2012 Mazda Cx-5: MOT pass rate and reliability

70.9% of 2012 Mazda Cx-5s pass the MOT first time, measured across 1,435 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 98,082 miles.

How the 2012 compares

  • Against all Mazda Cx-5s (83.5%, 58,365 tests): -12.6 points
  • Against all 2012 cars (70.8%): +0.1 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Mazda Cx-5 model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2012 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Mazda Cx-5:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2012 70.9% 1,435 98,082
2013 70.2% 5,128 95,768
2014 76% 6,779 89,082
2015 79.8% 7,038 80,721
2016 82% 7,095 71,653
2017 87% 7,234 61,525
2018 88.8% 10,093 49,966
2019 90.1% 10,156 40,309
2020 91.8% 3,346 31,459

What this means if you are buying a 2012 Cx-5

The 2012 is a weaker year for this model, passing 12.6 points less often than the Mazda Cx-5 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2012 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 14-year-old car fails on

A 2012 car is 14 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 and into the range where cambelts and water pumps are due if they have not already been done, so ask for the service history rather than take the mileage on trust. On a 2012 Mazda Cx-5 the average at test was 98,082 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 2020 at 91.8%, and the weakest in our data is 2013 at 70.2%. That 21.6 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2012 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Mazda Cx-5 MOT data · Every model