Vauxhall Combo — MOT statistics 2024
The Vauxhall Combo failed 39.53% of 105,066 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 145.6 (100 = expected for its age profile). This van fails its MOT about 46% more often than expected for its age.
Age-adjusted peer: Renault Trafic (index 147.6) — the two published results are 2.0 index points apart.
Vauxhall Combo common problems: what actually fails the MOT
Suspension stands out at 32.2 per 100 tests, against 25.3 per 100 tests across UK vans and pickups of the same ages.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
family vs national — matched to UK vans and pickups 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.
| Group | This family | Cases behind it | UK, same ages | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps & electrical | 33.4 | 201,927 | 32.7 | 1.02×1.02–1.03 |
| Suspension | 32.2 | 194,308 | 25.3 | 1.27×1.26–1.28 |
| Brakes | 22.0 | 132,996 | 20.5 | 1.07×1.07–1.08 |
| Visibility | 19.4 | 117,504 | 15.6 | 1.25×1.24–1.26 |
| Tyres | 14.1 | 85,021 | 8.2 | 1.73×1.71–1.74 |
| Body & structure | 10.8 | 65,549 | 13.7 | 0.79×0.79–0.80 |
| What failed | per 100 tests (this family) | per 100 tests (UK average) | ratio family / UK | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring or spring component fractured or seriously…A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened | 8.63 | 2.86 | 3.02× | Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened |
| Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view | 6.59 | 2.36 | 2.79× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Suspension pin, bush or joint excessively wornA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn | 8.79 | 4.87 | 1.81× | Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test |
| Brake pipe damaged or excessively corrodedBrake pipe damaged or excessively corroded | 4.51 | 1.41 | 3.21× | Look underneath for rust or cracks around subframe and suspension mountings |
| Rear registration plate lamp or light source…A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources | 5.77 | 2.83 | 2.04× | Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure |
| Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen | 4.70 | 2.22 | 2.11× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down…The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements | 4.91 | 2.57 | 1.91× | Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure |
| Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements | 5.80 | 3.59 | 1.61× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged | 3.75 | 1.63 | 2.30× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Windscreen washers not working or not providing…Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen | 3.71 | 1.62 | 2.29× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.
Vauxhall Combo MOT advisories: what gets flagged
Brakes are highest at 44.6 per 100 tests; Body & structure are lowest at 7.5 per 100 tests — the gap is 37.1 per 100 tests.
higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests
Advisory rates table
| Group | Advisories per 100 |
|---|---|
| Brakes | 44.6 |
| Tyres | 43.4 |
| Suspension | 34.9 |
| Non-component advisories | 12.5 |
| Emissions & leaks | 11.3 |
| Body & structure | 7.5 |
Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.
Tyres, brakes and suspension: Vauxhall Combo against cars of the same age
| Age | Part | Vauxhall Combo | Same age, petrol and diesel | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | Tyres | 5.75 | 4.17 | 1.58 |
| 3 years | Brakes | 6.72 | 1.77 | 4.95 |
| 3 years | Suspension | 1.76 | 0.63 | 1.13 |
| 4 years | Tyres | 6.08 | 4.54 | 1.54 |
| 4 years | Brakes | 6.17 | 2.43 | 3.74 |
| 4 years | Suspension | 3.97 | 1.21 | 2.76 |
| 5 years | Tyres | 7.03 | 5.06 | 1.97 |
| 5 years | Brakes | 5.85 | 3.09 | 2.76 |
| 5 years | Suspension | 7.97 | 2.19 | 5.78 |
| 6 years | Tyres | 8.59 | 5.54 | 3.05 |
| 6 years | Brakes | 6.07 | 3.81 | 2.26 |
| 6 years | Suspension | 15.11 | 3.72 | 11.39 |
| 7 years | Tyres | 9.09 | 5.95 | 3.14 |
| 7 years | Brakes | 6.5 | 4.55 | 1.95 |
| 7 years | Suspension | 18.59 | 5.68 | 12.91 |
| 8 years | Tyres | 9.13 | 6.31 | 2.82 |
| 8 years | Brakes | 6.84 | 5.38 | 1.46 |
| 8 years | Suspension | 20.82 | 7.78 | 13.04 |
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 van 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 | 43.0% | 46,562 |
| It passed | 35.3% | 241,707 |
A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 7.7 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is visibility — 39.3% 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 van with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 593,722 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 | 135.7 | fails more often than expected |
| Age and annual mileage | 125.4 | fails more often than vehicles driven as much |
| Share doing under 3,000 miles a year | 2.3% | a normal spread of use |
Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 10.3 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 van 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 Vauxhall Combo compares with cars of its own age and size
Not against the whole fleet — against other light commercials tested at the same age, 2019-2024.
| Age | Vauxhall Combo | Same class, same age | Difference | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 28.64% | 19.61% | +9.03 pp | 52,683 |
| 4 years | 31.04% | 22.69% | +8.35 pp | 47,205 |
| 5 years | 31.65% | 25.28% | +6.37 pp | 40,297 |
| 6 years | 37.29% | 28.74% | +8.55 pp | 28,347 |
| 7 years | 39.77% | 32.17% | +7.6 pp | 28,707 |
| 8 years | 40.29% | 35.52% | +4.78 pp | 33,806 |
| 9 years | 39.66% | 38.4% | +1.26 pp | 36,567 |
| 10 years | 41.11% | 40.88% | +0.23 pp | 36,378 |
| 11 years | 43.6% | 43.06% | +0.54 pp | 40,481 |
| 12 years | 45.95% | 44.85% | +1.1 pp | 43,824 |
| 13 years | 48.9% | 45.91% | +3 pp | 45,697 |
| 14 years | 51.43% | 46.58% | +4.85 pp | 41,362 |
| 15 years | 53.82% | 47.02% | +6.8 pp | 35,893 |
| 16 years | 54.84% | 47.16% | +7.68 pp | 32,066 |
| 17 years | 54.69% | 47.13% | +7.56 pp | 23,638 |
| 18 years | 54.85% | 47.11% | +7.74 pp | 15,452 |
| 19 years | 54.48% | 46.65% | +7.83 pp | 9,534 |
| 20 years | 52.85% | 45.88% | +6.97 pp | 5,614 |
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 Vauxhall Combo perform as it gets older?
The Combo at age 4 stands out at 31.5%, against 13.1% for all vehicles of the same age.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: van age, years · failure-rate scale 0–58%.
Takeaway: a 10-year-old Combo has roughly a 43% chance of failing its MOT; from about age 3 it stays above the national age curve.
Data table
| Age | Vauxhall Combo | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 29.9% | 12.4% | +17.5 pp |
| 4 | 31.5% | 13.1% | +18.4 pp |
| 5 | 27.5% | 15.1% | +12.3 pp |
| 6 | 31.0% | 17.5% | +13.5 pp |
| 7 | 38.4% | 20.2% | +18.2 pp |
| 8 | 40.5% | 23.3% | +17.2 pp |
| 9 | 41.6% | 26.5% | +15.1 pp |
| 10 | 42.5% | 30.1% | +12.4 pp |
| 11 | 45.9% | 33.2% | +12.8 pp |
| 12 | 49.5% | 35.7% | +13.8 pp |
| 13 | 41.5% | 38.2% | +3.4 pp |
| 14 | 44.3% | 40.4% | +3.9 pp |
| 15 | 50.9% | 41.6% | +9.3 pp |
| 16 | 51.8% | 43.1% | +8.7 pp |
| 17 | 51.9% | 43.1% | +8.8 pp |
| 18 | 52.6% | 43.9% | +8.7 pp |
| 19 | 52.0% | 43.5% | +8.5 pp |
| 20 | 53.4% | 41.0% | +12.4 pp |
Is a Vauxhall Combo ULEZ compliant?
The share of classifiable 2024 Vauxhall Combo MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 50.6%.
Based on 104,762 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 = 223 |
| 3–5 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 38,557 |
| 6–7 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 6,683 |
| 8 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 5,118 |
| 9 years | 39.6% Check a registration with TfL | n = 5,247 |
| 10–14 years | 0.6% Check a registration with TfL | n = 25,404 |
| 15–17 years | 1.3% Check a registration with TfL | n = 13,673 |
| 18 years | 0.7% Check a registration with TfL | n = 3,402 |
| 19 years | 0.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 2,283 |
| 20+ years | 0.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 4,172 |
Vauxhall Combo petrol vs diesel: which ages best
Diesel is highest at 40.2%; Petrol is lowest at 23.0% — the gap is 17.1 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Fuel split table
| Fuel | Tests | % failing | Gap vs best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 101,267 | 40.2% | +17.1 pp |
| Petrol | 3,553 | 23.0% | +0.0 pp |
Chart sample sizes: n=101k · n=3,553.
How dangerous are Vauxhall Combo MOT failures?
Major defects stand out at 102.9 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 | 25.70 | 14.22 | 1.81× |
| Major | 102.86 | 52.75 | 1.95× |
| Dangerous | 18.27 | 11.15 | 1.64× |
Chart values: Minor 25.7 · Major 102.9 · Dangerous 18.3.
Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.
Does the month of a Vauxhall Combo MOT matter?
Jan is highest at 43.8%; Dec is lowest at 40.9% — the gap is 2.9 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart scale: 27%–45%.
bars: Vauxhall Combo · dashed: all class-4 cars
Month-by-month table
| Month | Vauxhall Combo | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 43.79% | 31.12% | +12.7 pp |
| Feb | 42.98% | 29.99% | +13.0 pp |
| Mar | 42.79% | 28.26% | +14.5 pp |
| Apr | 43.26% | 29.78% | +13.5 pp |
| May | 42.87% | 28.79% | +14.1 pp |
| Jun | 42.5% | 28.15% | +14.4 pp |
| Jul | 43.31% | 29.33% | +14.0 pp |
| Aug | 42.12% | 29.2% | +12.9 pp |
| Sep | 41.73% | 28.19% | +13.5 pp |
| Oct | 43.11% | 30.34% | +12.8 pp |
| Nov | 43.2% | 30.58% | +12.6 pp |
| Dec | 40.94% | 29.33% | +11.6 pp |
Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 2.9 percentage points — booking month barely matters for this family. 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.
Vauxhall Combo average mileage by age
At age 8, the middle half of Combos runs from 67,175 miles to 116,879 miles, against 91,322 miles as the median.
further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75
Chart axes: van age, years · odometer scale 0–172k mi.
Does high mileage mean more Vauxhall Combo 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, 23.5% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 32.3% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.
| Age | Odometer | % failing | 95% interval | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3–5 | <40k miles | 23.5% | 22.8–24.2% | 13,392 |
| 3–5 | 40-70k miles | 32% | 31.4–32.7% | 17,305 |
| 3–5 | 70-100k miles | 33.8% | 32.7–35% | 6,208 |
| 3–5 | 100-140k miles | 33% | 30.6–35.5% | 1,442 |
| 3–5 | 140k+ miles | 32.3% | 26.2–39.1% | 198 (rough estimate) |
| 6–9 | <40k miles | 25.4% | 23.3–27.6% | 1,591 |
| 6–9 | 40-70k miles | 34.6% | 33.1–36.1% | 3,941 |
| 6–9 | 70-100k miles | 41.1% | 39.8–42.5% | 5,351 |
| 6–9 | 100-140k miles | 42.7% | 41.3–44.1% | 4,488 |
| 6–9 | 140k+ miles | 42.5% | 40.2–44.9% | 1,664 |
| 10–14 | <40k miles | 29% | 26–32.3% | 785 |
| 10–14 | 40-70k miles | 31.1% | 29.7–32.4% | 4,467 |
| 10–14 | 70-100k miles | 41.6% | 40.4–42.8% | 6,264 |
| 10–14 | 100-140k miles | 48.3% | 47.2–49.4% | 7,788 |
| 10–14 | 140k+ miles | 51.3% | 50–52.6% | 5,650 |
| 15+ | <40k miles | 36.6% | 29.8–44% | 172 (rough estimate) |
| 15+ | 40-70k miles | 41.5% | 38.8–44.3% | 1,238 |
| 15+ | 70-100k miles | 49.3% | 47.8–50.8% | 4,181 |
| 15+ | 100-140k miles | 53.1% | 52.1–54.2% | 8,606 |
| 15+ | 140k+ miles | 53.6% | 52.5–54.6% | 8,521 |
line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)
Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
| Age | p25 | Median | p75 | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 30,241 | 43,667 | 57,080 | 10,688 |
| 4 | 35,326 | 50,558 | 66,347 | 12,118 |
| 5 | 35,790 | 52,627 | 71,511 | 15,751 |
| 6 | 42,544 | 62,666 | 85,270 | 3,003 |
| 7 | 56,417 | 79,324 | 103,602 | 3,680 |
| 8 | 67,175 | 91,322 | 116,879 | 5,118 |
| 9 | 77,620 | 100,075 | 125,539 | 5,247 |
| 10 | 78,984 | 102,586 | 126,920 | 4,868 |
| 11 | 85,628 | 109,280 | 135,707 | 3,258 |
| 12 | 88,685 | 113,648 | 140,059 | 2,907 |
| 13 | 68,343 | 100,910 | 138,947 | 7,579 |
| 14 | 69,237 | 101,012 | 140,038 | 6,793 |
| 15 | 90,463 | 117,700 | 148,028 | 3,959 |
| 16 | 100,301 | 125,663 | 152,936 | 5,255 |
| 17 | 103,412 | 129,171 | 156,411 | 4,492 |
| 18 | 101,342 | 125,500 | 152,188 | 3,414 |
| 19 | 99,964 | 124,983 | 152,497 | 2,295 |
| 20+ | 107,199 | 135,776 | 164,187 | 4,197 |
A typical 8-year-old Combo has ~91,322 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.
Where in Britain the Vauxhall Combo fails its MOT most
Kirkcaldy area is highest at 55.9%; Uxbridge area is lowest at 30.0% — the gap is 25.9 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Toughest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Kirkcaldy (KY) | 55.88% | +13.1 pp |
| Dundee (DD) | 55.45% | +12.7 pp |
| Llandrindod Wells (LD) | 53.86% | +11.1 pp |
| Huddersfield (HD) | 53.15% | +10.4 pp |
| Exeter (EX) | 52.72% | +10.0 pp |
| Easiest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Uxbridge (UB) | 29.98% | -12.8 pp |
| Romford (RM) | 31.29% | -11.5 pp |
| London SW (SW) | 31.59% | -11.2 pp |
| Enfield (EN) | 32.19% | -10.6 pp |
| Ilford (IG) | 33.28% | -9.5 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 9.5 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.57, n=114 areas with ≥800 tests).
In areas with the highest urban share this model fails 8.6 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.45, n=114 areas with ≥800 tests).
In areas with the highest frost days this model fails 4.0 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.28, n=114 areas with ≥800 tests).
| Factor | Low Q | High Q | Gap | Correlation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOT centre density | 36.4% | 45.9% | +9.5 pp | r=0.57 |
| Urban share | 45.5% | 36.9% | -8.6 pp | r=-0.45 |
| Frost days | 41.3% | 45.3% | +4.0 pp | r=0.28 |
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 | Built from | Tested against | r | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Underbody corrosion | frost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1) | share of tests with a corrosion defect | +0.42 | holds (116 areas) |
| Tyre wear | rain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisory | share of tests failing on tyres | +0.45 | holds (116 areas) |
| Overnight corrosion | terraced housing × cars per household × frost days | share with a corrosion defect | +0.41 | holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index |
| Deferred maintenance | deprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour rate | cars repeating the same advisory | −0.26 | fails (118 areas) |
| Powertrain stress | engine capacity ÷ kerb weight | suspension, brake and emissions failures | −0.16 | fails (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)
| Factor | r | n areas | Low-Q fail % | High-Q fail % | Gap pp | Low-Q factor | High-Q factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles) | 0.574 | 114 | 36.4 | 45.9 | +9.5 | 5 | 8.8 |
| Urban share (0–1) | -0.452 | 114 | 45.5 | 36.9 | -8.6 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Frost days (days/year) | 0.282 | 114 | 41.3 | 45.3 | +4.0 | 11.7 | 38.1 |
| Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr) | 0.278 | 114 | 39.9 | 45.7 | +5.8 | 222.5 | 675.1 |
| Terrain gradient (% grade) | 0.266 | 68 | 42.4 | 45.9 | +3.6 | 0.5 | 3.7 |
| Distance to coast (km) | -0.207 | 114 | 46.1 | 42.9 | -3.2 | 5.8 | 79.5 |
| Income deprivation (score) | -0.027 | 96 | 41.6 | 41.8 | +0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
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: 33%–52% failing.
Vauxhall Combo survival: which cars are still on the road
By age 19 is well below the reference at 24.7%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: van age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.
Survival vs fail rate by age
| Age | Tests | Survival vs ages 4–6 | Fail % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 52,683 | 100% | 28.64% |
| 4 | 47,205 | 100% | 31.04% |
| 5 | 40,297 | 100% | 31.65% |
| 6 | 28,347 | 73.4% | 37.29% |
| 7 | 28,707 | 74.3% | 39.77% |
| 8 | 33,806 | 87.5% | 40.29% |
| 9 | 36,567 | 94.7% | 39.66% |
| 10 | 36,378 | 94.2% | 41.11% |
| 11 | 40,481 | 100% | 43.6% |
| 12 | 43,824 | 100% | 45.95% |
| 13 | 45,697 | 100% | 48.9% |
| 14 | 41,362 | 100% | 51.43% |
| 15 | 35,893 | 92.9% | 53.82% |
| 16 | 32,066 | 83% | 54.84% |
| 17 | 23,638 | 61.2% | 54.69% |
| 18 | 15,452 | 40% | 54.85% |
| 19 | 9,534 | 24.7% | 54.48% |
By age 19, only about 25% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈38,616); survivors still fail at 54.5% vs 31.0% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.
How many miles does a Vauxhall Combo last?
100,000+ miles is highest at 44.1%; 200,000+ miles is lowest at 2.5% — the gap is 41.6 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Odometer | Tests ≥ threshold | Share of sample |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000+ miles | 261,973 | 44.11% |
| 150,000+ miles | 81,823 | 13.78% |
| 200,000+ miles | 15,058 | 2.54% |
Of 593,945 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 44.1% had reached 100k miles, 13.8% had reached 150k miles, 2.5% 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 Vauxhall Combo likely to last?
Bought at age 5 is highest at 11.8 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 2.7 years — the gap is 9.1 years.
bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve
| Age now | Typical mileage (p50) | Expected years left |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | — | 11.8 |
| 8 | — | 10.7 |
| 10 | — | 8 |
| 12 | — | 5.5 |
| 15 | — | at least 2.7 |
estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has about 8.0 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.
Vauxhall Combo faults that come together
Road Wheels + Seatbelts & SRS stand out at 4.37×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.
above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less
| Group A | Group B | Together | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Road Wheels | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 89 | 4.37× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 170 | 4.32× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Road Wheels | 42 | 4.08× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 1,350 | 3.92× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 2,263 | 3.86× |
| Road Wheels | Tyres | 670 | 3.8× |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Steering | 1,428 | 3.77× |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Road Wheels | 337 | 3.74× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Speedometer and speed limiter | 22 | 3.71× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 2,936 | 3.67× |
| Identification of the vehicle | Noise, emissions and leaks | 620 | 3.56× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Noise, emissions and leaks | 9,026 | 3.47× |
| Identification of the vehicle | Steering | 664 | 3.46× |
| Brakes | Road Wheels | 699 | 3.34× |
| Brakes | Identification of the vehicle | 1,335 | 3.3× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Identification of the vehicle | 964 | 3.25× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Steering | 9,139 | 3.2× |
| Brakes | Steering | 12,430 | 3.19× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Road Wheels | 491 | 3.19× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4,275 | 3.13× |
| Brakes | Noise, emissions and leaks | 10,889 | 3.07× |
| Speedometer and speed limiter | Steering | 20 | 3.07× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2,088 | 3.02× |
| Road Wheels | Steering | 299 | 3.01× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Tyres | 1,023 | 3× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Brakes | 17,970 | 2.98× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Road Wheels | 1,060 | 2.97× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Speedometer and speed limiter | 30 | 2.97× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Steering | 4,884 | 2.91× |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Suspension | 3,990 | 2.91× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Speedometer and speed limiter | 68 | 2.89× (rough estimate) |
| Steering | Suspension | 18,402 | 2.76× |
| Steering | Tyres | 9,065 | 2.76× |
| Brakes | Speedometer and speed limiter | 38 | 2.76× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Noise, emissions and leaks | 16,305 | 2.7× |
| Identification of the vehicle | Visibility | 1,413 | 2.63× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Steering | 17,195 | 2.59× |
| Brakes | Tyres | 17,862 | 2.58× |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Tyres | 1,732 | 2.57× |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Tyres | 7,642 | 2.56× |
| Brakes | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 35,772 | 2.55× |
| Identification of the vehicle | Suspension | 1,766 | 2.55× |
| Brakes | Suspension | 35,449 | 2.51× |
| Speedometer and speed limiter | Suspension | 59 | 2.5× (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 25,505 | 2.48× |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Suspension | 15,051 | 2.48× |
| Road Wheels | Visibility | 685 | 2.47× |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Visibility | 2,568 | 2.42× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Suspension | 24,839 | 2.4× |
| Road Wheels | Suspension | 859 | 2.39× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Tyres | 28,148 | 2.38× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Tyres | 12,093 | 2.38× |
| Speedometer and speed limiter | Tyres | 27 | 2.33× (rough estimate) |
| Suspension | Tyres | 26,784 | 2.26× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Suspension | 53,253 | 2.21× |
| Speedometer and speed limiter | Visibility | 40 | 2.19× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Visibility | 10,181 | 2.17× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Visibility | 40,144 | 2.16× |
| Steering | Visibility | 10,845 | 2.1× |
| Brakes | Visibility | 22,797 | 2.09× |
| Tyres | Visibility | 18,915 | 2.06× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Visibility | 16,463 | 2.06× |
| Suspension | Visibility | 33,757 | 1.81× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Seat belt installation check | 19 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Seat belt installation check | 15 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belt installation check | Suspension | 15 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Seat belt installation check | 14 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Seat belt installation check | 9 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Buses and coaches supplementary tests | Suspension | 9 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Buses and coaches supplementary tests | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Buses and coaches supplementary tests | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belt installation check | Visibility | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Speedometer and speed limiter | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belt installation check | Steering | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
Defects in «Noise, emissions and leaks» and «Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems» appear together 3.92× more often than chance (1,350 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 Vauxhall Combo?
Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 24.2%, against 46.4% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Band | Fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| <5k miles/year | 24.21% | 40,939 |
| 8–12k miles/year | 46.42% | 127,362 |
| Gap (low − normal) | -22.21 pp | — |
By fuel and age
Diesel
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 20.68 | 2,780 | 31.76 | 10,204 | -11.08 pp |
| 6 | 25.42 | 1,711 | 36.39 | 7,653 | -10.97 pp |
| 7 | 28.92 | 1,608 | 38.21 | 8,691 | -9.29 pp |
| 8 | 19.21 | 3,207 | 41.76 | 10,363 | -22.56 pp |
| 9 | 17.67 | 4,725 | 43.81 | 11,583 | -26.13 pp |
| 10 | 18.85 | 4,959 | 44.98 | 12,152 | -26.13 pp |
| 11 | 21.28 | 5,201 | 48.72 | 14,245 | -27.43 pp |
| 12 | 24.78 | 5,295 | 51.8 | 16,572 | -27.03 pp |
| 13 | 29.81 | 5,411 | 53.89 | 17,884 | -24.08 pp |
| 14 | 36.76 | 4,168 | 54.71 | 16,856 | -17.95 pp |
Petrol
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 12.4 | 750 | 26.15 | 455 | -13.75 pp |
| 6 | 25.71 | 105 | 40.51 | 79 | -14.79 pp |
| 10 | 38.06 | 134 | 38.89 | 36 | -0.83 pp |
| 11 | 35.71 | 168 | 53.23 | 62 | -17.51 pp |
| 12 | 34.27 | 178 | 54.81 | 104 | -20.54 pp |
| 13 | 43.37 | 166 | 54.17 | 120 | -10.79 pp |
| 14 | 40.29 | 139 | 52.76 | 127 | -12.47 pp |
At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 24.2% vs 46.4% for 8–12k miles/year — 22.2 pp lower (n_low=40,939, n_normal=127,362). 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: 24.1% low-use vs 46.7% normal (-22.6 pp).
Which Vauxhall Combo engine is best?
diesel 1.5–1.8 is highest at 104.0; petrol 1.0–1.2 is lowest at 69.6 — the gap is 34.4 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
| Fuel | Capacity | vs own age norm | Raw fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| petrol | 1.0–1.2 litre | 69.6 | 21.61% | 7,778 |
| petrol | 1.2–1.5 litre | 87 | 38.05% | 4,192 (rough estimate) |
| diesel | 1.8–2.0 litre | 87.6 | 34.47% | 409 (rough estimate) |
| diesel | 1.0–1.2 litre | 98.7 | 43.22% | 358,402 |
| diesel | 1.2–1.5 litre | 99.2 | 30.3% | 57,403 |
| petrol | 1.5–1.8 litre | 99.8 | 52.84% | 1,164 (rough estimate) |
| diesel | 1.5–1.8 litre | 104 | 46.94% | 173,592 |
Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel 1.5–1.8 runs at 104 against this model's own age norm while the petrol 1.0–1.2 runs at 69.6 — a spread of 34.4 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 Vauxhall Combo, and the years to avoid
Build year 2012 is highest at 113.3; Build year 1999 is lowest at 77.8 — the gap is 35.5 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
Every build year with its confidence interval
| Build year | vs own age norm | 95% CI | Raw fail % | Tests | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 110.6 | 108.2–113.1 | 31.99% | 24,229 | worse |
| 2019 | 95.4 | 93.8–97 | 28.13% | 47,762 | better |
| 2018 | 98.6 | 95.5–101.7 | 30.89% | 12,261 | no different |
| 2017 | 99.8 | 97.4–102.2 | 32.64% | 20,467 | no different |
| 2016 | 102.2 | 100.4–104.1 | 35.27% | 33,027 | worse |
| 2015 | 101.7 | 100–103.5 | 37.02% | 34,848 | no different |
| 2014 | 103.2 | 101.4–105 | 39.29% | 33,299 | worse |
| 2013 | 105.9 | 103.8–107.9 | 42.54% | 23,155 | worse |
| 2012 | 113.3 | 111.1–115.5 | 47.14% | 21,334 | worse |
| 2011 | 88.6 | 87.4–89.9 | 38.15% | 52,455 | better |
| 2010 | 87.4 | 86.2–88.6 | 39.08% | 49,269 | better |
| 2009 | 100.8 | 99.2–102.4 | 47.25% | 31,944 | no different |
| 2008 | 102.1 | 100.8–103.4 | 50.17% | 47,474 | worse |
| 2007 | 103.6 | 102.3–105 | 53.02% | 41,738 | worse |
| 2006 | 102.7 | 101.3–104.2 | 54.42% | 35,753 | worse |
| 2005 | 99.9 | 98.3–101.5 | 54.35% | 27,636 | no different |
| 2004 | 102.6 | 100.9–104.3 | 56.62% | 24,540 | worse |
| 2003 | 101.1 | 99.2–103 | 56.13% | 19,618 | no different |
| 2002 | 100.4 | 97.3–103.5 | 55.54% | 7,420 | no different |
| 2001 | 92.6 | 84.9–100.3 | 51.29% | 1,086 | no different |
| 2000 | 92.5 | 81.5–103.4 | 51.3% | 538 | no different |
| 1999 | 77.8 | 66.8–88.8 | 42.98% | 449 | better |
| 1998 | 83.4 | 68–98.7 | 46.89% | 241 | better |
The best build year here is 2010 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 — 12 of 23 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.
Vauxhall Combo MOT repair costs
The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £150.41 to £285.78, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 32.2 (nat. 15.36) | Suspension coil spring (single corner) | £180 | £57.96 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 33.4 (nat. 18.09) | Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid) | £140 | £46.76 |
| Brakes | 22.0 (nat. 11.25) | Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback) | £150 | £33.00 |
| Tyres | 14.1 (nat. 8.7) | Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted) | £90 | £12.69 |
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 £150 to £286, 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.
Vauxhall Combo running costs for a fleet
Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 42.0%, against 27.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
| Age | Fails | Median odometer | Tests | Gap vs age 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 29.9% | 43,667 | 10,688 | +2.4 pp |
| 4 | 31.52% | 50,558 | 12,118 | +4.1 pp |
| 5 | 27.47% | 52,627 | 15,751 | +0.0 pp |
| 6 | 31.04% | 62,666 | 3,003 | +3.6 pp |
| 7 | 38.4% | 79,324 | 3,680 | +10.9 pp |
| 8 | 40.52% | 91,322 | 5,118 | +13.1 pp |
| 9 | 41.59% | 100,075 | 5,247 | +14.1 pp |
| 10 | 42.5% | 102,586 | 4,868 | +15.0 pp |
| 11 | 45.92% | 109,280 | 3,258 | +18.5 pp |
| 12 | 49.5% | 113,648 | 2,907 | +22.0 pp |
| 13 | 41.55% | 100,910 | 7,579 | +14.1 pp |
| 14 | 44.28% | 101,012 | 6,793 | +16.8 pp |
| 15 | 50.9% | 117,700 | 3,959 | +23.4 pp |
| 16 | 51.82% | 125,663 | 5,255 | +24.4 pp |
| 17 | 51.94% | 129,171 | 4,492 | +24.5 pp |
| 18 | 52.61% | 125,500 | 3,414 | +25.1 pp |
| 19 | 51.98% | 124,983 | 2,295 | +24.5 pp |
The number a fleet manager needs is not the failure rate, it is the year the car starts costing more. Between cars aged 6 and cars aged 7, both tested in 2024, the failure rate of this model is 7.36 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.
Vauxhall Combo rust problems: where they corrode
Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility stands out at 3.7×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.
above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less
This Vauxhall Combo fails on corrosion far more often than average 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 Vauxhall Combo advisory become a failure?
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 34.3%; Road wheels are lowest at 1.3% — the gap is 33.0 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now
| Component | Fails next time | Typical lead time | Miles of warning | Advisories tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 34.3% | 12.1 months | 5,752 | 10,734 |
| Suspension | 29.8% | 12.1 months | 5,534 | 87,315 |
| Brakes | 19.2% | 12.1 months | 5,295 | 107,520 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 18.6% | 12.1 months | 5,330 | 28,104 |
| Steering | 17.0% | 12.1 months | 5,738 | 17,801 |
| Tyres | 13.9% | 12.1 months | 6,100 | 119,927 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 8.8% | 12.1 months | 5,504 | 44,913 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 6.0% | 12.1 months | 5,710 | 3,421 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 5.0% | 12.1 months | 6,458 | 15,654 |
| Road wheels | 1.3% | 12.1 months | 7,060 | 6,774 |
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 34 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12.1 months and roughly 5,752 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 Vauxhall Combo?
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 15-19 are highest at 36.3%; Tyres after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 5.0% — the gap is 31.3 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
| Age | Last test | Most likely next failures | Cars tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| <3 | passed | Visibility 11.5% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 8.3% · Tyres 5.0% | 17,206 |
| <3 | advisory | Visibility 16.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.4% · Brakes 7.6% | 7,389 |
| <3 | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 15.7% · Visibility 15.0% · Tyres 7.5% | 9,350 |
| 3-5 | passed | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 10.1% · Visibility 8.8% · Suspension 8.7% | 38,992 |
| 3-5 | advisory | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 13.2% · Visibility 12.0% · Suspension 11.4% | 17,883 |
| 3-5 | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 16.8% · Suspension 13.0% · Visibility 13.0% | 27,536 |
| 6-8 | passed | Suspension 16.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.9% · Visibility 9.4% | 27,600 |
| 6-8 | advisory | Suspension 22.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 17.8% · Visibility 14.1% | 18,404 |
| 6-8 | failure | Suspension 25.1% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.2% · Visibility 16.8% | 30,656 |
| 9-11 | passed | Suspension 13.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.3% · Visibility 8.6% | 31,236 |
| 9-11 | advisory | Suspension 22.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.3% · Visibility 15.8% | 25,111 |
| 9-11 | failure | Suspension 29.1% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 28.6% · Visibility 20.7% | 40,527 |
| 12-14 | passed | Suspension 18.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 15.2% · Visibility 11.4% | 20,873 |
| 12-14 | advisory | Suspension 27.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.7% · Visibility 18.0% | 27,554 |
| 12-14 | failure | Suspension 31.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 30.7% · Visibility 22.2% | 47,335 |
| 15-19 | passed | Suspension 21.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.3% · Brakes 13.7% | 9,844 |
| 15-19 | advisory | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 28.2% · Suspension 28.0% · Visibility 19.5% | 19,622 |
| 15-19 | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 36.3% · Suspension 33.3% · Brakes 24.4% | 35,003 |
| 20+ | passed | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 17.2% · Suspension 13.3% · Visibility 10.8% | 669 |
| 20+ | advisory | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 32.2% · Suspension 24.3% · Visibility 19.3% | 997 |
| 20+ | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 35.9% · Suspension 27.3% · Body, chassis, structure 22.4% | 1,555 |
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.
Vauxhall Combo ownership: what six years of MOTs show
The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 60.1%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 3.8% — the gap is 56.3 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 189,749 failures followed through to their re-test, 36.13% were repaired and passed the same day and 60.09% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 626,773 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 0.567 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 5,779 miles a year across 128,994 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. 25.86% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 36.55% 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: 1.826% of 129,332 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 20,326 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.
Vauxhall Combo safety recalls and how to check yours
DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 35.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
recall campaigns launched per year
| Reference | Launched | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|
R/2026/182 | 27/04/2026 | 2,720 | BCM software missing telltale if LKA unavailable |
R/2026/107 | 13/03/2026 | 1,587 | Water pump pulley |
R/2026/019 | 21/01/2026 | 79 | Vauxhall Cross carline Fuel Injection common rail |
R/2026/004 | 02/01/2026 | 95 | Vauxhall Combo (K9) Wrong Wheel bolts |
R/2026/007 | 19/12/2025 | 4,066 | Vauxhall Vivaro (K0) Combo (K9) IVI software via OTA update. |
All 35 campaigns
| Reference | Launched | Build dates | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
R/2026/182 | 27/04/2026 | 15/04/2024 – 09/04/2025 | 2,720 | BCM software missing telltale if LKA unavailable |
R/2026/107 | 13/03/2026 | 15/10/2025 – 18/02/2026 | 1,587 | Water pump pulley |
R/2026/019 | 21/01/2026 | 26/07/2025 – 08/10/2025 | 79 | Vauxhall Cross carline Fuel Injection common rail |
R/2026/004 | 02/01/2026 | 29/09/2023 – 23/09/2025 | 95 | Vauxhall Combo (K9) Wrong Wheel bolts |
R/2026/007 | 19/12/2025 | 11/10/2023 – 03/07/2025 | 4,066 | Vauxhall Vivaro (K0) Combo (K9) IVI software via OTA update. |
R/2025/532 | 09/12/2025 | 20/11/2023 – 24/03/2025 | 698 | Vauxhall Combo (K9) Headlamp Height Level Sensor |
R/2025/451 | 22/10/2025 | 28/10/2023 – 07/03/2024 | 692 | Vauxhall Corsa Mokka Combo ESC software |
R/2025/342 | 18/08/2025 | 14/11/2017 – 13/12/2021 | 582 | Emission recall – On Board Diagnostics |
R/2025/294 | 28/07/2025 | 10/11/2023 – 13/03/2025 | 773 | Vauxhall Combo Tyre Pressure Label. |
R/2025/245 | 03/07/2025 | 14/11/2020 – 31/01/2023 | 32,012 | Vauxhall DV5R Engines Camshaft Chain. |
R/2025/209 | 11/06/2025 | 24/05/2024 – 07/06/2024 | 1 | Autonomous Telematics Box |
R/2025/119 | 24/03/2025 | 13/09/2022 – 29/11/2022 | 348 | Traction Battery software |
R/2025/087 | 27/02/2025 | 15/04/2024 – 07/07/2024 | 4 | Autonomous Telematics Box failure after OTA update. |
R/2024/199 | 01/02/2024 | 01/04/2019 – 01/12/2019 | 1 | Vauxhall Combo 4x4 Transfer Box |
R/2023/207 | 23/06/2023 | 03/10/2022 – 15/03/2023 | 2 | Affected vehicles may have a tyre load index reported on the vehicle s CoC lower than the |
R/2023/139 | 09/05/2023 | 23/03/2021 – 19/11/2022 | 34,528 | On affected vehicles the AC compressor stator wiring could develop a fault leading to curr |
R/2023/008 | 17/01/2023 | 05/09/2022 – 01/12/2022 | 3,666 | There is an error in the software calibration of the traction battery control unit which c |
R/2022/319 | 03/11/2022 | 12/03/2018 – 17/09/2021 | 507 | LOWER ENGINE PROTECTION COVER |
R/2022/318 | 03/11/2022 | 01/04/2021 – 20/09/2022 | 1,761 | LANE KEEPING ASSIST MODE |
R/2021/149 | 23/04/2021 | 20/02/2021 – 05/03/2021 | 305 | IT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE TO ENGAGE THE HANDBRAKE LEVER |
R/2020/242 | 20/08/2020 | 03/12/2019 – 28/01/2020 | 299 | INCORRECT STEERING INNER TIE RODS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED |
R/2019/386 | 27/11/2019 | 14/09/2018 – 25/10/2019 | 7,178 | ON VEHICLES WITHOUT A PASSENGER AIRBAG THE SEAT BELT MAY NOT SUFFICIENTLY RETAIN THE PASSE |
R/2019/402 | 25/11/2019 | 22/06/2019 – 15/07/2019 | 300 | STEERING COLUMN MAY NOT BE CORRECT TO SPECIFICATION |
R/2019/165 | 15/05/2019 | 25/06/2018 – 04/02/2019 | 876 | THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER MIGHT NOT LOCK IN THE ENGAGED POSITION OR MIGHT DISENGAGE AFTER AP |
R/2019/164 | 15/05/2019 | 20/03/2018 – 13/01/2019 | 740 | THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER MAY NOT LOCK OR MAY DISENGAGE AFTER APPLICATION |
R/2019/117 | 10/04/2019 | 20/02/2018 – 27/06/2018 | 500 | VEHICLES MAY DELIVER A HIGHER DIESEL PARTICULATE RATE THAN SPECIFIED |
R/2015/091 | 05/06/2015 | 20/10/2003 – 25/07/2008 | 15,271 | FIRE MAY OCCUR |
R/2013/009 | 08/02/2013 | 04/07/2012 – 04/08/2012 | 498 | REDUCTION IN BRAKING PERFORMANCE |
R/2007/171 | 17/12/2007 | 01/01/2003 – 21/11/2007 | 345,634 | ABS MAY FAIL |
R/2007/118 | 10/09/2007 | 557 | STEERING CONTROL MAY BE LOST | |
R/2006/006 | 22/03/2006 | 217,374 | WATER INGRESS INTO ABS WIRING MAY CAUSE A SHORT CIRCUIT AND A FIRE | |
R/2004/019 | 11/03/2004 | 144 | STEERING WHEEL CENTRE SCREW MAY NOT HAVE BEEN TIGHTENED CORRECTLY. | |
R/2001/004 | 09/02/2001 | 01/01/1999 – 31/12/2000 | 116,378 | SEAT BELT LATCHING CONCERN |
R/2001/005 | 09/02/2001 | 01/01/1993 – 31/12/1999 | 586,554 | SEAT SECURITY CONCERN |
R/1995/012 | 24/03/1995 | 01/08/1991 – 28/02/1995 | 601,131 | 1) POSSIBLE STATIC SPARKING DURING REFUELLING (ASTRA MODELS ONLY) 2) AIR BAG SYSTEM MAY NO |
DVSA lists 35 safety recall campaigns for the Vauxhall Combo, covering roughly 1,977,861 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.
Vauxhall Combo inspection results in other countries
Netherlands APK stands out at 65.5%, 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) | 39.53% | 26.01% | +13.5 pp | 105,066 |
| Netherlands (as the Opel Combo) | APK | 65.5% | 50.8% | +14.7 pp | 1,211 |
In Netherlands this model is sold as the Opel Combo; the figures in that row are for the Opel Combo in Netherlands's own inspection, which is not a UK MOT.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
RA2 | Excessive leak of other fluids | 199 | advisory |
205 | Tyre with insufficient tread | 189 | failure |
210 | Tyre pressure not at the correct value | 186 | failure |
115 | Exhaust not gas-tight or venting unsafely | 98 | failure |
391 | Wipers leave insufficient visibility | 91 | failure |
AC1 | Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread | 80 | advisory |
584 | Sidelight not working properly | 76 | failure |
203 | Tyre damaged | 76 | failure |
Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 1.79 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 Vauxhall Combo 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.. Adapted; licences and full notice.
Vauxhall Combo MOT: quick answers
Vauxhall Combo MOT Risk Index stands out at 145.6, 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 Vauxhall Combo first-time MOT pass rate?
- 60.47% of first attempts passed in 2024 (105,066 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 39.53% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 105,066 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 145.6 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.
Compare the Vauxhall Combo with other cars
DS 3 is highest at 146.1; Dacia Sandero is lowest at 144.4 — the gap is 1.7 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
Same brand
All Vauxhall MOT statisticsVauxhall Vivaro MOT statsVauxhall Mokka MOT stats
Similar risk
Peugeot Partner (index 145.6)DS 3 (index 146.1)Dacia Sandero (index 144.4)
Same size class
how Hyundai i30 compareshow DS 3 compareshow BMW X3 compares
By build year
Vauxhall Combo 1998Vauxhall Combo 1999Vauxhall Combo 2000Vauxhall Combo 2001Vauxhall Combo 2002Vauxhall Combo 2003Vauxhall Combo 2004Vauxhall Combo 2005Vauxhall Combo 2006Vauxhall Combo 2007Vauxhall Combo 2008Vauxhall Combo 2009Vauxhall Combo 2010Vauxhall Combo 2011Vauxhall Combo 2012Vauxhall Combo 2013Vauxhall Combo 2014Vauxhall Combo 2015Vauxhall Combo 2016Vauxhall Combo 2017Vauxhall Combo 2018Vauxhall Combo 2019Vauxhall Combo 2020
By area
Vauxhall Combo MOT failure rate by postcode area
By failure group
Vauxhall Combo body, chassis and structure failuresVauxhall Combo brakes failuresVauxhall Combo vehicle identification failuresVauxhall Combo lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresVauxhall Combo noise, emissions and leaks failuresVauxhall Combo road wheels failuresVauxhall Combo seat belts and airbags failuresVauxhall Combo steering failuresVauxhall Combo suspension failuresVauxhall Combo tyres failuresVauxhall Combo visibility failures
Inspections abroad
Vauxhall Combo 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:vauxhall-combo:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.
Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Vauxhall Combo MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/vauxhall-combo/ · Published 2026-07-30.