Daihatsu Charade: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Daihatsu Charade fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 12 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 1,250 individual Daihatsu Charade tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 64.7% first-time pass rate means roughly 35 in every 100 Daihatsu Charades presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average Daihatsu Charade tested had covered 62,633 miles and was built around 2004.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. The Daihatsu Charade sits 12 points below the national average, ranked 1,873 of 2,005 models. On one bought as repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific Daihatsu Charade rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see recorded closing bids for damaged Daihatsu Charades at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Daihatsu Charade

1. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 13.7% of tests (14.49x the national rate for this defect)
2. Body, cab or chassis excessively corroded at a mounting point, 2% of tests (8.73x the national rate for this defect)
3. Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced, 3.3% of tests (7.94x the national rate for this defect)
4. Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer, 2.5% of tests (4.86x the national rate for this defect)
5. Emissions test unable to be completed, 2% of tests (4.86x the national rate for this defect)
6. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 4.5% of tests (4.43x the national rate for this defect)
7. Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle., 1.9% of tests (3.68x the national rate for this defect)
8. Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen, 5.9% of tests (3.11x the national rate for this defect)
9. A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 5% of tests (2.74x the national rate for this defect)
10. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 2.8% of tests (2.62x the national rate for this defect)

From 1,250 DVSA-tracked Daihatsu Charade tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 2.98% of these flagged Daihatsu Charade defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 5.11% nationally.

Most common MOT advisories on a Daihatsu Charade

An advisory doesn't fail the car - the tester flags it as worth watching, but it still passes. A different list from the failures above: what testers are noting on a Daihatsu Charade before it actually fails on it.

1. A stub axle swivel pin and/or bush excessively worn, 8.3% of tests (12.98x the national rate for this advisory)
2. Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than white or yellow, 6.5% of tests (5.86x the national rate for this advisory)
3. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 8.1% of tests (5.32x the national rate for this advisory), also fails
4. A suspension component excessively damaged or corroded, 17.4% of tests (3.35x the national rate for this advisory)
5. Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced, 3.8% of tests (3.02x the national rate for this advisory), also fails
6. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 8.2% of tests (2.9x the national rate for this advisory), also fails
7. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 15.8% of tests (2.56x the national rate for this advisory), also fails
8. A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened, 11.4% of tests (2.4x the national rate for this advisory)
9. A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn, 29.9% of tests (2.24x the national rate for this advisory)
10. A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage, 6.9% of tests (1.76x the national rate for this advisory)

From 1,250 DVSA-tracked Daihatsu Charade tests, 2024.

Daihatsu Charade pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each Daihatsu Charade year:

• 2003 Daihatsu Charade - 67.1% first-time pass, 231 tests
• 2004 Daihatsu Charade - 62.1% first-time pass, 346 tests
• 2005 Daihatsu Charade - 64.3% first-time pass, 258 tests
• 2006 Daihatsu Charade - 66.7% first-time pass, 252 tests

Other Daihatsu models

• Daihatsu Sirion - 66.8%
• Daihatsu Terios - 64.3%
• Daihatsu Fourtrak - 65.8%
• Daihatsu Copen - 73.6%
• Daihatsu Hijet - 63.3%
• Daihatsu Materia - 73%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Isuzu Trooper - 65%
• Renault Wind - 64.8%
• Chevrolet Spark - 64.7%
• Honda Stream - 64.6%
• Great Wall Steed - 64.6%
• Citroen Nemo - 64.4%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences
• Do you need an HPI check on a car you know is a write-off?

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate