2003 Jaguar S-Type: MOT pass rate and reliability

68.4% of 2003 Jaguar S-Types pass the MOT first time, measured across 1,364 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 93,425 miles.

How the 2003 compares

  • Against all Jaguar S-Types (66.9%, 11,246 tests): +1.5 points
  • Against all 2003 cars (64.7%): +3.7 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Jaguar S-Type model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2003 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Jaguar S-Type:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
1999 62.7% 413 85,448
2000 63% 675 84,570
2001 63.7% 728 94,995
2002 65.3% 1,098 91,615
2003 68.4% 1,364 93,425
2004 68.5% 1,726 95,184
2005 65.9% 1,548 96,369
2006 68.4% 1,692 98,909
2007 67.7% 1,929 92,640

What this means if you are buying a 2003 S-Type

The 2003 sits close to the Jaguar S-Type 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 23-year-old car fails on

A 2003 car is 23 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 above average, the point where suspension bushes, drop links and exhaust corrosion start showing up as advisories before they become failures. On a 2003 Jaguar S-Type the average at test was 93,425 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 2004 at 68.5%, and the weakest in our data is 1999 at 62.7%. That 5.8 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2003 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Jaguar S-Type MOT data · Every model