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.
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
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×.
| Group | This family | Cases behind it | UK, same ages | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility | 3.6 | 786 | 4.4 | 0.81×0.75–0.86 |
| Tyres | 3.6 | 786 | 5.8 | 0.62×0.57–0.66 |
| Brakes | 1.6 | 354 | 2.4 | 0.67×0.60–0.74 |
| Suspension | 0.6 | 131 | 0.8 | 0.71×0.58–0.83 |
| Emissions & leaks | 0.5 | 117 | 0.5 | 1.06×0.93–1.35 · not distinguishable |
| Lamps & electrical | 0.5 | 107 | 2.0 | 0.24×0.19–0.29 |
| What failed | per 100 tests (this family) | per 100 tests (UK average) | ratio family / UK | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wiper blade defectiveWiper blade defective | 1.31 | 1.26 | 1.04× | 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 leakage | 0.44 | 0.98 | 0.45× | Ask the seller about: A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not func |
| Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged | 1.92 | 2.54 | 0.76× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunctionEngine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction | 0.44 | 1.19 | 0.37× | 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 view | 1.13 | 2.36 | 0.48× | 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 1.5mm | 0.85 | 2.15 | 0.40× | Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive |
| Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged | 0.25 | 1.63 | 0.15× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen | 0.71 | 2.22 | 0.32× | 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 requirements | 1.21 | 3.59 | 0.34× | 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
Advisory rates table
| Group | Advisories per 100 |
|---|---|
| Brakes | 26.5 |
| Tyres | 24.9 |
| Suspension | 10.5 |
| Non-component advisories | 4.5 |
| Identification | 0.4 |
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
| Age | Part | Mazda CX-30 | Same age, petrol and diesel | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | Tyres | 2.75 | 4.17 | -1.42 |
| 3 years | Brakes | 1.1 | 1.77 | -0.67 |
| 3 years | Suspension | 0.38 | 0.63 | -0.25 |
| 4 years | Tyres | 2.85 | 4.54 | -1.69 |
| 4 years | Brakes | 1.42 | 2.43 | -1.01 |
| 4 years | Suspension | 0.56 | 1.21 | -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 test | Fails next year | Vehicles followed |
|---|---|---|
| It failed | 14.7% | 204 |
| It passed | 8.3% | 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 for | Index | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Age only | 59.3 | fails less often than expected |
| Age and annual mileage | 65.4 | fails less often than vehicles driven as much |
| Share doing under 3,000 miles a year | 8.0% | 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.
| Age | Mazda CX-30 | Same class, same age | Difference | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 7.03% | 11.71% | -4.69 pp | 14,702 |
| 4 years | 9.12% | 13.3% | -4.18 pp | 6,423 |
| 5 years | 9.52% | 15.06% | -5.54 pp | 231 |
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
Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–19%.
Takeaway: solid line: this family; dashed: all cars.
Data table
| Age | Mazda CX-30 | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 7.7% | 12.4% | -4.7 pp |
| 4 | 9.1% | 13.1% | -4.0 pp |
| 5 | 9.5% | 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
| Vehicle age at test | Likely ULEZ-compliant share | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 328 |
| 3–5 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 14,634 |
| 6–7 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 8 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 9 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 10–14 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 15–17 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 18 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 19 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 20+ years | Suppressed — 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
Severity table
| Severity | This family /100 | National /100 | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor | 2.83 | 14.22 | 0.20× |
| Major | 5.01 | 52.75 | 0.09× |
| Dangerous | 2.76 | 11.15 | 0.25× |
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
Chart scale: 5%–33%.
bars: Mazda CX-30 · dashed: all class-4 cars
Month-by-month table
| Month | Mazda CX-30 | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7.37% | 31.12% | -23.8 pp |
| Feb | 6.62% | 29.99% | -23.4 pp |
| Mar | 6.83% | 28.26% | -21.4 pp |
| Apr | 8.24% | 29.78% | -21.5 pp |
| May | 7.79% | 28.79% | -21.0 pp |
| Jun | 7.08% | 28.15% | -21.1 pp |
| Jul | 7.12% | 29.33% | -22.2 pp |
| Aug | 8.45% | 29.2% | -20.8 pp |
| Sep | 6.51% | 28.19% | -21.7 pp |
| Oct | 8.5% | 30.34% | -21.8 pp |
| Nov | 9.84% | 30.58% | -20.7 pp |
| Dec | 7.61% | 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.
| Age | Odometer | % failing | 95% interval | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3–5 | <40k miles | 7.6% | 7.2–8.1% | 13,242 |
| 3–5 | 40-70k miles | 15.5% | 13.6–17.5% | 1,317 |
| 3–5 | 70-100k miles | 7.6% | 3.3–16.5% | 66 (rough estimate) |
line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)
Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
| Age | p25 | Median | p75 | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 14,979 | 21,004 | 28,346 | 8,205 |
| 4 | 18,384 | 25,184 | 33,259 | 6,198 |
| 5 | 18,892 | 26,976 | 36,031 | 231 |
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
| Toughest areas | % failing | vs 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 | % failing | vs 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
| Age | Tests | Survival vs ages 4–6 | Fail % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 14,702 | 100% | 7.03% |
| 4 | 6,423 | 100% | 9.12% |
| 5 | 231 | 3.6% | 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 now | Typical 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 A | Group B | Together | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | Tyres | 31 | 4.32× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Visibility | 28 | 3.59× (rough estimate) |
| Tyres | Visibility | 49 | 2.65× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Noise, emissions and leaks | 17 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Visibility | 17 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Tyres | 13 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Visibility | 9 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Suspension | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Tyres | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Suspension | Visibility | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 5 | too 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
| Band | Fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| <5k miles/year | 8.91% | 101 |
| 8–12k miles/year | 9.09% | 33 |
| Gap (low − normal) | -0.18 pp | — |
By fuel and age
Petrol
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 8.91 | 101 | 9.09 | 33 | -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
| Component | Fails per 100 tests | Typical repair | Its price | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 3.6 (nat. 8.7) | Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted) | £90 | £3.24 |
| Brakes | 1.6 (nat. 11.25) | Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback) | £150 | £2.40 |
| Suspension | 0.6 (nat. 15.36) | Suspension coil spring (single corner) | £180 | £1.08 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 0.5 (nat. 3.67) | Exhaust rear silencer | £200 | £1.00 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 0.5 (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
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
| Age | Fails | Median odometer | Tests | Gap vs age 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 7.74% | 21,004 | 8,205 | -1.8 pp |
| 4 | 9.12% | 25,184 | 6,198 | -0.4 pp |
| 5 | 9.52% | 26,976 | 231 | +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
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
| Component | Fails next time | Typical lead time | Miles of warning | Advisories tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 4.0% | 12 months | 7,407 | 964 |
| Brakes | 3.1% | 11.8 months | 5,430 | 1,020 |
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
| Age | Last test | Most likely next failures | Cars tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| <3 | passed | Visibility 3.4% · Tyres 2.5% · Brakes 0.9% | 4,181 |
| <3 | advisory | Visibility 5.0% · Tyres 3.2% · Brakes 1.7% | 1,387 |
| <3 | failure | Visibility 4.5% · Tyres 3.6% · Brakes 3.3% | 336 (rough estimate) |
| 3-5 | passed | Visibility 3.6% · Tyres 2.7% · Brakes 0.9% | 1,261 |
| 3-5 | advisory | Visibility 7.2% · Tyres 3.7% · Brakes 3.0% | 405 (rough estimate) |
| 3-5 | failure | Visibility 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
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
| Reference | Launched | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|
R/2023/312 | 06/11/2023 | 1,135 | On affected vehicles the images from the rear view / 360 cameras may not display. |
R/2021/077 | 12/04/2021 | 7,126 | THE POWERED TAILGATE MAY PARTIALLY LOWER UNEXPECTEDLY FROM THE FULLY OPENED POSITION IN CE |
R/2020/009 | 29/01/2020 | 7,604 | VEHICLES 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
| Communication year | Bulletins | Leading subjects across all years |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 |
|
| 2019 | 19 | |
| 2020 | 147 | |
| 2021 | 123 | |
| 2022 | 128 | |
| 2023 | 112 | |
| 2024 | 115 | |
| 2025 | 80 | |
| 2026 | 44 |
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
| Component | Complaints | Share | MOT fail items per 100 | MOT rank | Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine (not MOT-tested) | 63 | 37.7% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Lamps & electrical | 29 | 17.4% | 0.5 | #6 | complained about, fails occasionally |
| Brakes | 18 | 10.8% | 1.6 | #3 | complained about and fails often |
| Visibility | 15 | 9.0% | 3.6 | #1 | complained about and fails often |
| Transmission (not MOT-tested) | 13 | 7.8% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Restraints | 11 | 6.6% | 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.
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.
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
| Country | Test | This model fails | National average | Position | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | MOT (class 4) | 8.35% | 26.01% | -17.7 pp | 14,963 |
| Netherlands | APK | 19.5% | 50.8% | -31.3 pp | 2,848 |
| Norway | PKK | 15.3% | 33.7% | -18.4 pp | 1,134 |
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.
| Code | Fault | Recorded | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
210 | Tyre pressure not at the correct value | 537 | failure |
391 | Wipers leave insufficient visibility | 160 | failure |
516 | Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed | 158 | failure |
AC1 | Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread | 100 | advisory |
205 | Tyre with insufficient tread | 78 | failure |
312 | Brake disc severely corroded | 32 | failure |
AC5 | Mechanical brake parts showing wear | 31 | advisory |
203 | Tyre damaged | 27 | failure |
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.