MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Skoda Octavia — MOT statistics 2024

The Skoda Octavia failed 24.2% of 205,251 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 89.7 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 10% less often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 89.7, 95% CI 89.0–90.4 (100 = national average) 100 89.7 0 200
Index
89.7
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
24.2%
n = 205,251
Dangerous /100
10
national ≈11
Diesel − petrol
+7.4 pp
fail-rate gap
Rank
344 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Toyota Yaris (index 89.8) — the two published results are 0.1 index points apart.

Skoda Octavia common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Suspension stands out at 14.8 per 100 tests, against 13.0 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Skoda Octavia 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.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Suspension14.8174,71613.01.14×1.14–1.15
Lamps & electrical13.9164,43814.90.93×0.93–0.94
Brakes8.8103,98710.10.87×0.87–0.88
Tyres8.5100,1108.60.99×0.98–0.99
Visibility5.969,8217.40.80×0.80–0.81
Body & structure5.160,3684.41.15×1.14–1.16
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 1,181,220 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Suspension joint cover split or missingA suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc2.971.781.66×Ask whether the ball joint was replaced along with its cover: a joint that ran unprotected wears quickly and knocks over bumps.
Driveshaft boot perished (minor)A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated2.211.481.50×Look behind the front wheels for cracked rubber boots; once a boot splits, the joint wears out quickly.
Tyre cords showing or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged2.041.631.25×Check the inner edges of the front tyres, where cords show first, and ask whether the alignment was checked.
Suspension joint cover perished (minor)A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated2.251.901.18×Look at the ball joint covers behind the front wheels: once a cover splits, the joint wears out.
Windscreen or window damaged (minor)Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view2.682.361.14×Look for chips and cracks across the windscreen: chips spread, and larger damage in front of the driver fails.
Broken or weakened suspension springA spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened3.142.861.10×Look behind each wheel at the coil springs for a snapped end, and check the car sits level from side to side.
Tyre badly cut or damagedA tyre seriously damaged2.572.541.01×Check both sidewalls of every tyre, including the inner side, for cuts, bulges and tears.
Brake pads or shoes dangerously thina brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm2.052.150.95×Look through the wheels at the pads and discs, listen for grinding, and ask when they were last replaced.
Tyre tread below the legal limitTyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements2.963.590.82×Check the tread across every tyre with a gauge; wear on one edge points to a tracking fault.
Worn suspension bush or jointA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn3.254.870.67×Listen for knocks over speed bumps, feel for the car wandering under braking, and ask which part was replaced.

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

Skoda Octavia MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Tyres are highest at 39.0 per 100 tests; Lamps & electrical are lowest at 3.1 per 100 tests — the gap is 35.9 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Skoda Octavia MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Tyres39
Suspension36.1
Brakes31.1
Non-component advisories7.3
Emissions & leaks3.3
Lamps & electrical3.1

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

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Skoda Octavia against cars of the same age

AgePartSkoda OctaviaSame age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres4.444.170.27
3 yearsBrakes1.141.77-0.63
3 yearsSuspension1.290.630.66
4 yearsTyres4.734.540.19
4 yearsBrakes1.762.43-0.67
4 yearsSuspension2.071.210.86
5 yearsTyres4.955.06-0.11
5 yearsBrakes2.223.09-0.87
5 yearsSuspension2.612.190.42
6 yearsTyres5.355.54-0.19
6 yearsBrakes2.993.81-0.82
6 yearsSuspension3.373.72-0.35
7 yearsTyres5.775.95-0.18
7 yearsBrakes3.614.55-0.94
7 yearsSuspension4.85.68-0.88
8 yearsTyres6.046.31-0.27
8 yearsBrakes4.325.38-1.06
8 yearsSuspension6.617.78-1.17

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 failed33.0%52,439
It passed20.9%672,428

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 12.1 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment — 35.3% of those vehicles fail again next year. 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 1,174,280 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 only90.4fails less often than expected
Age and annual mileage82.2fails less often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year1.7%a normal spread of use

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 8.2 points — this fleet works harder than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view penalises 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 Skoda Octavia 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.

AgeSkoda OctaviaSame class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years10.63%11.73%-1.09 pp106,369
4 years12.29%13.32%-1.03 pp110,248
5 years13.66%15.11%-1.45 pp114,057
6 years16.12%17.37%-1.25 pp106,137
7 years19.37%20.17%-0.81 pp103,206
8 years22.53%23.24%-0.7 pp97,652
9 years26.13%26.76%-0.63 pp87,608
10 years29.53%30.05%-0.52 pp75,390
11 years33.55%33.45%+0.1 pp64,729
12 years36.9%36.45%+0.45 pp60,440
13 years39.5%38.87%+0.62 pp55,584
14 years41.66%40.81%+0.84 pp47,190
15 years43.77%42.27%+1.5 pp39,076
16 years45.09%43.09%+2 pp32,525
17 years45.56%43.47%+2.1 pp25,849
18 years45.36%43.59%+1.77 pp18,362
19 years44.85%43.16%+1.69 pp11,594
20 years43.36%42.41%+0.95 pp7,043

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 Skoda Octavia perform as it gets older?

The Octavia at age 10 is well below the reference at 23.5%, against 30.1% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Skoda Octavia perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–49%.

Takeaway: a 10-year-old Octavia has roughly a 23% chance of failing its MOT; from about age 17 it stays above the national age curve.

Data table
AgeSkoda OctaviaAll vehiclesGap
310.2%12.4%-2.2 pp
412.3%13.1%-0.8 pp
514.4%15.1%-0.7 pp
614.9%17.5%-2.6 pp
716.8%20.2%-3.3 pp
818.8%23.3%-4.5 pp
921.1%26.5%-5.4 pp
1023.5%30.1%-6.6 pp
1127.9%33.2%-5.3 pp
1234.0%35.7%-1.7 pp
1336.1%38.2%-2.0 pp
1437.8%40.4%-2.6 pp
1539.5%41.6%-2.1 pp
1642.8%43.1%-0.3 pp
1743.8%43.1%+0.7 pp
1845.5%43.9%+1.6 pp
1944.6%43.5%+1.1 pp
2042.0%41.0%+0.9 pp

Is a Skoda Octavia ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Skoda Octavia MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 62.4%.

Based on 205,034 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 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,014
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 41,538
6–7 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 34,912
8 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 20,303
9 years46.7%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 18,894
10–14 years26.6%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 58,228
15–17 years22.8%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 17,663
18 years38.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 4,762
19 years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 2,861
20+ years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 4,859

Skoda Octavia petrol vs diesel: which ages best

Diesel is highest at 27.2%; Hybrid is lowest at 10.3% — the gap is 16.9 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Skoda Octavia petrol vs diesel: which ages best — 2024 UK MOT data
Fuel split table
FuelTests% failingGap vs best
Diesel126,97327.2%+16.9 pp
Petrol74,30319.8%+9.5 pp
Hybrid3,95410.3%+0.0 pp

Chart sample sizes: n=127k · n=74k · n=3,954.

How dangerous are Skoda Octavia MOT failures?

Major defects are well below the reference at 39.7 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Skoda Octavia MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor14.0414.220.99×
Major39.7352.750.75×
Dangerous9.7711.150.88×

Chart values: Minor 14.0 · Major 39.7 · Dangerous 9.8.

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

Does the month of a Skoda Octavia MOT matter?

Jan is highest at 26.3%; Jun is lowest at 23.2% — the gap is 3.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Skoda Octavia MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 22%–33%.

bars: Skoda Octavia · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthSkoda OctaviaAll vehiclesGap
Jan26.3%31.12%-4.8 pp
Feb25.29%29.99%-4.7 pp
Mar24.28%28.26%-4.0 pp
Apr24.94%29.78%-4.8 pp
May24.41%28.79%-4.4 pp
Jun23.24%28.15%-4.9 pp
Jul24.86%29.33%-4.5 pp
Aug25%29.2%-4.2 pp
Sep24.58%28.19%-3.6 pp
Oct25.82%30.34%-4.5 pp
Nov25.48%30.58%-5.1 pp
Dec24.75%29.33%-4.6 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 3.1 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.

Skoda Octavia average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of Octavias runs from 59,769 miles to 113,010 miles, against 80,998 miles as the median.

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

Bars: Skoda Octavia · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–186k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Skoda Octavia MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 6–9, 8.6% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 25.3% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

Does high mileage mean more Skoda Octavia MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Skoda Octavia: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles8.8%8.4–9.2%19,347
3–540-70k miles14.3%13.7–14.9%13,877
3–570-100k miles19%17.9–20.2%4,540
3–5100-140k miles19%17.5–20.6%2,490
3–5140k+ miles23.1%20.8–25.5%1,279
6–9<40k miles8.6%8.1–9.3%8,288
6–940-70k miles14.5%14.1–15%24,233
6–970-100k miles19.3%18.7–19.8%19,522
6–9100-140k miles23.5%22.7–24.3%11,757
6–9140k+ miles25.3%24.5–26.1%10,287
10–14<40k miles14.6%12.8–16.6%1,345
10–1440-70k miles21.4%20.5–22.4%7,121
10–1470-100k miles27.8%27–28.5%15,009
10–14100-140k miles33.4%32.8–34.1%18,943
10–14140k+ miles36.2%35.5–37%15,787
15+<40k miles23.4%19.1–28.4%320 (rough estimate)
15+40-70k miles31.5%29.3–33.7%1,751
15+70-100k miles38%36.5–39.4%4,305
15+100-140k miles42.5%41.6–43.5%9,583
15+140k+ miles46.1%45.3–46.9%14,154

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

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
323,60334,32249,0319,789
426,86038,03456,27012,080
534,66749,25573,70019,670
642,13657,88683,37016,538
749,97668,80097,17618,378
859,76980,998113,01020,303
969,70793,704127,48118,894
1077,628101,899133,66316,740
1182,322107,844142,38110,779
1285,814114,048148,00410,681
1385,435111,977142,97611,026
1494,896124,273155,9329,012
1596,547125,866158,3816,560
16106,720136,536168,3265,432
17110,875140,274170,3725,674
18106,976138,214169,3664,762
19108,781140,396173,1282,863
20+109,281142,435177,5084,860

A typical 8-year-old Octavia has ~80,998 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Skoda Octavia fails its MOT most

Lerwick area is highest at 35.9%; Croydon area is lowest at 18.4% — the gap is 17.6 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Where in Britain the Skoda Octavia fails its MOT most — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Lerwick (ZE)35.94%+11.0 pp
Dundee (DD)34.03%+9.1 pp
Truro (TR)33.88%+8.9 pp
Exeter (EX)33.68%+8.7 pp
Torquay (TQ)33.44%+8.5 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Croydon (CR)18.36%-6.6 pp
Slough (SL)18.9%-6.1 pp
Harrow (HA)19.65%-5.3 pp
Nottingham (NG)19.83%-5.1 pp
Twickenham (TW)19.87%-5.1 pp

Why do areas differ?

For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.

In areas with the highest mot centre density this model fails 6.7 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.55, n=116 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest urban share this model fails 6.1 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.53, n=116 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest terrain gradient this model fails 3.3 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.40, n=69 areas with ≥800 tests).

Skoda Octavia Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
MOT centre density21.4%28.1%+6.7 ppr=0.55
Urban share27.7%21.6%-6.1 ppr=-0.53
Terrain gradient24.0%27.3%+3.3 ppr=0.40

Factors that only mean something combined

Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.

Composite area indicators, each tested against a defect rate we measure
CompositeBuilt fromTested againstrVerdict
Underbody corrosionfrost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1)share of tests with a corrosion defect+0.42holds (116 areas)
Tyre wearrain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisoryshare of tests failing on tyres+0.45holds (116 areas)
Overnight corrosionterraced housing × cars per household × frost daysshare with a corrosion defect+0.41holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index
Deferred maintenancedeprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour ratecars repeating the same advisory−0.26fails (118 areas)
Powertrain stressengine capacity ÷ kerb weightsuspension, brake and emissions failures−0.16fails (22 models)

The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.

All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
Factorrn areasLow-Q fail %High-Q fail %Gap ppLow-Q factorHigh-Q factor
MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles)0.55311621.428.1+6.758.9
Urban share (0–1)-0.53011627.721.6-6.10.41
Terrain gradient (% grade)0.4026924.027.3+3.30.54.2
Distance to coast (km)-0.29511627.223.7-3.5678.7
Frost days (days/year)0.21311625.026.3+1.311.838
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)0.20411624.526.3+1.7223674.9
Income deprivation (score)-0.0999724.023.8-0.20.10.2

Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.

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: 20%–33% failing.

Skoda Octavia survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 19 is well below the reference at 10.5%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Skoda Octavia survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
3106,36996.6%10.63%
4110,248100%12.29%
5114,057100%13.66%
6106,13796.4%16.12%
7103,20693.7%19.37%
897,65288.7%22.53%
987,60879.5%26.13%
1075,39068.4%29.53%
1164,72958.8%33.55%
1260,44054.9%36.9%
1355,58450.5%39.5%
1447,19042.8%41.66%
1539,07635.5%43.77%
1632,52529.5%45.09%
1725,84923.5%45.56%
1818,36216.7%45.36%
1911,59410.5%44.85%

By age 19, only about 10% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈110,147); survivors still fail at 44.9% vs 12.3% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does a Skoda Octavia last?

100,000+ miles is highest at 38.6%; 200,000+ miles is lowest at 5.2% — the gap is 33.4 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles453,81938.62%
150,000+ miles181,99715.49%
200,000+ miles60,7005.17%

Of 1,174,974 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 38.6% had reached 100k miles, 15.5% had reached 150k miles, 5.2% had reached 200k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is a Skoda Octavia likely to last?

Bought at age 5 is highest at 8.0 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 2.8 years — the gap is 5.2 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—8
8—5.8
10—5.2
12—4.3
15—at least 2.8

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has about 5.2 expected years of further MOT-present life on the 2024 survival curve. Derived from how many cars of each age still appear for test, not from a longitudinal panel.

Skoda Octavia faults that come together

Emissions & leaks + Seatbelts & SRS stand out at 6.79×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems2,3846.79×
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1996.28× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1876.18× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSteering3,5435.52×
Identification of the vehicleSteering1965.45× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels3965.37× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belt installation check245.28× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems6,2465.26×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering8605.26×
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems2,9545.22×
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks3945.1× (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems3,5555.03×
Identification of the vehicleRoad Wheels334.96× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment1,2844.92×
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering1,9604.91×
BrakesSteering3,8884.85×
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks6,3424.6×
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks7,7634.51×
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle7014.51×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks12,7854.42×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels1,0834.35×
Seat belt installation checkSuspension214.25× (rough estimate)
SteeringSuspension6,1204.18×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension5,3834.18×
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle5154.14×
BrakesRoad Wheels5984.03×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering5,4194.02×
Identification of the vehicleVisibility5823.92×
Road WheelsSteering1313.81× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsTyres6303.78×
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment21,6123.72×
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension11,6943.72×
Identification of the vehicleSuspension1,0503.7×
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment17,1773.69×
Body, chassis, structureSuspension18,5433.66×
Body, chassis, structureBrakes10,1223.65×
Identification of the vehicleTyres6353.64×
BrakesSuspension22,7853.61×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension37,2733.51×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility2,3353.46×
Road WheelsSuspension9193.39×
SteeringVisibility2,5243.29×
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels3893.27× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres2,5803.25×
BrakesTyres12,1243.11×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility16,9743.05×
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility4,9963.03×
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres5,7062.95×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres18,3292.8×
Road WheelsVisibility3842.71× (rough estimate)
BrakesVisibility8,8612.68×
Body, chassis, structureVisibility7,0862.67×
SuspensionTyres17,6382.48×
SuspensionVisibility14,6252.42×
SteeringTyres2,0782.3×
TyresVisibility8,4622.27×
Body, chassis, structureTyres7,0762.27×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSpeedometer and speed limiter15too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belt installation check14too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belt installation check10too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterSuspension10too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belt installation check9too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkTyres9too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkVisibility8too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems6too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSpeedometer and speed limiter6too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSpeedometer and speed limiter6too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterSteering5too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterVisibility5too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSpeedometer and speed limiter5too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Noise, emissions and leaks» and «Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems» appear together 6.79× more often than chance (2,384 co-occurrences in the same test; lift≥1.3, n≥500).

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 Skoda Octavia?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 14.8%, against 25.8% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year14.82%58,390
8–12k miles/year25.84%285,314
Gap (low − normal)-11.02 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
57.422,35912.5121,265-5.09 pp
67.722,34515.222,781-7.48 pp
79.082,45518.5124,787-9.43 pp
811.272,38621.124,397-9.83 pp
914.352,23025.5623,156-11.21 pp
1017.442,18529.7320,760-12.29 pp
1119.521,96234.9718,481-15.45 pp
1224.691,98938.8118,363-14.12 pp
1327.951,91441.6917,402-13.74 pp
1430.731,97543.8916,618-13.15 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
56.436,64312.7713,924-6.34 pp
67.745,06714.7911,204-7.05 pp
78.954,18917.758,772-8.8 pp
811.393,71422.548,353-11.15 pp
914.093,37227.257,271-13.16 pp
1016.883,07531.226,524-14.35 pp
1120.862,80534.595,817-13.73 pp
1223.572,809385,616-14.43 pp
1323.732,76441.295,755-17.55 pp
1426.822,15144.234,054-17.4 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 14.8% vs 25.8% for 8–12k miles/year — 11.0 pp lower (n_low=58,390, n_normal=285,314). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 16.4% low-use vs 27.3% normal (-10.9 pp).

Which Skoda Octavia engine is best?

diesel 1.5–1.8 is highest at 112.8; petrol 1.0–1.2 is lowest at 79.8 — the gap is 33.0 points.

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

Engine bands against this model's own failure rate at the same ages
FuelCapacityvs own age normRaw fail %Tests
petrol1.0–1.2 litre79.816.99%14,796
petrol1.2–1.5 litre82.515.62%180,047
petrol1.8–2.0 litre87.322.57%73,260
petrol1.5–1.8 litre95.236.56%63,981
petrolunder 1.0 litre96.612.24%29,599
diesel1.2–1.5 litre100.331.71%328 (rough estimate)
diesel1.8–2.0 litre101.329.41%495,279
diesel1.5–1.8 litre112.823.24%318,697

Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel 1.5–1.8 runs at 112.8 against this model's own age norm while the petrol 1.0–1.2 runs at 79.8 — a spread of 33 points between two cars that share a name.

Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.

Best year for a Skoda Octavia, and the years to avoid

Build year 2012 is highest at 111.9; Build year 2014 is lowest at 91.1 — the gap is 20.8 points.

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

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Skoda Octavia build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Skoda Octavia by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
2020102.298.4–10611.35%24,228no different
2019109.2106.8–111.712.88%60,255worse
201896.694.5–98.712.38%67,633better
201792.891.2–94.412.9%98,754better
201694.893.4–96.214.74%126,633better
201594.793.4–9617.13%118,738better
201491.189.8–92.319.04%105,534better
201396.895.3–98.323.3%70,704better
2012111.9110.5–113.430.57%74,840worse
2011102.9101.6–104.231.58%77,014worse
2010103.4102.1–104.834.99%66,267worse
2009100.599–10237%49,185no different
2008103.4101.9–104.940.83%43,792worse
2007101.5100.1–102.942.28%48,257worse
2006103101.6–104.544.59%42,995worse
2005103.7102–105.546.16%28,544worse
2004103100.9–105.146.62%19,998worse
200310198.6–103.345.86%15,843no different
200297.294.5–10044%11,217no different
2001101.597.8–105.245.75%6,455no different
2000102.696–109.246.02%2,021no different
1999105.893.6–118.147.03%606no different

The best build year here is 2014 and the weakest is 2012. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 15 of 22 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Skoda Octavia MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £66.95 to £127.20, against £54.85 for the test itself.

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

MOT repairs, budget
£67–127
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
Suspension14.8 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£26.64
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment13.9 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£19.46
Brakes8.8 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£13.20
Tyres8.5 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£7.65

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 £67 to £127, 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.

Skoda Octavia running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 23.0%, against 14.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 5
14
vehicles needing work
At age 10
23
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024
Repairs per 100
£6,695
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 45.7% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
310.17%34,3229,789-4.3 pp
412.31%38,03412,080-2.1 pp
514.42%49,25519,670+0.0 pp
614.91%57,88616,538+0.5 pp
716.84%68,80018,378+2.4 pp
818.79%80,99820,303+4.4 pp
921.12%93,70418,894+6.7 pp
1023.46%101,89916,740+9.0 pp
1127.91%107,84410,779+13.5 pp
1233.95%114,04810,681+19.5 pp
1336.15%111,97711,026+21.7 pp
1437.82%124,2739,012+23.4 pp
1539.5%125,8666,560+25.1 pp
1642.82%136,5365,432+28.4 pp
1743.81%140,2745,674+29.4 pp
1845.46%138,2144,762+31.0 pp
1944.57%140,3962,863+30.1 pp

The number a fleet manager needs is not the failure rate, it is the year the car starts costing more. Between cars aged 11 and cars aged 12, both tested in 2024, the failure rate of this model is 6.04 percentage points higher — the steepest one-year step in this cross-section of different cars, and a natural planning point for replacement.

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.

Skoda Octavia rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is close to the reference at 0.96×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
0.96×
0.74% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
74th
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 116 postcode areas

This Skoda Octavia fails on corrosion at about the average rate once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are saltier than most for the models we publish.

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 Skoda Octavia advisory become a failure?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 25.7%; Identification of the vehicle is lowest at 3.1% — the gap is 22.6 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Skoda Octavia chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Skoda Octavia, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Lamps & electrical 25.7% · Body & chassis 18% · Suspension 17.1% · Steering 13.8% · Brakes 10.7% · Tyres 9% · Visibility 8.8% · Noise, emissions, leaks 7.8%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment25.7%12 months7,16020,420
Body, chassis, structure18.0%12 months6,24813,391
Suspension17.1%12 months7,605182,128
Steering13.8%12 months6,4733,708
Brakes10.7%12 months7,220163,814
Tyres9.0%12 months7,980209,511
Visibility8.8%12 months8,691918
Noise, emissions and leaks7.8%12 months7,60324,410
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems4.5%12 months7,7946,157
Identification of the vehicle3.1%12 months8,27519,275

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 26 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 7,160 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 Skoda Octavia?

Suspension after a failure at age 12-14 is highest at 27.2%; Suspension after a passed at age <3 is lowest at 1.4% — the gap is 25.8 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
<3passedTyres 4.0% · Visibility 2.2% · Suspension 1.4%52,505
<3advisoryTyres 5.4% · Visibility 3.6% · Suspension 2.6%20,136
<3failureTyres 5.1% · Visibility 3.6% · Suspension 2.8%7,960
3-5passedTyres 4.1% · Visibility 2.3% · Suspension 2.3%147,585
3-5advisoryTyres 6.1% · Visibility 3.9% · Suspension 3.6%86,678
3-5failureTyres 6.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.2% · Suspension 4.5%35,506
6-8passedSuspension 5.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.4% · Tyres 4.7%104,363
6-8advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.9% · Suspension 7.6% · Tyres 6.9%77,761
6-8failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.3% · Suspension 10.9% · Tyres 8.2%50,155
9-11passedSuspension 12.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 10.3% · Tyres 4.9%56,917
9-11advisorySuspension 17.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 15.4% · Brakes 7.2%50,845
9-11failureSuspension 21.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.2% · Brakes 9.6%51,465
12-14passedSuspension 17.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.7% · Body, chassis, structure 9.8%31,640
12-14advisorySuspension 24.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 18.2% · Body, chassis, structure 13.0%34,089
12-14failureSuspension 27.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.3% · Body, chassis, structure 15.5%44,818
15-19passedSuspension 15.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.8% · Body, chassis, structure 12.4%17,123
15-19advisorySuspension 21.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 19.1% · Body, chassis, structure 16.7%23,129
15-19failureSuspension 25.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 25.4% · Body, chassis, structure 19.2%32,118
20+passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.0% · Suspension 9.3% · Body, chassis, structure 7.7%1,209
20+advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.2% · Suspension 17.5% · Visibility 14.3%2,004
20+failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 27.1% · Suspension 20.8% · Brakes 17.8%2,388

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.

Skoda Octavia ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 51.8%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 2.6% — the gap is 49.2 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
45.7%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.268
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
35.23%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
0.979%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 221,494 failures followed through to their re-test, 45.7% were repaired and passed the same day and 51.75% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 535,092 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 0.268 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 7,560 miles a year across 231,941 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. 35.23% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 31.73% 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: 0.979% of 232,092 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 34,682 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.

Skoda Octavia safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 27.

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

recall campaigns launched per year

Skoda Octavia recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Skoda Octavia. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2011: 1 · 2012: 0 · 2013: 0 · 2014: 0 · 2015: 0 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2021: 0 · 2022: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2025: 1.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Skoda Octavia
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2026/00218/07/202549Takata drivers side front airbag
R/2024/01717/01/202415,729On certain vehicles with electromechanical brake servo and DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) of a
R/2023/22219/07/20232Certain vehicles may be fitted with a wheel bearing housing containing cavities in the mat
R/2023/08627/03/202343On affected vehicles from a certain production period there is a possibility that the gas
R/2022/08707/04/20222,038THE FUSE IN THE HIGH-VOLTAGE SYSTEM OF PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLES WAS PARTLY PRODUCED WITH AN
All 27 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2026/00218/07/202509/04/2013 – 09/06/201549Takata drivers side front airbag
R/2024/01717/01/202404/05/2020 – 14/11/202315,729On certain vehicles with electromechanical brake servo and DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) of a
R/2023/22219/07/202317/04/2023 – 17/04/20232Certain vehicles may be fitted with a wheel bearing housing containing cavities in the mat
R/2023/08627/03/202314/10/2013 – 30/03/201743On affected vehicles from a certain production period there is a possibility that the gas
R/2022/08707/04/202212/12/2019 – 14/02/20222,038THE FUSE IN THE HIGH-VOLTAGE SYSTEM OF PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLES WAS PARTLY PRODUCED WITH AN
R/2022/07523/03/202210/09/2020 – 05/02/20221,150ENGINE COMPARTMENT COVERS COULD COME LOOSE FROM THEIR ATTACHMENT
R/2020/17705/06/202024/04/2020 – 11/05/202055E-CALL SERVICE MAY NOT ALWAYS BE FUNCTIONAL
R/2019/31412/09/201912/08/2019 – 20/08/201984THE PRIMER MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE SEALS OF THE REAR SIDE WINDOWS
R/2019/28322/08/201901/04/2014 – 30/10/201417THE CAMSHAFT ADJUSTER HOUSING BOLTS MAY COME LOOSE AND BREAK THE PULLEY
R/2019/21030/05/201908/01/2018 – 28/02/2018393AIR BAG MAY NOT INFLATE QUICKLY ENOUGH ON DEPLOYMENT
R/2019/05115/02/201929/06/2002 – 24/07/2002309DRIVER AIRBAG GENERATOR HOUSING COULD COME LOOSE
R/2018/35714/12/201801/05/2018 – 31/08/2018189A WELDED CONNECTION OF THE REAR SEAT BENCH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN CORRECTLY PERFORMED
R/2018/04107/02/201801/07/2014 – 15/11/20144PASSENGER AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY AS INTENDED
R/2017/31928/11/201701/08/2017 – 31/08/2017122REAR WHEEL BEARING HOUSINGS MAY BE INCORRECTLY MANUFACTURED AND COULD FAIL PREMATURELY
R/2017/19828/06/201701/05/2008 – 31/05/20102,369ABS/ESC SYSTEM MAY FAIL
R/2016/15807/07/201625/11/2015 – 14/04/20163,258MANUAL CHILD LOCKS ON REAR PASSENGER DOORS MAY DISENGAGE WITHOUT WARNING
R/2011/17115/12/201101/01/2009 – 15/12/20111,867FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2009/12414/12/200901/09/2008 – 31/08/2009494CLUTCH MAY OPERATE INADVERTENTLY WITH UNEXPECTED LOSS OF DRIVE
R/2006/03519/04/200601/02/2004 – 30/06/20051,687FLYWHEEL MAY FAIL RESULTING IN FIRE
R/2004/21517/02/200501/03/2004 – 31/08/20046,032BOLTS OF THE TANDEM FUEL PUMP COVER MAY BREAK
R/2004/21517/02/200501/03/2004 – 31/08/20046,032BOLTS OF THE TANDEM FUEL PUMP COVER MAY BREAK
R/2004/13626/08/20041,575THE SIDE AIR BAG WIRING MAY BE INCORRECT
R/2002/14831/03/2003619REAR WINDOW WIPER MAY BREAK OFF
R/2003/04226/03/200301/09/1998 – 30/06/19992,301BRAKE VACUUM SUPPLY PIPE CONCERN
R/2002/03310/05/200201/03/2001 – 30/09/20012,997ANTI LOCK BRAKE CONTROL UNIT CONCERN
R/2001/05925/06/200101/03/2001 – 31/03/200195FUEL LEAKAGE CONCERN
R/1999/01914/05/199901/05/1998 – 31/01/1999746POSSIBILITY THAT AN INCORRECT BRAKE VACUUM SERVO HAS BEEN FITTED

DVSA lists 27 safety recall campaigns for the Skoda Octavia, covering roughly 50,256 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.

Skoda Octavia inspection results in other countries

Netherlands APK is well below the reference at 44.1%, 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)24.2%26.01%-1.8 pp205,251
FinlandKatsastus22.3%26.3%-4 pp60,216
NetherlandsAPK44.1%50.8%-6.7 pp39,515
NorwayPKK32.8%33.7%-0.9 pp31,455

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 value7,127failure
205Tyre with insufficient tread4,371failure
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed3,206failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread2,334advisory
203Tyre damaged1,465failure
RA2Excessive leak of other fluids1,442advisory
391Wipers leave insufficient visibility1,322failure
AC2Shock absorber leaking1,284advisory

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 0.994 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 Skoda Octavia 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: Traficom — Periodic inspections of cars by model / by model and fault object 2024, CC BY 4.0; 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.

Skoda Octavia MOT: quick answers

Skoda Octavia MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 89.7, 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 Skoda Octavia first-time MOT pass rate?
75.8% of first attempts passed in 2024 (205,251 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 24.2% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 205,251 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 89.7 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Skoda Octavia with other cars

Ford Kuga is highest at 90.2; Toyota Aygo is lowest at 89.3 — the gap is 0.9 points.

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

Same brand

All Skoda MOT statisticsSkoda Fabia MOT stats

Similar risk

Toyota Yaris (index 89.8)Toyota Aygo (index 89.3)Ford Kuga (index 90.2)

Same size class

how Peugeot 208 compareshow Vauxhall Zafira compareshow Honda CR-V compares

By build year

Skoda Octavia 1999Skoda Octavia 2000Skoda Octavia 2001Skoda Octavia 2002Skoda Octavia 2003Skoda Octavia 2004Skoda Octavia 2005Skoda Octavia 2006Skoda Octavia 2007Skoda Octavia 2008Skoda Octavia 2009Skoda Octavia 2010Skoda Octavia 2011Skoda Octavia 2012Skoda Octavia 2013Skoda Octavia 2014Skoda Octavia 2015Skoda Octavia 2016Skoda Octavia 2017Skoda Octavia 2018Skoda Octavia 2019Skoda Octavia 2020

By area

Skoda Octavia MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Skoda Octavia body, chassis and structure failuresSkoda Octavia brakes failuresSkoda Octavia vehicle identification failuresSkoda Octavia lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresSkoda Octavia noise, emissions and leaks failuresSkoda Octavia road wheels failuresSkoda Octavia seat belts and airbags failuresSkoda Octavia steering failuresSkoda Octavia suspension failuresSkoda Octavia tyres failuresSkoda Octavia visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Skoda Octavia in NorwaySkoda Octavia in FinlandSkoda Octavia 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:skoda-octavia:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

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