2009 Alfa Romeo 159: MOT pass rate and reliability

61.3% of 2009 Alfa Romeo 159s pass the MOT first time, measured across 706 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 121,403 miles.

How the 2009 compares

  • Against all Alfa Romeo 159s (60.8%, 3,409 tests): +0.5 points
  • Against all 2009 cars (66.1%): -4.8 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Alfa Romeo 159 model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2009 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Alfa Romeo 159:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2006 59.7% 206 117,684
2007 58.6% 637 118,048
2008 60.5% 646 126,448
2009 61.3% 706 121,403
2010 59.4% 665 121,239
2011 63.5% 457 117,265

What this means if you are buying a 2009 159

The 2009 sits close to the Alfa Romeo 159 average, so there is no strong model-year signal either way. Judge the individual car on its own history. Check the exact car with the free MOT history checker before you buy, and run its VIN and mileage through our free VIN decoder and clocking check.

What a 17-year-old car fails on

A 2009 car is 17 years old now, and age drives the failure mix more than the badge does. Across all cars tested, these are the categories that actually cause failures:

  • Lights and electrical: 10.36% of all cars tested
  • Suspension: 8.65% of all cars tested
  • Tyres: 6.23% of all cars tested
  • Brakes: 6.1% of all cars tested
  • Visibility: wipers, washers, glass: 4.65% of all cars tested
  • Body, chassis and structure: 3.18% of all cars tested

That is high mileage, so timing belts, clutches, suspension bushes and corrosion are the items worth budgeting for rather than the MOT itself. On a 2009 Alfa Romeo 159 the average at test was 121,403 miles, so treat anything far above that as a car that has worked harder than its peers, and anything far below as one worth checking for the faults that come from standing still.

The strongest year for this model is 2011 at 63.5%, and the weakest in our data is 2007 at 58.6%. That 4.9 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2009 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Alfa Romeo 159 MOT data · Every model