Ford Transit 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

48.2% of 25,244 MOT tests of the Ford Transit 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 103.1 (95% CI 101.3–105.0; 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 Transit built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	48.2	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	25244
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 101.3–105.0)	103.1	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	25244
Rank among this model's 23 build years	16	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	25244
Tested in 2024	2161	tests	median 124,809 miles	2024	2161

Built 2003 against Ford Transit normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 49.5% vs 51.8%; age 17: 49.3% vs 47%; age 18: 48.9% vs 46.2%; age 19: 47.2% vs 43.6%; age 20: 46.6% vs 43%; age 21: 44.1% vs 40.6%. Axis from 0% to 60%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Ford Transit by registration · All Ford Transit 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 Transit 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 Transit 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	7,298	49.5	48.4–50.7	51.8	95.6
17	4,957	49.3	47.9–50.7	47	104.8
18	4,388	48.9	47.4–50.4	46.2	105.9
19	3,612	47.2	45.6–48.8	43.6	108.3
20	2,828	46.6	44.8–48.4	43	108.3
21	2,161	44.1	42–46.2	40.6	108.6

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 25,244 (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 Transit?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is suspension: 78.6 items per 100 first tests, against 30.1 across all build years of the Ford Transit. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Ford Transit built 2003 against the Ford Transit in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2003, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Suspension	78.6	30.1	19,840
Body, chassis, structure	57.2	19.2	14,444
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	45.2	34.7	11,399
Brakes	32.8	22.1	8,273
Visibility	27.1	18.5	6,847

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 25,244 (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 Transit, 2003 ranks 16 (1 = fails least for its age). 2002: index 101.3. 2004: index 98.9.

Ford Transit build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	94.2	88.3–100.0	no different (rough estimate)	2,410
1999	89.1	84.6–93.7	better (rough estimate)	3,824
2000	91.5	87.7–95.2	better	5,700
2001	99.6	96.9–102.3	no different	11,870
2002	101.3	99.3–103.3	no different	21,002
2003	103.1	101.3–105.0	worse	25,244
2004	98.9	97.2–100.7	no different	25,628
2005	98.4	96.9–99.9	better	34,564
2006	98.2	97.1–99.3	better	60,741
2007	98.9	98.0–99.8	better	90,418
2008	101.1	100.3–102.0	worse	104,206
2009	101.1	100.2–102.1	worse	82,126
2010	103.2	102.3–104.1	worse	111,738
2011	106.7	105.8–107.5	worse	127,682
2012	116.7	115.7–117.7	worse	103,257
2013	112.3	111.3–113.2	worse	129,347
2014	89.1	88.4–89.9	better	177,125
2015	91.6	90.9–92.3	better	217,023
2016	93.5	92.7–94.2	better	251,501
2017	95.8	94.9–96.6	better	231,973
2018	104.2	102.6–105.7	worse	77,084
2019	120.6	115.1–126.1	worse	8,094
2020	115.8	106.1–125.4	worse (rough estimate)	2,832

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,905,389 (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 Transit 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-transit/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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