MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Mazda CX-30 — MOT statistics 2024

The Mazda CX-30 failed 8.35% of 14,963 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 66.0 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 34% less often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 66.0, 95% CI 62.6–69.6 (100 = national average) 100 66.0 0 200
Index
66.0
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
8.35%
n = 14,963
Dangerous /100
3
national ≈11
Rank
167 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Lexus IS (index 65.1) — the two published results are 0.9 index points apart.

Mazda CX-30 common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Tyres are well below the reference at 3.6 per 100 tests, against 5.8 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Mazda CX-30 common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

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 1 of these is already inside an interval that includes 1.00×.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Visibility3.67864.40.81×0.75–0.86
Tyres3.67865.80.62×0.57–0.66
Brakes1.63542.40.67×0.60–0.74
Suspension0.61310.80.71×0.58–0.83
Emissions & leaks0.51170.51.06×0.93–1.35 · not distinguishable
Lamps & electrical0.51072.00.24×0.19–0.29
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 22,108 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Wiper blade defectiveWiper blade defective1.311.261.04×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does…A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage0.440.980.45×Ask the seller about: A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not func
Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged1.922.540.76×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunctionEngine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction0.441.190.37×Ask the seller about: Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view1.132.360.48×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm0.852.150.40×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive
Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged0.251.630.15×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen0.712.220.32×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements1.213.590.34×Check tyre tread depth across the full width

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Mazda CX-30 MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Brakes are highest at 26.5 per 100 tests; Identification is lowest at 0.4 per 100 tests — the gap is 26.1 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Mazda CX-30 MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Brakes26.5
Tyres24.9
Suspension10.5
Non-component advisories4.5
Identification0.4

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Mazda CX-30 against cars of the same age

AgePartMazda CX-30Same age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres2.754.17-1.42
3 yearsBrakes1.11.77-0.67
3 yearsSuspension0.380.63-0.25
4 yearsTyres2.854.54-1.69
4 yearsBrakes1.422.43-1.01
4 yearsSuspension0.561.21-0.65

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 testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed14.7%204
It passed8.3%7,093

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 6.4 percentage points. 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 22,104 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 forIndexReading
Age only59.3fails less often than expected
Age and annual mileage65.4fails less often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year8.0%a normal spread of use

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 6.1 points — this fleet is driven less than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view flatters it — but it does not change which side of normal the car sits on. 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 Mazda CX-30 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.

AgeMazda CX-30Same class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years7.03%11.71%-4.69 pp14,702
4 years9.12%13.3%-4.18 pp6,423
5 years9.52%15.06%-5.54 pp231

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 Mazda CX-30 perform as it gets older?

The CX-30 at age 5 is well below the reference at 9.5%, against 15.1% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Mazda CX-30 perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–19%.

Takeaway: solid line: this family; dashed: all cars.

Data table
AgeMazda CX-30All vehiclesGap
37.7%12.4%-4.7 pp
49.1%13.1%-4.0 pp
59.5%15.1%-5.6 pp

Is a Mazda CX-30 ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Mazda CX-30 MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 100.0%.

Based on 14,962 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

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 328
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 14,634
6–7 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
8 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
9 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
10–14 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
15–17 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
18 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
19 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
20+ yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0

How dangerous are Mazda CX-30 MOT failures?

Major defects are well below the reference at 5.0 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Mazda CX-30 MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor2.8314.220.20×
Major5.0152.750.09×
Dangerous2.7611.150.25×

Chart values: Minor 2.8 · Major 5.0 · Dangerous 2.8.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of a Mazda CX-30 MOT matter?

Nov is highest at 9.8%; Sep is lowest at 6.5% — the gap is 3.3 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Mazda CX-30 MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 5%–33%.

bars: Mazda CX-30 · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthMazda CX-30All vehiclesGap
Jan7.37%31.12%-23.8 pp
Feb6.62%29.99%-23.4 pp
Mar6.83%28.26%-21.4 pp
Apr8.24%29.78%-21.5 pp
May7.79%28.79%-21.0 pp
Jun7.08%28.15%-21.1 pp
Jul7.12%29.33%-22.2 pp
Aug8.45%29.2%-20.8 pp
Sep6.51%28.19%-21.7 pp
Oct8.5%30.34%-21.8 pp
Nov9.84%30.58%-20.7 pp
Dec7.61%29.33%-21.7 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 3.3 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.

Mazda CX-30 average mileage by age

At age 4, the middle half of CX-30s runs from 18,384 miles to 33,259 miles, against 25,184 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Does high mileage mean more Mazda CX-30 MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 3–5, 7.6% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 7.6% of those with 70,000–100,000 miles.No clear mileage gap inside this age group, among cars still being tested.

Does high mileage mean more Mazda CX-30 MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Mazda CX-30: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles7.6%7.2–8.1%13,242
3–540-70k miles15.5%13.6–17.5%1,317
3–570-100k miles7.6%3.3–16.5%66 (rough estimate)

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
314,97921,00428,3468,205
418,38425,18433,2596,198
518,89226,97636,031231

A typical 4-year-old CX-30 has ~25,184 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Mazda CX-30 fails its MOT most

Bath area is highest at 23.4%; Taunton area is lowest at 2.4% — the gap is 21.0 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Mazda CX-30 line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75) — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Bath (BA)23.39%+15.8 pp
Brighton (BN)18.45%+10.8 pp
Newport (NP)16.06%+8.4 pp
Salisbury (SP)14.6%+7.0 pp
Truro (TR)13.01%+5.4 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Taunton (TA)2.35%-5.3 pp
Bolton (BL)2.63%-5.0 pp
Crewe (CW)2.83%-4.8 pp
Bournemouth (BH)3.1%-4.5 pp
Worcester (WR)3.21%-4.4 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: 3%–12% failing.

Mazda CX-30 survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 5 is well below the reference at 3.6%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
314,702100%7.03%
46,423100%9.12%
52313.6%9.52%

By age 5, only about 4% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈6,423); survivors still fail at 9.5% vs 9.1% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many years is a Mazda CX-30 likely to last?

Bought at age 5 stands out at 0.5 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—at least 0.5

estimateObserved only until age 5. 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.

Mazda CX-30 faults that come together

Brakes + Tyres stand out at 4.32×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
BrakesTyres314.32× (rough estimate)
BrakesVisibility283.59× (rough estimate)
TyresVisibility492.65× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks17too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility17too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres13too few (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility9too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSuspension7too few (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres7too few (rough estimate)
SuspensionVisibility6too few (rough estimate)
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment5too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Brakes» and «Tyres» appear together 4.32× more often than chance (31 co-occurrences in the same test; 55 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 a Mazda CX-30?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is close to the reference at 8.9%, against 9.1% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year8.91%101
8–12k miles/year9.09%33
Gap (low − normal)-0.18 pp—
By fuel and age

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
58.911019.0933-0.18 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 8.9% vs 9.1% for 8–12k miles/year — 0.2 pp similar (n_low=101, n_normal=33). Gap is within half a percentage point.

Mazda CX-30 MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £8.42 to £16.00, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£8–16
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Tyres3.6 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£3.24
Brakes1.6 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£2.40
Suspension0.6 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£1.08
Noise, emissions and leaks0.5 (nat. 3.67)Exhaust rear silencer£200£1.00
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment0.5 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£0.70

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 £8 to £16, 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.

Mazda CX-30 running costs for a fleet

Fails per 100 at age 5
10
vehicles needing work (rough estimate: 231 tests)
Repairs per 100
£842
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 49.6% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
37.74%21,0048,205-1.8 pp
49.12%25,1846,198-0.4 pp
59.52%26,976231+0.0 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.

Mazda CX-30 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

How it rusts
<0.1×
0.01% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
95th
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 0 postcode areas

This Mazda CX-30 virtually never fails on corrosion once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are saltier than most for the models we publish. Both point the same way and reinforce each other: it resists corrosion even though its owners live in saltier areas than most.

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 a Mazda CX-30 advisory become a failure?

Tyres are highest at 4.1%; Brakes are lowest at 3.1% — the gap is 0.9 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Tyres4.0%12 months7,407964
Brakes3.1%11.8 months5,4301,020

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 4 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 7,407 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 a Mazda CX-30?

Visibility after a advisory at age 3-5 is highest at 7.2%; Brakes after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 0.9% — the gap is 6.3 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedVisibility 3.4% · Tyres 2.5% · Brakes 0.9%4,181
<3advisoryVisibility 5.0% · Tyres 3.2% · Brakes 1.7%1,387
<3failureVisibility 4.5% · Tyres 3.6% · Brakes 3.3%336 (rough estimate)
3-5passedVisibility 3.6% · Tyres 2.7% · Brakes 0.9%1,261
3-5advisoryVisibility 7.2% · Tyres 3.7% · Brakes 3.0%405 (rough estimate)
3-5failureVisibility 6.3% · Brakes 4.6% · Tyres 3.4%175 (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.

Mazda CX-30 ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The same-day re-test pass rate is highest at 49.6%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 2.2% — the gap is 47.4 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
49.6%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.138
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
42.43%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
0.15%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 1,113 failures followed through to their re-test, 49.6% were repaired and passed the same day and 48.25% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 1,612 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 0.138 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 6,143 miles a year across 6,671 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. 42.43% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 1.13% 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: 0.15% of 6,680 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 18,004 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.

Mazda CX-30 safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 3.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Mazda CX-30 recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Mazda CX-30. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2020: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2022: 0 · 2023: 1.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Mazda CX-30
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2023/31206/11/20231,135On affected vehicles the images from the rear view / 360 cameras may not display.
R/2021/07712/04/20217,126THE POWERED TAILGATE MAY PARTIALLY LOWER UNEXPECTEDLY FROM THE FULLY OPENED POSITION IN CE
R/2020/00929/01/20207,604VEHICLES MAY UNEXPECTEDLY STOP DUE TO INADVERTENT ACTIVATION OF THE AUTOMATED SMART BRAKE

DVSA lists 3 safety recall campaigns for the Mazda CX-30, covering roughly 15,865 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.

Mazda CX-30 technical service bulletins: what dealers are told

US market, Mazda CX-30, model years 2020–2022 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.

NHTSA manufacturer communications are 769.

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

US technical service bulletins by communication year; leading subjects cover the full file
Communication yearBulletinsLeading subjects across all years
20161
  • Electrical system (317)
  • Equipment (203)
  • Adaptive and mobility equipment (118)
  • Engine and cooling (106)
  • Other / uncategorised (92)
  • Engine (88)
  • Structure (61)
  • Powertrain (43)
201919
2020147
2021123
2022128
2023112
2024115
202580
202644

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.

Mazda CX-30 owner complaints: what goes wrong

US market, Mazda CX-30, model years 2020–2022 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.

Engine (not MOT-tested) is highest at 63; Restraints are lowest at 11 — the gap is 52.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

Owner complaints (US) against actual MOT failures (UK) for the same component groups
ComponentComplaintsShareMOT fail items per 100MOT rankAgreement
Engine (not MOT-tested)6337.7%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Lamps & electrical2917.4%0.5#6complained about, fails occasionally
Brakes1810.8%1.6#3complained about and fails often
Visibility159.0%3.6#1complained about and fails often
Transmission (not MOT-tested)137.8%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Restraints116.6%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure

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 front passenger side headlight is making a whirring noise whenever the light is turned on. Based on the NHTSA safety reports for this model, this indicates the fan is failing, and soon the headlight will also fail. Intact headlights are essential for driving safety at night. No warning messages have appeared on the car.
NHTSA complaint, filed 07/18/2026 · EXTERIOR LIGHTING
There is a module that should connect to the hatch door to open. That module in no longer available. Without the hatch door opening, in case of side impact and being pushed into something else, there is no way to get out of the car. This poses a serious safety hazard. I have contacted the Mazda dealership and I am told that the part is "retired" and there is no replacement part at this time.
NHTSA complaint, filed 11/18/2025 · STRUCTURE

US owners have filed 167 complaints about the equivalent Mazda CX-30 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 15 that mention a crash, 0 a fire and 16 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.

Mazda CX-30 inspection results in other countries

Netherlands APK is well below the reference at 19.5%, against 50.8% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)8.35%26.01%-17.7 pp14,963
NetherlandsAPK19.5%50.8%-31.3 pp2,848
NorwayPKK15.3%33.7%-18.4 pp1,134

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.

The exact faults Netherlands records — APK defect codes, 2024
CodeFaultRecordedType
210Tyre pressure not at the correct value537failure
391Wipers leave insufficient visibility160failure
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed158failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread100advisory
205Tyre with insufficient tread78failure
312Brake disc severely corroded32failure
AC5Mechanical brake parts showing wear31advisory
203Tyre damaged27failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 0.428 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 Mazda CX-30 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.; Statens vegvesen — Periodisk kjøretøykontroll (PKK) 2024, CC BY 4.0. Adapted; licences and full notice.

Mazda CX-30 MOT: quick answers

Mazda CX-30 MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 66.0, 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 Mazda CX-30 first-time MOT pass rate?
91.65% of first attempts passed in 2024 (14,963 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 8.35% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 14,963 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 66.0 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Mazda CX-30 with other cars

BMW X6 is highest at 67.3; BMW Z4 is lowest at 64.7 — the gap is 2.6 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Same brand

All Mazda MOT statisticsMazda MX-5 MOT statsMazda CX-3 MOT stats

Similar risk

Lexus IS (index 65.1)BMW X6 (index 67.3)BMW Z4 (index 64.7)

Same size class

how Jaguar F-Type compareshow Kia Carens compareshow LEVC TX compares

By build year

Mazda CX-30 2019Mazda CX-30 2020

By area

Mazda CX-30 MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Mazda CX-30 brakes failuresMazda CX-30 lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresMazda CX-30 noise, emissions and leaks failuresMazda CX-30 suspension failuresMazda CX-30 tyres failuresMazda CX-30 visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Mazda CX-30 in NorwayMazda CX-30 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:mazda-cx-30:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Mazda CX-30 MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/mazda-cx-30/ · Published 2026-07-30.