Ford Fiesta 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

46.4% of 165,285 MOT tests of the Ford Fiesta first registered in 2003 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 97.7 (95% CI 97.0–98.4; 100 = normal for this model at that age): close to other build years of the same model at the same age (within 5 points of normal).

Ford Fiesta built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	46.4	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	165285
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 97.0–98.4)	97.7	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	165285
Rank among this model's 23 build years	5	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	165285
Tested in 2024	15246	tests	median 92,046 miles	2024	15246

Built 2003 against Ford Fiesta normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 47.6% vs 50.3%; age 17: 46.6% vs 47.2%; age 18: 45.8% vs 47.1%; age 19: 46% vs 45.7%; age 20: 45% vs 45.8%; age 21: 45.9% vs 45.8%. Axis from 0% to 60%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Ford Fiesta by registration · All Ford Fiesta MOT statistics · Download the build-year table (CSV)

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · full dataset (v5).

How does the 2003 Ford Fiesta fail at each age?

Cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21 between 2019 and 2024. Each row compares their first-time failure share with what this model normally shows at that age, after allowing for the overall failure level of each test year.

Ford Fiesta built 2003: first-time MOT failure by age, against the model's normal rate at that age (2019–2024)
Age	Tests	Failed, %	95% interval	Normal for this model at that age, %	Index (100 = normal)
16	45,547	47.6	47.2–48.1	50.3	94.8
17	34,516	46.6	46–47.1	47.2	98.7
18	27,745	45.8	45.2–46.4	47.1	97.3
19	23,223	46	45.4–46.6	45.7	100.7
20	19,008	45	44.3–45.7	45.8	98.3
21	15,246	45.9	45.1–46.7	45.8	100.2

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 165,285 (initial tests) · Method: normal rate = this model's first-time failure share at that age across its build years (cells of 400+ tests), adjusted for each test year's overall level; cells of 30+ tests, under 500 marked rough · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

What fails most on the 2003 Ford Fiesta?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is brakes: 32.9 items per 100 first tests, against 9.8 across all build years of the Ford Fiesta. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Ford Fiesta built 2003 against the Ford Fiesta in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2003, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Brakes	32.9	9.8	54,420
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	32.8	19.2	54,206
Suspension	27.5	18.5	45,461
Visibility	15.3	7.4	25,270
Noise, emissions and leaks	14.4	4.5	23,819

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 165,285 (initial tests of this build year) · Method: failure items grouped by DVSA's top-level defect groups, per 100 initial tests; groups with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How does 2003 compare with the years around it?

Among the 23 published build years of the Ford Fiesta, 2003 ranks 5 (1 = fails least for its age). 2002: index 97.9. 2004: index 99.7.

Ford Fiesta build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	105.0	101.9–108.0	worse	8,554
1999	107.2	104.9–109.6	worse	14,639
2000	103.2	101.0–105.4	worse	16,815
2001	102.4	100.8–103.9	worse	32,796
2002	97.9	96.9–98.8	better	87,706
2003	97.7	97.0–98.4	better	165,285
2004	99.7	99.1–100.4	no different	205,530
2005	99.6	99.1–100.2	no different	232,289
2006	100.5	100.0–101.0	no different	357,131
2007	97.1	96.6–97.5	better	408,568
2008	99.6	99.1–100.0	no different	416,503
2009	102.9	102.5–103.3	worse	600,362
2010	103.3	102.8–103.7	worse	552,779
2011	98.8	98.4–99.2	better	531,954
2012	101.1	100.7–101.5	worse	610,856
2013	99.4	99.0–99.8	better	694,760
2014	98.7	98.3–99.2	better	756,069
2015	107.0	106.5–107.4	worse	775,145
2016	116.3	115.8–116.9	worse	704,570
2017	86.9	86.3–87.5	better	479,855
2018	74.3	73.7–75.0	better	376,599
2019	80.6	79.6–81.5	better	225,262
2020	108.2	105.5–110.9	worse	41,508

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 8,295,535 (initial tests) · Method: observed failures against those expected for the same model at the same ages, test-year level adjusted; verdict follows the printed one-decimal bound · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How to cite this page

MOT Risk Index (2026). Ford Fiesta 2003 MOT statistics (data release dvsa-2024-v2; full dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22975051), updated 30 September 2026. motriskindex.co.uk/cars/ford-fiesta/2003/

How every figure is calculated: methodology. Age, test year and build year are tied together (age = test year − build year), so the test-year level is taken as observed, not estimated.

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