Honda Civic 1998: MOT failure rate for its age

45.9% of 5,278 MOT tests of the Honda Civic first registered in 1998 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 96.5 (95% CI 92.6–100.3; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 1998 build year is no different from other years of the same model at the same age.

Honda Civic built in 1998 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	45.9	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	5278
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 92.6–100.3)	96.5	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	5278
Rank among this model's 23 build years	10	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	5278
Tested in 2024	33	tests	median 106,531 miles	2024	33

Built 1998 against Honda Civic normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 21: 46.6% vs 49.4%; age 22: 44.9% vs 45.1%. Axis from 0% to 50%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 1998 Honda Civic by registration · All Honda Civic 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 1998 Honda Civic fail at each age?

Cars built in 1998 were tested at ages 21 to 22 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.

Honda Civic built 1998: 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)
21	3,074	46.6	44.9–48.4	49.4	94.4
22	2,204	44.9	42.8–47	45.1	99.6

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 5,278 (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 1998 Honda Civic?

The most common failure group on cars built in 1998 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 31.8 items per 100 first tests, against 33.2 across all build years of the Honda Civic. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 1998 were tested at ages 21 to 22.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Honda Civic built 1998 against the Honda Civic in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 1998, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	31.8	33.2	3,140
Suspension	28.5	22.5	2,809
Body, chassis, structure	28	4.8	2,759
Brakes	22.5	14.2	2,216
Noise, emissions and leaks	14.1	3.8	1,393

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 9,865 (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 1998 compare with the years around it?

Among the 23 published build years of the Honda Civic, 1998 ranks 10 (1 = fails least for its age). 1999: index 94.9.

Honda Civic build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	96.5	92.6–100.3	no different	5,278
1999	94.9	92.1–97.7	better	10,060
2000	92.9	90.6–95.2	better	14,043
2001	100.5	99.1–101.9	no different	41,905
2002	100.8	99.7–101.9	no different	63,884
2003	102.4	101.3–103.5	worse	72,961
2004	98.8	97.8–99.7	better	92,440
2005	96.7	95.8–97.5	better	106,219
2006	101.0	100.2–101.8	worse	130,154
2007	99.9	99.2–100.6	no different	180,231
2008	101.5	100.7–102.3	worse	152,868
2009	104.6	103.7–105.5	worse	128,481
2010	110.2	109.2–111.3	worse	107,282
2011	115.4	114.0–116.8	worse	69,137
2012	84.5	83.3–85.7	better	80,389
2013	88.7	87.5–89.9	better	93,105
2014	90.9	89.5–92.3	better	87,231
2015	88.8	87.3–90.2	better	90,833
2016	96.0	94.4–97.6	better	98,291
2017	96.9	95.0–98.8	better	77,177
2018	102.1	99.7–104.5	no different	55,101
2019	94.3	91.4–97.1	better	38,444
2020	94.0	86.7–101.2	no different	6,734

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,802,248 (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). Honda Civic 1998 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/honda-civic/1998/

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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