2011 Mazda 3: MOT pass rate and reliability
66.5% of 2011 Mazda 3s pass the MOT first time, measured across 5,393 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 94,184 miles.
How the 2011 compares
- Against all Mazda 3s (73.9%, 108,163 tests): -7.4 points
- Against all 2011 cars (68.7%): -2.2 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every Mazda 3 model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2011 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Mazda 3:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 57.4% | 754 | 97,593 |
| 2005 | 59.3% | 2,574 | 105,832 |
| 2006 | 60.3% | 3,739 | 105,935 |
| 2007 | 60.8% | 5,092 | 105,168 |
| 2008 | 60.4% | 6,153 | 100,752 |
| 2009 | 63% | 7,451 | 100,670 |
| 2010 | 66.6% | 8,268 | 100,555 |
| 2011 | 66.5% | 5,393 | 94,184 |
| 2012 | 72.1% | 4,904 | 90,671 |
| 2013 | 74.8% | 5,127 | 79,894 |
| 2014 | 75% | 8,422 | 75,940 |
| 2015 | 76.5% | 11,795 | 70,587 |
| 2016 | 77.4% | 10,635 | 61,537 |
| 2017 | 79.1% | 8,226 | 51,987 |
| 2018 | 85.8% | 7,056 | 42,946 |
| 2019 | 91.2% | 4,377 | 34,377 |
| 2020 | 92.6% | 4,095 | 28,382 |
| 2021 | 92.9% | 3,962 | 23,530 |
What this means if you are buying a 2011 3
The 2011 is a weaker year for this model, passing 7.4 points less often than the Mazda 3 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2011 figure for all cars above rather than against newer examples. 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 15-year-old car fails on
A 2011 car is 15 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 2011 Mazda 3 the average at test was 94,184 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 2021 at 92.9%, and the weakest in our data is 2004 at 57.4%. That 35.5 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2011 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 2008 Mazda 3 - 60.4%
- 2009 Mazda 3 - 63%
- 2010 Mazda 3 - 66.6%
- 2012 Mazda 3 - 72.1%
- 2013 Mazda 3 - 74.8%
- 2014 Mazda 3 - 75%