Alfa Romeo Giulia — MOT statistics 2024
The Alfa Romeo Giulia failed 14.67% of 6,777 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 86.5 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 13% less often than expected for its age.
Age-adjusted peer: Jaguar F-Pace (index 86.7) — the two published results are 0.2 index points apart.
Alfa Romeo Giulia common problems: what actually fails the MOT
Tyres stand out at 10.2 per 100 tests, against 6.6 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.
Component-group comparison table
Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone, and 2 of these are already inside an interval that includes 1.00×.
| Group | This family | Cases behind it | UK, same ages | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 10.2 | 2,577 | 6.6 | 1.55×1.48–1.60 |
| Lamps & electrical | 5.8 | 1,465 | 3.8 | 1.53×1.44–1.60 |
| Brakes | 4.0 | 1,023 | 3.9 | 1.04×0.98–1.11 · not distinguishable |
| Visibility | 2.2 | 569 | 5.2 | 0.42×0.40–0.47 |
| Emissions & leaks | 0.9 | 236 | 0.9 | 1.03×0.94–1.21 · not distinguishable |
| Suspension | 0.7 | 184 | 2.6 | 0.27×0.24–0.33 |
| What failed | per 100 tests (this family) | per 100 tests (UK average) | ratio family / UK | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged | 3.96 | 1.63 | 2.43× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down…The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements | 3.66 | 2.57 | 1.43× | Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure |
| Number plate does not conform to the specified…Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements | 0.49 | 0.20 | 2.44× | Ask the seller about: Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements |
| Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements | 3.56 | 3.59 | 0.99× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously wornBrake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn | 0.63 | 0.73 | 0.87× | Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive |
| Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm | 1.80 | 2.15 | 0.84× | Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive |
| Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunctionEngine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction | 0.77 | 1.19 | 0.65× | Ask the seller about: Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction |
| Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged | 1.89 | 2.54 | 0.74× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or…A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED | 0.43 | 1.24 | 0.35× | Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure |
| Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view | 1.34 | 2.36 | 0.57× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.
Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT advisories: what gets flagged
Tyres are highest at 35.9 per 100 tests; Identification is lowest at 0.5 per 100 tests — the gap is 35.4 per 100 tests.
higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests
Advisory rates table
| Group | Advisories per 100 |
|---|---|
| Tyres | 35.9 |
| Brakes | 32.6 |
| Non-component advisories | 3.4 |
| Suspension | 2.9 |
| Emissions & leaks | 0.6 |
| Identification | 0.5 |
Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.
Tyres, brakes and suspension: Alfa Romeo Giulia against cars of the same age
| Age | Part | Alfa Romeo Giulia | Same age, petrol and diesel | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | Tyres | 6.11 | 4.17 | 1.94 |
| 3 years | Brakes | 2.37 | 1.77 | 0.60 |
| 3 years | Suspension | 0.22 | 0.63 | -0.41 |
| 4 years | Tyres | 5.93 | 4.54 | 1.39 |
| 4 years | Brakes | 2.86 | 2.43 | 0.43 |
| 4 years | Suspension | 0.36 | 1.21 | -0.85 |
| 5 years | Tyres | 7.4 | 5.06 | 2.34 |
| 5 years | Brakes | 2.85 | 3.09 | -0.24 |
| 5 years | Suspension | 0.79 | 2.19 | -1.40 |
| 6 years | Tyres | 7.49 | 5.54 | 1.95 |
| 6 years | Brakes | 2.29 | 3.81 | -1.52 |
| 6 years | Suspension | 0.88 | 3.72 | -2.84 |
| 7 years | Tyres | 7.04 | 5.95 | 1.09 |
| 7 years | Brakes | 2.55 | 4.55 | -2.00 |
| 7 years | Suspension | 1.11 | 5.68 | -4.57 |
Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.
If a car like this fails, does it fail again?
A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.
| After this year's test | Fails next year | Vehicles followed |
|---|---|---|
| It failed | 16.9% | 727 |
| It passed | 14.3% | 15,172 |
A failed test does not clearly change next year's odds here (16.9% against 14.3%): the difference is within the margin of error. The failure most likely to come back is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment — 20.8% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.
Adjusted for how much these are actually driven
The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 24,839 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.
| Standardised for | Index | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Age only | 93.3 | fails less often than expected |
| Age and annual mileage | 93.9 | fails less often than vehicles driven as much |
| Share doing under 3,000 miles a year | 5.3% | a normal spread of use |
Mileage changes little here (+0.6 points): this fleet is driven about as much as the vehicles it is compared with. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.
How the Alfa Romeo Giulia compares with cars of its own age and size
Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.
| Age | Alfa Romeo Giulia | Same class, same age | Difference | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 13.75% | 11.69% | +2.06 pp | 7,223 |
| 4 years | 13.8% | 13.29% | +0.51 pp | 6,159 |
| 5 years | 15.54% | 15.06% | +0.48 pp | 5,295 |
| 6 years | 16.56% | 17.34% | -0.78 pp | 3,763 |
| 7 years | 16.85% | 20.15% | -3.3 pp | 2,160 |
| 8 years | 20.51% | 23.21% | -2.7 pp | 156 |
Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.
How does the Alfa Romeo Giulia perform as it gets older?
The Romeo Giulia at age 6 is well below the reference at 13.7%, against 17.5% for all vehicles of the same age.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–29%.
Takeaway: solid line: this family; dashed: all cars.
Data table
| Age | Alfa Romeo Giulia | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 15.0% | 12.4% | +2.6 pp |
| 4 | 11.8% | 13.1% | -1.3 pp |
| 5 | 13.4% | 15.1% | -1.8 pp |
| 6 | 13.7% | 17.5% | -3.8 pp |
| 7 | 17.0% | 20.2% | -3.2 pp |
| 8 | 20.7% | 23.3% | -2.7 pp |
Is an Alfa Romeo Giulia ULEZ compliant?
The share of classifiable 2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 99.5%.
Based on 6,774 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.
higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class
| Vehicle age at test | Likely ULEZ-compliant share | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 28 |
| 3–5 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 2,982 |
| 6–7 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 3,574 |
| 8 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 150 |
| 9 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 1 |
| 10–14 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 4 |
| 15–17 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 18 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 19 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 1 |
| 20+ years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 34 |
How dangerous are Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT failures?
Major defects are well below the reference at 12.1 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
Severity table
| Severity | This family /100 | National /100 | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor | 2.18 | 14.22 | 0.15× |
| Major | 12.13 | 52.75 | 0.23× |
| Dangerous | 11.03 | 11.15 | 0.99× |
Chart values: Minor 2.2 · Major 12.1 · Dangerous 11.0.
Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.
Does the month of an Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT matter?
Jan is highest at 16.3%; Jun is lowest at 13.2% — the gap is 3.2 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart scale: 12%–33%.
bars: Alfa Romeo Giulia · dashed: all class-4 cars
Month-by-month table
| Month | Alfa Romeo Giulia | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16.33% | 31.12% | -14.8 pp |
| Feb | 14.88% | 29.99% | -15.1 pp |
| Mar | 14.36% | 28.26% | -13.9 pp |
| Apr | 15.41% | 29.78% | -14.4 pp |
| May | 13.35% | 28.79% | -15.4 pp |
| Jun | 13.16% | 28.15% | -15.0 pp |
| Jul | 16.28% | 29.33% | -13.0 pp |
| Aug | 14.38% | 29.2% | -14.8 pp |
| Sep | 15.25% | 28.19% | -12.9 pp |
| Oct | 15.54% | 30.34% | -14.8 pp |
| Nov | 15.55% | 30.58% | -15.0 pp |
| Dec | 14.97% | 29.33% | -14.4 pp |
Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 3.2 percentage points — noticeable seasonality. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.
Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.
Alfa Romeo Giulia average mileage by age
At age 8, the middle half of Romeo Giulias runs from 47,943 miles to 75,701 miles, against 63,123 miles as the median.
further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75
Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–79k mi.
Does high mileage mean more Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT failures at the same age?
Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 6–9, 11% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 25.9% of those with 100,000–140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.
| Age | Odometer | % failing | 95% interval | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3–5 | <40k miles | 12.3% | 11–13.7% | 2,176 |
| 3–5 | 40-70k miles | 16.1% | 13.6–19% | 695 |
| 3–5 | 70-100k miles | 15.5% | 9.6–24% | 97 (rough estimate) |
| 6–9 | <40k miles | 11% | 9.3–13.1% | 1,024 |
| 6–9 | 40-70k miles | 16.1% | 14.5–17.9% | 1,873 |
| 6–9 | 70-100k miles | 19.2% | 16.4–22.3% | 673 |
| 6–9 | 100-140k miles | 25.9% | 19.3–33.9% | 135 (rough estimate) |
line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)
Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
| Age | p25 | Median | p75 | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 15,551 | 22,199 | 30,186 | 688 |
| 4 | 20,454 | 27,868 | 37,297 | 812 |
| 5 | 26,523 | 35,719 | 46,915 | 1,482 |
| 6 | 36,599 | 47,914 | 61,215 | 1,581 |
| 7 | 40,568 | 54,404 | 71,078 | 1,993 |
| 8 | 47,943 | 63,123 | 75,701 | 150 |
A typical 8-year-old Romeo Giulia has ~63,123 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.
Where in Britain the Alfa Romeo Giulia fails its MOT most
Cambridge area is highest at 24.8%; Enfield area is lowest at 2.7% — the gap is 22.1 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Toughest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Cambridge (CB) | 24.83% | +9.9 pp |
| Aberdeen (AB) | 23.72% | +8.8 pp |
| Paisley (PA) | 23.12% | +8.2 pp |
| Leeds (LS) | 23.05% | +8.1 pp |
| Bournemouth (BH) | 22.73% | +7.8 pp |
| Easiest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Enfield (EN) | 2.73% | -12.2 pp |
| Nottingham (NG) | 6.29% | -8.6 pp |
| Colchester (CO) | 8.36% | -6.6 pp |
| Norwich (NR) | 8.63% | -6.3 pp |
| Leicester (LE) | 10.06% | -4.9 pp |
Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.
Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 8%–21% failing.
Alfa Romeo Giulia survival: which cars are still on the road
By age 8 is well below the reference at 3.1%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.
Survival vs fail rate by age
| Age | Tests | Survival vs ages 4–6 | Fail % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 7,223 | 100% | 13.75% |
| 4 | 6,159 | 100% | 13.8% |
| 5 | 5,295 | 100% | 15.54% |
| 6 | 3,763 | 74.2% | 16.56% |
| 7 | 2,160 | 42.6% | 16.85% |
| 8 | 156 | 3.1% | 20.51% |
By age 7, only about 43% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈5,072); survivors still fail at 16.9% vs 13.8% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.
How many years is an Alfa Romeo Giulia likely to last?
Bought at age 5 stands out at 1.7 years.
bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve
| Age now | Typical mileage (p50) | Expected years left |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | — | at least 1.7 |
estimateObserved only until age 7. The curve does not run five years past the stated age with the share still tested under 50%, so no 'years left' number is given.
Alfa Romeo Giulia faults that come together
Body & structure + Lamps & electrical stand out at 8.37×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.
above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less
| Group A | Group B | Together | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body, chassis, structure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 25 | 8.37× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Suspension | 23 | 5.75× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Noise, emissions and leaks | 29 | 4.78× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Tyres | 166 | 3.77× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Suspension | 23 | 3.72× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Visibility | 68 | 3.14× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 86 | 3.13× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Noise, emissions and leaks | 28 | 2.99× (rough estimate) |
| Suspension | Tyres | 29 | 2.93× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Tyres | 190 | 2.79× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Tyres | 37 | 2.46× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Visibility | 32 | 2.28× (rough estimate) |
| Tyres | Visibility | 76 | 2.19× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 17 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Road Wheels | Tyres | 17 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Visibility | 17 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Brakes | 16 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Tyres | 16 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 15 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Identification of the vehicle | 13 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Tyres | 13 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Visibility | 12 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Tyres | 12 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Road Wheels | 11 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Suspension | Visibility | 11 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 8 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Visibility | 8 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Steering | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Road Wheels | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Steering | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Visibility | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Suspension | 5 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Noise, emissions and leaks | 5 | too few (rough estimate) |
Defects in «Body, chassis, structure» and «Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment» appear together 8.37× more often than chance (25 co-occurrences in the same test; 78 pairs compared).
Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).
Is low mileage better for an Alfa Romeo Giulia?
Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 11.0%, against 17.8% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Band | Fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| <5k miles/year | 11.04% | 1,540 |
| 8–12k miles/year | 17.81% | 2,962 |
| Gap (low − normal) | -6.76 pp | — |
By fuel and age
Diesel
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 21.84 | 87 | 17.1 | 620 | +4.74 pp |
| 6 | 10.53 | 57 | 20.11 | 562 | -9.58 pp |
| 7 | 2.78 | 36 | 21.61 | 347 | -18.84 pp |
Petrol
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 9.8 | 867 | 17.62 | 1,050 | -7.82 pp |
| 6 | 11.34 | 529 | 17.12 | 730 | -5.78 pp |
| 7 | 10.82 | 305 | 13.19 | 379 | -2.37 pp |
At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 11.0% vs 17.8% for 8–12k miles/year — 6.8 pp lower (n_low=1,540, n_normal=2,962). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates.
Which Alfa Romeo Giulia engine is best?
diesel over 2.0 is highest at 123.1; petrol over 2.0 is lowest at 69.2 — the gap is 53.9 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
| Fuel | Capacity | vs own age norm | Raw fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| petrol | over 2.0 litre | 69.2 | 10.27% | 4,323 (rough estimate) |
| petrol | 1.5–1.8 litre | 80 | 15.95% | 232 (rough estimate) |
| petrol | 1.2–1.5 litre | 92.6 | 14.79% | 257 (rough estimate) |
| petrol | 1.8–2.0 litre | 97.4 | 14.41% | 13,063 |
| diesel | over 2.0 litre | 123.1 | 18.52% | 7,496 |
Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel over 2.0 runs at 123.1 against this model's own age norm while the petrol 1.8–2.0 runs at 97.4 — a spread of 25.7 points between two cars that share a name.
Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.
Best year for an Alfa Romeo Giulia, and the years to avoid
Build year 2017 is highest at 113.0; Build year 2019 is lowest at 88.0 — the gap is 25.0 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected
Every build year with its confidence interval
| Build year | vs own age norm | 95% CI | Raw fail % | Tests | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 95.7 | 82.7–108.7 | 12.75% | 1,632 | no different |
| 2019 | 88 | 80.6–95.3 | 12.19% | 4,496 | better |
| 2018 | 94.7 | 88.5–101 | 13.67% | 6,480 | no different |
| 2017 | 113 | 107.7–118.2 | 16.84% | 10,518 | worse |
| 2016 | 112.6 | 93.6–131.6 | 17.24% | 783 | no different |
The best build year here is 2019 and the weakest is 2017. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 2 of 5 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.
Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.
Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT repair costs
The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £26.36 to £50.08, against £54.85 for the test itself.
bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only
| Component | Fails per 100 tests | Typical repair | Its price | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 10.2 (nat. 8.7) | Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted) | £90 | £9.18 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 5.8 (nat. 18.09) | Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid) | £140 | £8.12 |
| Brakes | 4.0 (nat. 11.25) | Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback) | £150 | £6.00 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 0.9 (nat. 3.67) | Exhaust rear silencer | £200 | £1.80 |
| Suspension | 0.7 (nat. 15.36) | Suspension coil spring (single corner) | £180 | £1.26 |
Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £26 to £50, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.
Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.
For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.
Alfa Romeo Giulia running costs for a fleet
Vehicles failing at age 8 stand out at 21.0%, against 13.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
| Age | Fails | Median odometer | Tests | Gap vs age 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 14.97% | 22,199 | 688 | +1.6 pp |
| 4 | 11.82% | 27,868 | 812 | -1.5 pp |
| 5 | 13.36% | 35,719 | 1,482 | +0.0 pp |
| 6 | 13.73% | 47,914 | 1,581 | +0.4 pp |
| 7 | 16.96% | 54,404 | 1,993 | +3.6 pp |
| 8 | 20.67% | 63,123 | 150 | +7.3 pp |
No single year stands out as the point where this model starts costing more: the year-to-year steps in its failure rate are too small or rest on too few tests to name one (D1 rule: a step is named only with at least 2,000 tests on both sides and a jump above 3 percentage points).
Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.
Alfa Romeo Giulia rust problems: where they corrode
Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is well below the reference at <0.1×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.
above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less
This Alfa Romeo Giulia virtually never fails on corrosion once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are about typical for the models we publish.
Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.
Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.
Does an Alfa Romeo Giulia advisory become a failure?
Tyres are highest at 8.3%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 8.3 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now
| Component | Fails next time | Typical lead time | Miles of warning | Advisories tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 8.3% | 12 months | 7,743 | 3,512 |
| Brakes | 5.0% | 12 months | 7,202 | 3,412 |
| Non-component advisories | 0.0% | — | — | 594 |
This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.
Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 8 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 7,743 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.
What will fail next on an Alfa Romeo Giulia?
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 20+ are highest at 20.5%; Brakes after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 1.8% — the gap is 18.6 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
| Age | Last test | Most likely next failures | Cars tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| <3 | passed | Tyres 5.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.1% · Brakes 1.8% | 3,083 |
| <3 | advisory | Tyres 4.7% · Brakes 4.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.5% | 1,011 |
| <3 | failure | Tyres 7.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.8% · Brakes 3.3% | 607 |
| 3-5 | passed | Tyres 6.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.6% · Brakes 2.1% | 7,308 |
| 3-5 | advisory | Tyres 8.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.4% · Brakes 3.5% | 3,272 |
| 3-5 | failure | Tyres 8.1% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 6.3% · Brakes 3.7% | 1,949 |
| 6-8 | passed | Tyres 5.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.3% · Visibility 2.3% | 577 |
| 6-8 | advisory | Tyres 8.8% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.7% · Visibility 4.0% | 296 (rough estimate) |
| 6-8 | failure | Tyres 8.5% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 6.4% · Visibility 5.5% | 235 (rough estimate) |
| 20+ | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.4% · Brakes 11.4% · Suspension 11.4% | 44 (rough estimate) |
The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.
The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.
Alfa Romeo Giulia ownership: what six years of MOTs show
The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 61.3%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 4.7% — the gap is 56.7 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 2,854 failures followed through to their re-test, 34.02% were repaired and passed the same day and 61.32% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 4,998 defect items were cleared in the process.
Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.205 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 6,860 miles a year across 6,022 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.
Two populations hide inside one model. 42.64% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 10.27% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.
Odometer anomalies: 0.514% of 6,031 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 6,759 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.
Alfa Romeo Giulia safety recalls and how to check yours
DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 12.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
recall campaigns launched per year
| Reference | Launched | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|
R/2026/026 | 13/02/2026 | 109 | Alfa Romeo Giulia cable (wiring harness) branch |
R/2025/496 | 07/05/2025 | 376 | Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. Lane Keep Assist acoustic signal |
R/2023/205 | 11/07/2023 | 100 | Affected vehicles equipped with the option BRM (carbon ceramic matrix brakes) may face a b |
R/2022/215 | 09/09/2022 | 973 | THE AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHT POSITION SENSORS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN CALIBRATED |
R/2021/431 | 25/01/2022 | 157 | POSSIBILITY OF A FUEL LEAK FROM THE FUEL PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE SENSOR |
All 12 campaigns
| Reference | Launched | Build dates | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
R/2026/026 | 13/02/2026 | 17/01/2024 – 03/12/2024 | 109 | Alfa Romeo Giulia cable (wiring harness) branch |
R/2025/496 | 07/05/2025 | 26/01/2024 – 23/07/2025 | 376 | Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. Lane Keep Assist acoustic signal |
R/2023/205 | 11/07/2023 | 22/12/2015 – 23/11/2020 | 100 | Affected vehicles equipped with the option BRM (carbon ceramic matrix brakes) may face a b |
R/2022/215 | 09/09/2022 | 19/11/2020 – 11/05/2022 | 973 | THE AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHT POSITION SENSORS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN CALIBRATED |
R/2021/431 | 25/01/2022 | 15/09/2020 – 29/06/2021 | 157 | POSSIBILITY OF A FUEL LEAK FROM THE FUEL PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE SENSOR |
R/2021/298 | 10/09/2021 | 15/06/2021 – 16/06/2021 | 37 | The vehicle may not comply with ECE Regulation 16 Amendment 07 where all seats must be equ |
R/2021/053 | 05/03/2021 | 04/03/2020 – 20/08/2020 | 7 | A POSSIBILTY OF THE REAR BRAKE DISCS HAVING MICRO CRACKS |
R/2019/379 | 17/01/2020 | 13/11/2018 – 04/09/2019 | 57 | THE SEATS MAY NOT LOCK IN THE CORRECT POSITION |
R/2019/365 | 20/12/2019 | 13/12/2017 – 27/09/2019 | 116 | FUEL LEAKAGE MAY OCCUR |
R/2019/297 | 27/09/2019 | 31/03/2016 – 30/08/2019 | 2,402 | MORE FUEL THAN ACTUALLY PRESENT IN THE TANK COULD BE DISPLAYED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL . |
R/2019/191 | 23/07/2019 | 31/03/2016 – 10/06/2019 | 493 | UNDESIRED ACCELERATION OF THE VEHICLE MAY OCCUR WHILST ACTIVE CRUISE CONTROL IS OPERATION |
R/2018/012 | 12/03/2018 | 14/11/2017 – 05/12/2017 | 11 | BRAKE AND/OR CLUTCH SYSTEM COMPONENTS MAY BECOME DAMAGED BY MINERAL OIL |
DVSA lists 12 safety recall campaigns for the Alfa Romeo Giulia, covering roughly 4,838 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.
Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.
Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.
Alfa Romeo Giulia technical service bulletins: what dealers are told
US market, Alfa Romeo GIULIA and its variants, model years 2017–2019 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.
NHTSA manufacturer communications are 221.
bigger number = more recorded dealer communicationsnot affected vehicles or confirmed faults
These are the issues the manufacturer fixes quietly: service communications sent to dealers without a public recall campaign. They show what the service network has been told even when the issue never became news.
United States · NHTSA manufacturer communications
| Communication year | Bulletins | Leading subjects across all years |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 |
|
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 48 | |
| 2019 | 20 | |
| 2020 | 60 | |
| 2021 | 21 | |
| 2022 | 20 | |
| 2023 | 16 | |
| 2024 | 9 | |
| 2025 | 14 | |
| 2026 | 10 |
Caveat worth stating plainly: this is NHTSA data about US-specification cars. British cars sold under the same name often use different gearboxes, engines and equipment, so a bulletin may describe a component that was never fitted here. The file counts dealer communications, not affected vehicles or confirmed failures, and it cannot tell you whether an individual UK car has the issue. A communication can carry more than one subject tag, so topic counts do not have to add up to the total. Source: NHTSA Manufacturer Communications API (US-market vehicles; queried model years 2015-2022). Licence: U.S. Government work / public domain · retrieved 2026-09-25.
Alfa Romeo Giulia owner complaints: what goes wrong
US market, Alfa Romeo GIULIA and its variants, model years 2017–2019 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.
Lamps & electrical are highest at 62; Visibility is lowest at 8 — the gap is 54.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
| Component | Complaints | Share | MOT fail items per 100 | MOT rank | Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps & electrical | 62 | 31.8% | 5.8 | #2 | complained about and fails often |
| Engine (not MOT-tested) | 59 | 30.3% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Brakes | 18 | 9.2% | 4.0 | #3 | complained about and fails often |
| Transmission (not MOT-tested) | 12 | 6.2% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Restraints | 12 | 6.2% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Visibility | 8 | 4.1% | 2.2 | #4 | complained about, fails occasionally |
Two different populations answering two different questions: the MOT records what an inspector can measure once a year, the complaint file records what annoyed or frightened an owner on the road. A component high in one column and absent from the other is the interesting case — driver-assistance and electronics dominate complaints while almost never appearing as an MOT failure item.
What the reports actually say
The intrusment cluster stopped working took it to the dealership they couldn't get it to work they contacted the manufacturer they stopped communicating. Dealership can't get the new updated software to download.
Sudden loss of power while at 45MPH. Was luckily able to pull off into a parking lot. Vehicle was then unable to restart with clear no fuel being pulled. Code reading showed low fuel pressure and fuel pump errors. Was then towed.
US owners have filed 195 complaints about the equivalent Alfa Romeo Giulia to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 20 that mention a crash, 2 a fire and 10 an injury. These are owner reports, not verified findings — but they are the only large public record of what drivers themselves notice, and they cover the years between MOT tests.
Caveat worth stating plainly: US-specification cars, self-selected reporters, no denominator — complaint counts scale with how many cars were sold there and how motivated owners are to file. The mechanical gap matters as much as the statistical one: American cars of the same name often carry different gearboxes, engines and equipment — automatics where Britain buys manuals — so a drivetrain complaint filed in Ohio may describe a part that was never fitted here. Read the ranking inside a model, not between models, and treat drivetrain entries with particular caution. Source: NHTSA ODI consumer complaints (US market, public domain) — US-spec vehicles, indicative only.
Alfa Romeo Giulia inspection results in other countries
Netherlands APK is well below the reference at 36.6%, against 50.8% nationally.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Country | Test | This model fails | National average | Position | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | MOT (class 4) | 14.67% | 26.01% | -11.3 pp | 6,777 |
| Netherlands | APK | 36.6% | 50.8% | -14.2 pp | 1,646 |
The verdict is consistent across every regime where the difference is clear, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.
| Code | Fault | Recorded | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
210 | Tyre pressure not at the correct value | 210 | failure |
516 | Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed | 203 | failure |
205 | Tyre with insufficient tread | 163 | failure |
AC1 | Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread | 104 | advisory |
AC5 | Mechanical brake parts showing wear | 47 | advisory |
312 | Brake disc severely corroded | 33 | failure |
203 | Tyre damaged | 31 | failure |
RA2 | Excessive leak of other fluids | 28 | advisory |
Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 0.7 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.
Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Alfa Romeo Giulia is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.
Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.. Adapted; licences and full notice.
Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT: quick answers
Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 86.5, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
- What is the Alfa Romeo Giulia first-time MOT pass rate?
- 85.33% of first attempts passed in 2024 (6,777 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
- Why does this number differ from other sites?
- Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 14.67% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 6,777 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 86.5 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.
Compare the Alfa Romeo Giulia with other cars
Land Rover Defender is highest at 86.8; MINI Clubman is lowest at 86.2 — the gap is 0.6 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
Same brand
All Alfa Romeo MOT statisticsAlfa Romeo Giulietta MOT statsAlfa Romeo MiTo MOT stats
Similar risk
Jaguar F-Pace (index 86.7)Land Rover Defender (index 86.8)MINI Clubman (index 86.2)
Same size class
how Vauxhall Tigra compareshow Subaru XV compareshow Mercedes-Benz GLB compares
By build year
Alfa Romeo Giulia 2016Alfa Romeo Giulia 2017Alfa Romeo Giulia 2018Alfa Romeo Giulia 2019Alfa Romeo Giulia 2020
By area
Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT failure rate by postcode area
By failure group
Alfa Romeo Giulia body, chassis and structure failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia brakes failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia vehicle identification failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia noise, emissions and leaks failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia road wheels failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia seat belts and airbags failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia suspension failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia tyres failuresAlfa Romeo Giulia visibility failures
Inspections abroad
Alfa Romeo Giulia in the Netherlands
Data details & how to cite
Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:alfa-romeo-giulia:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.
Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Alfa Romeo Giulia MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/alfa-romeo-giulia/ · Published 2026-07-30.