Hyundai Santa Fe 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

47.6% of 4,130 MOT tests of the Hyundai Santa Fe 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 96.3 (95% CI 92.1–100.6; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2003 build year is no different from other years of the same model at the same age.

Hyundai Santa Fe built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	47.6	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	4130
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 92.1–100.6)	96.3	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	4130
Rank among this model's 20 build years	7	of 20	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	4130
Tested in 2024	338	tests	median 112,623 miles	2024	338

Built 2003 against Hyundai Santa Fe normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 47.8% vs 52.4%; age 17: 47.2% vs 48.6%; age 18: 48% vs 49.1%; age 19: 48.1% vs 47.2%; age 20: 46.4% vs 45.2%; age 21: 43.8% vs n/a%. Axis from 0% to 60%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe by registration · All Hyundai Santa Fe 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 Hyundai Santa Fe 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.

Hyundai Santa Fe 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	1,376	47.8	45.2–50.5	52.4	91.3
17	980	47.2	44.1–50.4	48.6	97.2
18	761	48	44.4–51.5	49.1	97.8
19	584	48.1	44.1–52.2	47.2	101.9
20	429 (rough estimate)	46.4	41.7–51.1	45.2	102.6
21	338 (rough estimate)	43.8	38.6–49.1	not available	not available

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 4,468 (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 Hyundai Santa Fe?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 58.3 items per 100 first tests, against 25.1 across all build years of the Hyundai Santa Fe. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Hyundai Santa Fe built 2003 against the Hyundai Santa Fe in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2003, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	58.3	25.1	2,604
Suspension	30.2	17.1	1,348
Body, chassis, structure	30.1	12.1	1,346
Brakes	25.5	16.1	1,138
Visibility	13.5	8.5	601

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 4,468 (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 20 published build years of the Hyundai Santa Fe, 2003 ranks 7 (1 = fails least for its age). 2002: index 94.9. 2004: index 99.9.

Hyundai Santa Fe build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
2001	88.6	76.0–101.3	no different (rough estimate)	423
2002	94.9	88.5–101.3	no different (rough estimate)	1,792
2003	96.3	92.1–100.6	no different	4,130
2004	99.9	96.5–103.2	no different	7,039
2005	98.7	95.6–101.8	no different	8,307
2006	102.0	99.4–104.5	no different	12,603
2007	98.9	96.2–101.6	no different	10,718
2008	99.1	95.5–102.6	no different	6,560
2009	99.0	94.9–103.0	no different	5,168
2010	103.7	101.6–105.8	worse	20,884
2011	110.1	107.9–112.3	worse	21,615
2012	114.9	112.4–117.4	worse	19,421
2013	104.3	100.5–108.1	worse	8,464
2014	92.4	89.5–95.3	better	15,241
2015	78.8	76.1–81.4	better	18,031
2016	85.3	82.7–87.8	better	25,937
2017	91.1	87.2–94.9	better	14,263
2018	99.0	93.3–104.7	no different	7,887
2019	98.2	89.4–107.0	no different (rough estimate)	3,503
2020	99.3	82.9–115.8	no different (rough estimate)	1,082

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 213,068 (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). Hyundai Santa Fe 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/hyundai-santa-fe/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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