Mazda MX-5 MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Mazda MX-5 in Great Britain in 2025 — 90,903 tests. Figures cover every MX-5 first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the MX-5 ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
74.9%
2.6 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
90,903
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
5.0%
of MX-5 first tests; national 7.3%
Typical mileage at 10 years
41,250
middle half: 26,250–56,250 miles (2,500-mile-band midpoints)

How many Mazda MX-5 cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 116,397 Mazda MX-5 cars that were taxed or on SORN: 79,557 taxed and 36,840 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. Mazda MX-5 vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
79,557
68.3% of the 116,397 MX-5 cars taxed or on SORN; 103 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
36,840
declared off the road by their keepers — 31.7% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed MX-5 cars peaked at 97,346 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 17,789 (18.3%) to 79,557 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 16,730 at the end of 2014 to 36,840 at the end of 2025, up 120.2%. 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 MX-5 cars, year by year

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

020k40k60k80k100k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed MX-5 cars, year 2014: 97kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2015: 97kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2016: 97kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2017: 96kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2018: 96kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2019: 95kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2020: 91kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2021: 88kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2022: 87kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2023: 84kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2024: 81kTaxed MX-5 cars, year 2025: 80k80k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed MX-5 cars
201497,346
201596,590
201696,797
201796,402
201895,561
201994,740
202090,536
202188,403
202286,777
202383,781
202481,346
202579,557

MX-5 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.

010k20k30k40k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)MX-5 cars on SORN, year 2014: 17kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2015: 18kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2016: 21kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2017: 24kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2018: 26kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2019: 29kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2020: 32kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2021: 32kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2022: 33kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2023: 35kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2024: 35kMX-5 cars on SORN, year 2025: 37k37k
View this chart as a table
YearMX-5 cars on SORN
201416,730
201518,452
201621,055
201723,824
201826,405
201928,558
202031,796
202131,730
202233,160
202335,306
202435,403
202536,840

Which model years survive

Taxed MX-5 cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 79,557 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. 32 taxed MX-5 cars have no recorded year of manufacture and are not in the table, so the rows add up to 79,525. 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 MX-5 cars
20251,4541.8%
20241,2331.5%
20231,5792.0%
20221,2781.6%
20211,3841.7%
20201,0351.3%
20193,8424.8%
20184,0085.0%
20174,3635.5%
20163,8354.8%
20152,7723.5%
20142,6213.3%
20132,8533.6%
20122,8413.6%
20113,0913.9%
20104,1525.2%
20093,5924.5%
20084,4295.6%
20076,0837.6%
20064,6345.8%
20052,0362.6%
20041,8032.3%
20032,2022.8%
20021,7322.2%
20011,0001.3%
20001,3911.7%
19991,3941.8%
19981,3101.6%
19971,0771.4%
19968101.0%
All other build years (eleven years, each under 1%)3,6914.6%

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 MX-5 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 MX-5 ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, MX-5 vs all cars, 2025.

Mazda MX-5All cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 3: 94.1%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 4: 94.6%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 5: 91.8%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 6: 91.4%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 7: 89.2%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 8: 89.1%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 9: 86.1%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 10: 85.3%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 11: 80.4%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 12: 79.3%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 13: 79.6%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 14: 76.1%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 15: 73.2%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 16: 71.4%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 17: 68.8%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 18: 69.7%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 19: 67%Mazda MX-5, vehicle age 20: 66.1%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%Mazda MX-5 66.1%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)MX-5 testsMX-5 pass rateAll cars
31,36294.1%88.5%
41,46994.6%87.2%
51,05591.8%86.0%
64,00991.4%83.5%
74,25189.2%80.9%
84,56589.1%78.2%
94,09186.1%74.9%
102,98685.3%71.9%
112,83480.4%68.6%
123,09679.3%65.8%
133,10479.6%63.5%
143,34876.1%61.2%
154,58973.2%59.3%
164,06971.4%58.3%
175,19068.8%57.2%
187,30469.7%57.4%
195,85567.0%57.0%
202,94266.1%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

The MX-5's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the MX-5 beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

MX-5 ahead
-18-9+0+9+18Age 3: +5.6 points vs the average car3Age 4: +7.4 points vs the average carAge 5: +5.8 points vs the average car5Age 6: +7.9 points vs the average carAge 7: +8.3 points vs the average car7Age 8: +10.9 points vs the average carAge 9: +11.2 points vs the average car9Age 10: +13.4 points vs the average carAge 11: +11.8 points vs the average car11Age 12: +13.5 points vs the average carAge 13: +16.1 points vs the average car13Age 14: +14.9 points vs the average carAge 15: +13.9 points vs the average car15Age 16: +13.1 points vs the average carAge 17: +11.6 points vs the average car17Age 18: +12.3 points vs the average carAge 19: +10.0 points vs the average car19Age 20: +8.5 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
3+5.6
4+7.4
5+5.8
6+7.9
7+8.3
8+10.9
9+11.2
10+13.4
11+11.8
12+13.5
13+16.1
14+14.9
15+13.9
16+13.1
17+11.6
18+12.3
19+10.0
20+8.5

The MX-5 fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the MX-5 fleet still in use.

02k4k6k8kAge 3: 1k3Age 4: 1kAge 5: 1k5Age 6: 4kAge 7: 4k7Age 8: 4kAge 9: 4k9Age 10: 2kAge 11: 2k11Age 12: 3kAge 13: 3k13Age 14: 3kAge 15: 4k15Age 16: 4kAge 17: 5k17Age 18: 7kAge 19: 5k19Age 20: 2k20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
31,362
41,469
51,055
64,009
74,251
84,565
94,091
102,986
112,834
123,096
133,104
143,348
154,589
164,069
175,190
187,304
195,855
202,942

What an MX-5 fails on

Where the failure items land when an MX-5 fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Suspension23.8%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment19.8%
Brakes18.1%
Noise, emissions and leaks10.7%
Visibility7.5%
Body, chassis, structure7.4%
Tyres6.8%
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems3.6%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (97.6% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a MX-5, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Suspension: 32.9% of advisories32.9%Brakes: 28.1% of advisories28.1%Tyres: 21.3% of advisories21.3%Body, chassis, structure: 6.9% of advisories6.9%Noise, emissions and leaks: 3.8% of advisoriesIdentification of the vehicle: 1.6% of advisories
SuspensionBrakesTyresBody, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaksIdentification of the vehicle
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Suspension32.9%
Brakes28.1%
Tyres21.3%
Body, chassis, structure6.9%
Noise, emissions and leaks3.8%
Identification of the vehicle1.6%

What mileage is normal for an MX-5?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) MX-5; 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 MX-5 (median)
0k25k50k75k100k3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Age 3: typical 13,750 miles (middle half 8,750–18,750)Age 4: typical 16,250 miles (middle half 11,250–23,750)Age 5: typical 18,750 miles (middle half 13,750–28,750)Age 6: typical 23,750 miles (middle half 13,750–33,750)Age 7: typical 28,750 miles (middle half 18,750–38,750)Age 8: typical 31,250 miles (middle half 21,250–43,750)Age 9: typical 38,750 miles (middle half 26,250–53,750)Age 10: typical 41,250 miles (middle half 26,250–56,250)Age 11: typical 41,250 miles (middle half 28,750–56,250)Age 12: typical 48,750 miles (middle half 33,750–63,750)Age 13: typical 51,250 miles (middle half 36,250–68,750)Age 14: typical 53,750 miles (middle half 38,750–73,750)Age 15: typical 61,250 miles (middle half 43,750–81,250)Age 16: typical 66,250 miles (middle half 48,750–86,250)Age 17: typical 71,250 miles (middle half 51,250–91,250)Age 18: typical 73,750 miles (middle half 53,750–96,250)Age 19: typical 76,250 miles (middle half 58,750–96,250)Age 20: typical 73,750 miles (middle half 53,750–96,250)73k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
38,75013,75018,750
411,25016,25023,750
513,75018,75028,750
613,75023,75033,750
718,75028,75038,750
821,25031,25043,750
926,25038,75053,750
1026,25041,25056,250
1128,75041,25056,250
1233,75048,75063,750
1336,25051,25068,750
1438,75053,75073,750
1543,75061,25081,250
1648,75066,25086,250
1751,25071,25091,250
1853,75073,75096,250
1958,75076,25096,250
2053,75073,75096,250

What fails at each age

The MX-5'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.

TyresBrakesVisibilityLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaksSuspensionBody, chassis, structureEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsTyres37.2%
3-5 yrsBrakes26.0%
3-5 yrsVisibility11.7%
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment10.0%
3-5 yrsNoise, emissions and leaks7.4%
3-5 yrsEverything else7.7%
6-9 yrsBrakes36.3%
6-9 yrsTyres24.3%
6-9 yrsSuspension13.2%
6-9 yrsVisibility11.0%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment7.5%
6-9 yrsEverything else7.7%
10-13 yrsSuspension33.3%
10-13 yrsBrakes21.8%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment15.3%
10-13 yrsTyres13.7%
10-13 yrsVisibility8.0%
10-13 yrsEverything else7.9%
14+ yrsSuspension26.4%
14+ yrsBrakes18.6%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment16.1%
14+ yrsNoise, emissions and leaks12.3%
14+ yrsBody, chassis, structure9.0%
14+ yrsEverything else17.6%

More vehicles we've checked

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.