Saab 9-3 MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Saab 9-3 in Great Britain in 2025 — 32,419 tests. Figures cover every 9-3 first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the 9-3 ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
63.6%
8.7 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
32,419
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
9.3%
of 9-3 first tests; national 7.3%

How many Saab 9-3 cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 45,035 Saab 9-3 cars that were taxed or on SORN: 28,147 taxed and 16,888 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. Saab 9-3 vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
28,147
62.5% of the 45,035 9-3 cars taxed or on SORN; 238 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
16,888
declared off the road by their keepers — 37.5% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed 9-3 cars peaked at 121,416 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 93,269 (76.8%) to 28,147 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 6,159 at the end of 2014 to 16,888 at the end of 2025, up 174.2%. 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 9-3 cars, year by year

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

050k100k150k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed 9-3 cars, year 2014: 121kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2015: 113kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2016: 104kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2017: 92kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2018: 81kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2019: 70kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2020: 61kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2021: 53kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2022: 46kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2023: 39kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2024: 33kTaxed 9-3 cars, year 2025: 28k28k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed 9-3 cars
2014121,416
2015112,870
2016103,507
201792,426
201881,186
201970,212
202061,197
202152,885
202245,985
202339,459
202433,048
202528,147

9-3 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.

05k10k15k20k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)9-3 cars on SORN, year 2014: 6k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2015: 8k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2016: 10k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2017: 12k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2018: 13k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2019: 14k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2020: 16k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2021: 16k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2022: 16k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2023: 17k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2024: 17k9-3 cars on SORN, year 2025: 17k17k
View this chart as a table
Year9-3 cars on SORN
20146,159
20157,930
201610,199
201711,920
201813,180
201914,429
202016,007
202115,907
202216,056
202316,572
202416,746
202516,888

Which model years survive

Taxed 9-3 cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 28,147 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 9-3 cars
20112,1417.6%
20102,91710.4%
20093,03710.8%
20084,51216.0%
20075,03217.9%
20063,73513.3%
20052,3858.5%
20041,5205.4%
20036312.2%
20025752.0%
20014891.7%
20004541.6%
19993451.2%
All other build years (nine years, each under 1%)3741.3%

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 9-3 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 9-3 ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, 9-3 vs all cars, 2025.

Saab 9-3All cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Saab 9-3, vehicle age 14: 66.8%Saab 9-3, vehicle age 15: 65.9%Saab 9-3, vehicle age 16: 65.2%Saab 9-3, vehicle age 17: 63.9%Saab 9-3, vehicle age 18: 63.3%Saab 9-3, vehicle age 19: 60.7%Saab 9-3, vehicle age 20: 61%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%Saab 9-3 61%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)9-3 tests9-3 pass rateAll cars
142,25966.8%61.2%
153,23365.9%59.3%
163,33965.2%58.3%
175,02663.9%57.2%
185,78363.3%57.4%
194,41160.7%57.0%
202,83961.0%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

The 9-3's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the 9-3 beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

9-3 ahead
-8-4+0+4+8Age 14: +5.6 points vs the average carAge 15: +6.6 points vs the average car15Age 16: +6.9 points vs the average carAge 17: +6.7 points vs the average car17Age 18: +5.9 points vs the average carAge 19: +3.7 points vs the average car19Age 20: +3.4 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
14+5.6
15+6.6
16+6.9
17+6.7
18+5.9
19+3.7
20+3.4

The 9-3 fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the 9-3 fleet still in use.

01k3k4k6kAge 14: 2k14Age 15: 3kAge 16: 3k16Age 17: 5kAge 18: 5k18Age 19: 4kAge 20: 2k20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
142,259
153,233
163,339
175,026
185,783
194,411
202,839

What a 9-3 fails on

Where the failure items land when a 9-3 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 equipment22.4%
Brakes17.2%
Tyres9.0%
Body, chassis, structure7.7%
Noise, emissions and leaks7.1%
Visibility6.6%
Steering2.7%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (96.5% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a 9-3, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Suspension: 30.4% of advisories30.4%Brakes: 22.0% of advisories22.0%Tyres: 20.1% of advisories20.1%Noise, emissions and leaks: 8.3% of advisories8.3%Body, chassis, structure: 6.0% of advisoriesNon-component advisories: 3.4% of advisories
SuspensionBrakesTyresNoise, emissions and leaksBody, chassis, structureNon-component advisories
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Suspension30.4%
Brakes22.0%
Tyres20.1%
Noise, emissions and leaks8.3%
Body, chassis, structure6.0%
Non-component advisories3.4%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid 9-3?

First-time pass rate for the two most-tested 9-3 fuel types, 2025, against the all-cars average. Fleet ages differ by fuel — newer fleets help the electrified bars.

50%60%70%80%90%100%all cars 72.3%Petrol: 64.4% of 18,359 tests64.4%Petrol18,359 testsDiesel: 62.6% of 14,043 tests62.6%Diesel14,043 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Petrol18,35964.4%
Diesel14,04362.6%

What mileage is normal for a 9-3?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) 9-3; 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 9-3 (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k14161820Vehicle age (years)Age 14: typical 111,250 miles (middle half 81,250–141,250)Age 15: typical 111,250 miles (middle half 81,250–141,250)Age 16: typical 111,250 miles (middle half 83,750–138,750)Age 17: typical 121,250 miles (middle half 93,750–148,750)Age 18: typical 113,750 miles (middle half 88,750–143,750)Age 19: typical 113,750 miles (middle half 88,750–141,250)Age 20: typical 111,250 miles (middle half 86,250–136,250)111k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
1481,250111,250141,250
1581,250111,250141,250
1683,750111,250138,750
1793,750121,250148,750
1888,750113,750143,750
1988,750113,750141,250
2086,250111,250136,250
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.