Toyota Corolla 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

42.3% of 51,795 MOT tests of the Toyota Corolla first registered in 2003 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 102.9 (95% CI 101.5–104.2; 100 = normal for this model at that age): close to other build years of the same model at the same age (within 5 points of normal).

Toyota Corolla built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	42.3	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	51795
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 101.5–104.2)	102.9	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	51795
Rank among this model's 15 build years	12	of 15	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	51795
Tested in 2024	5445	tests	median 100,569 miles	2024	5445

Built 2003 against Toyota Corolla normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 42.3% vs 43.4%; age 17: 42.2% vs 40.5%; age 18: 42.6% vs 41%; age 19: 41% vs 39.8%; age 20: 42.6% vs 40.4%; age 21: 43.3% vs 40.1%. Axis from 0% to 50%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Toyota Corolla by registration · All Toyota Corolla MOT statistics · Download the build-year table (CSV)

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · full dataset (v5).

How does the 2003 Toyota Corolla fail at each age?

Cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21 between 2019 and 2024. Each row compares their first-time failure share with what this model normally shows at that age, after allowing for the overall failure level of each test year.

Toyota Corolla built 2003: first-time MOT failure by age, against the model's normal rate at that age (2019–2024)
Age	Tests	Failed, %	95% interval	Normal for this model at that age, %	Index (100 = normal)
16	12,584	42.3	41.5–43.2	43.4	97.6
17	10,443	42.2	41.3–43.2	40.5	104.3
18	9,037	42.6	41.6–43.7	41	104
19	7,712	41	39.9–42.1	39.8	103.1
20	6,574	42.6	41.4–43.8	40.4	105.5
21	5,445	43.3	42–44.6	40.1	107.9

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 51,795 (initial tests) · Method: normal rate = this model's first-time failure share at that age across its build years (cells of 400+ tests), adjusted for each test year's overall level; cells of 30+ tests, under 500 marked rough · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

What fails most on the 2003 Toyota Corolla?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 49.3 items per 100 first tests, against 32.7 across all build years of the Toyota Corolla. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Toyota Corolla built 2003 against the Toyota Corolla in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2003, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	49.3	32.7	25,522
Brakes	30.5	19.6	15,801
Suspension	16.8	11.3	8,699
Visibility	13.5	11.3	7,008
Body, chassis, structure	8.8	6.2	4,554

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 51,795 (initial tests of this build year) · Method: failure items grouped by DVSA's top-level defect groups, per 100 initial tests; groups with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How does 2003 compare with the years around it?

Among the 15 published build years of the Toyota Corolla, 2003 ranks 12 (1 = fails least for its age). 2002: index 102.0. 2004: index 102.9.

Toyota Corolla build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	104.1	99.9–108.4	no different	5,098
1999	94.6	91.4–97.8	better	8,284
2000	95.4	92.5–98.3	better	10,381
2001	90.5	88.3–92.7	better	17,480
2002	102.0	100.4–103.6	worse	36,881
2003	102.9	101.5–104.2	worse	51,795
2004	102.9	101.7–104.1	worse	66,160
2005	98.6	97.6–99.6	better	94,630
2006	96.9	96.0–97.9	better	98,169
2007	98.2	96.6–99.9	better	35,758
2008	98.8	96.7–100.8	no different	24,423
2009	98.1	94.6–101.6	no different	8,771
2010	93.8	79.5–108.1	no different (rough estimate)	516
2019	104.6	101.9–107.4	worse	48,637
2020	100.3	97.2–103.4	no different	37,298

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 544,281 (initial tests) · Method: observed failures against those expected for the same model at the same ages, test-year level adjusted; verdict follows the printed one-decimal bound · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How to cite this page

MOT Risk Index (2026). Toyota Corolla 2003 MOT statistics (data release dvsa-2024-v2; full dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22975051), updated 30 September 2026. motriskindex.co.uk/cars/toyota-corolla/2003/

How every figure is calculated: methodology. Age, test year and build year are tied together (age = test year − build year), so the test-year level is taken as observed, not estimated.

Other pages for this model