2003 Mazda Mx-5: MOT pass rate and reliability

68.8% of 2003 Mazda Mx-5s pass the MOT first time, measured across 3,938 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 80,799 miles.

How the 2003 compares

  • Against all Mazda Mx-5s (77.8%, 90,555 tests): -9 points
  • Against all 2003 cars (64.7%): +4.1 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Mazda Mx-5 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 Mazda Mx-5:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
1990 73.6% 693 111,242
1991 72.1% 778 112,557
1992 71.7% 575 117,244
1993 70.8% 542 113,862
1994 72.5% 520 109,015
1995 68.9% 769 96,889
1996 70.3% 1,187 96,711
1997 70.1% 1,817 96,041
1998 72% 2,501 96,062
1999 68.3% 2,605 94,237
2000 68.3% 2,601 90,762
2001 69.6% 1,854 90,498
2002 69.9% 3,019 85,186
2003 68.8% 3,938 80,799
2004 69.4% 3,071 79,537
2005 68.5% 3,193 77,148
2006 69.5% 6,220 78,170
2007 74.1% 7,579 76,230
2008 74.6% 5,336 71,348
2009 76.2% 4,186 67,138
2010 78% 4,663 61,421
2011 79.1% 3,373 56,338
2012 82.2% 3,090 51,559
2013 84.2% 3,098 48,664
2014 85.7% 2,846 42,187
2015 88.5% 2,974 41,121
2016 89.3% 4,093 37,238
2017 92.3% 4,548 31,030
2018 93% 4,287 26,820
2019 94.2% 4,046 21,699
2021 97% 297 14,588

What this means if you are buying a 2003 Mx-5

The 2003 is a weaker year for this model, passing 9 points less often than the Mazda Mx-5 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2003 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 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 Mazda Mx-5 the average at test was 80,799 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 97%, and the weakest in our data is 1999 at 68.3%. That 28.7 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 Mazda Mx-5 MOT data · Every model