, year 2021: 501Spark cars on SORN, year 2022: 546Spark cars on SORN, year 2023: 641Spark cars on SORN, year 2024: 850Spark cars on SORN, year 2025: 1k1k
View this chart as a table
YearSpark cars on SORN
201466
201571
2016131
2017168
2018245
2019294
2020376
2021501
2022546
2023641
2024850
20251,005

Which model years survive

Taxed Spark cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 12,680 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. A build year's count depends on how many were sold that year as well as how many have lasted.

Year of manufacture Taxed, end of 2025Share of taxed Spark cars
20147846.2%
20133,38626.7%
20123,05024.1%
20112,94823.2%
20102,50619.8%
All other build years (two years, each under 1%)60.0%

Population source: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026; counts of the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, United Kingdom, cars only, excluding cars recorded with no model name. SortedCars groups DVLA's model name SPARK under this model. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, DVLA or the Department for Transport.

How the Spark ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, Spark vs all cars, 2025.

Chevrolet SparkAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Chevrolet Spark, vehicle age 11: 62%Chevrolet Spark, vehicle age 12: 56.4%Chevrolet Spark, vehicle age 13: 52.3%Chevrolet Spark, vehicle age 14: 53.6%Chevrolet Spark, vehicle age 15: 53.8%All cars, vehicle age 3: 88.5%All cars, vehicle age 4: 87.2%All cars, vehicle age 5: 86%All cars, vehicle age 6: 83.5%All cars, vehicle age 7: 80.9%All cars, vehicle age 8: 78.2%All cars, vehicle age 9: 74.9%All cars, vehicle age 10: 71.9%All cars, vehicle age 11: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 12: 65.8%All cars, vehicle age 13: 63.5%All cars, vehicle age 14: 61.2%All cars, vehicle age 15: 59.3%All cars, vehicle age 16: 58.3%All cars, vehicle age 17: 57.2%All cars, vehicle age 18: 57.4%All cars, vehicle age 19: 57%All cars, vehicle age 20: 57.6%All cars 57.6%Chevrolet Spark 53.8%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Spark testsSpark pass rateAll cars
1171962.0%68.6%
123,52456.4%65.8%
133,21752.3%63.5%
143,19453.6%61.2%
152,70053.8%59.3%

Better or worse than the average car?

The Spark's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the Spark beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

Spark behind
-12-6+0+6+12Age 11: -6.6 points vs the average car11Age 12: -9.4 points vs the average carAge 13: -11.2 points vs the average car13Age 14: -7.6 points vs the average carAge 15: -5.5 points vs the average car15Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
11-6.6
12-9.4
13-11.2
14-7.6
15-5.5

The Spark fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the Spark fleet still in use.

01k2k3k4kAge 11: 71911Age 12: 3kAge 13: 3k13Age 14: 3kAge 15: 2k15Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
11719
123,524
133,217
143,194
152,700

What a Spark fails on

Where the failure items land when a Spark fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment28.6%
Brakes24.4%
Suspension20.0%
Tyres8.1%
Visibility7.7%
Body, chassis, structure5.0%
Noise, emissions and leaks2.7%
Steering1.7%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (98.2% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a Spark, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Brakes: 36.0% of advisories36.0%Suspension: 25.3% of advisories25.3%Tyres: 20.6% of advisories20.6%Body, chassis, structure: 5.8% of advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaks: 4.7% of advisoriesIdentification of the vehicle: 2.7% of advisories
BrakesSuspensionTyresBody, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaksIdentification of the vehicle
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Brakes36.0%
Suspension25.3%
Tyres20.6%
Body, chassis, structure5.8%
Noise, emissions and leaks4.7%
Identification of the vehicle2.7%

What mileage is normal for a Spark?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Spark; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

Typical Spark (median)
0k25k50k75k100k111315Vehicle age (years)Age 11: typical 53,750 miles (middle half 36,250–76,250)Age 12: typical 66,250 miles (middle half 51,250–86,250)Age 13: typical 68,750 miles (middle half 53,750–88,750)Age 14: typical 71,250 miles (middle half 53,750–88,750)Age 15: typical 71,250 miles (middle half 53,750–91,250)71k mi

Mileage values are midpoints of 2,500-mile bands.

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
1136,25053,75076,250
1251,25066,25086,250
1353,75068,75088,750
1453,75071,25088,750
1553,75071,25091,250

What fails at each age

The Spark's failure mix by age band, 2025 — each band's top categories at their true share of that band's failure items; the pale remainder is everything else. How the mix shifts with age is the point of the chart.

BrakesSuspensionLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyresVisibilityEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
10-13 yrsBrakes28.2%
10-13 yrsSuspension22.4%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment21.0%
10-13 yrsTyres9.2%
10-13 yrsVisibility6.5%
10-13 yrsEverything else12.7%
14+ yrsBrakes27.2%
14+ yrsSuspension23.2%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment22.8%
14+ yrsTyres8.5%
14+ yrsVisibility6.2%
14+ yrsEverything else12.1%
How these figures are computed. Every number on this page is calculated by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (every MOT test in Great Britain — 2025 for single-year figures; trend figures state their span, currently 2023–2025). Where a figure comes from a sample or uses banded values (mileage is banded to 2,500 miles), the page says so beside the figure. Test class 4 only, first tests only — retests are excluded. Class 4 is the car MOT class and also covers car-derived vans, pickups and motorhomes tested to the same standard; where this page says "cars" it means class 4. Pass rate = passes ÷ (passes + failures + pass-after-rectification): a vehicle that failed and was fixed during the visit counts as a fail. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Alias spellings of a make in the DVSA file are counted under one make name, and all trims and variants of a model are grouped under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables. The taxed and SORN counts on this page are the one exception: they are not computed from MOT records but taken from the Department for Transport's vehicle licensing statistics (DfT/DVLA table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0), which count the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, UK-wide, cars only. They describe a model as a whole, grouped under SortedCars' model names, and say nothing about any one car. “Dangerous” is DVSA's statutory defect category (in force since May 2018): a defect posing an immediate risk to road safety — driving the vehicle before repair is an offence. What these figures are for. These statistics are general information about groups of vehicles. They are not advice, a valuation or a recommendation to buy, avoid or price any particular vehicle, and no decision about one car should rest on them alone — check the car itself and its own records. We take care over the calculations, but we cannot guarantee they are complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for loss arising from reliance on them. This does not limit any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — see our Terms & Conditions. If you believe any figure on this page is inaccurate, contact us. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DVSA or DVLA. DVSA publishes the raw test records; the statistics on this page are SortedCars' own calculations from them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.