Renault Espace: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Renault Espace fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 20.5 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 1,478 individual Renault Espace tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 56.2% first-time pass rate means roughly 44 in every 100 Renault Espaces 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 Renault Espace tested had covered 123,859 miles and was built around 2006.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Renault Espace bought as a 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 Renault Espace 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 what damaged Renault Espaces actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Renault Espace

1. Warning device shows system malfunction, 3.1% of tests (10.11x the national rate for this defect)
2. A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, 5.7% of tests (6.04x the national rate for this defect)
3. Parking brake inoperative on one side, 2.5% of tests (5.54x the national rate for this defect)
4. 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., 1.8% of tests (4.55x the national rate for this defect)
5. Lamp emitted colour, position or intensity not in accordance with the requirements, 1.9% of tests (4.43x the national rate for this defect)
6. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 4.8% of tests (4.24x the national rate for this defect)
7. The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements, 6.3% of tests (3.61x the national rate for this defect)
8. A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened, 4.6% of tests (2.81x the national rate for this defect)
9. Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 2.7% of tests (2.8x the national rate for this defect)
10. A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 3.5% of tests (2.59x the national rate for this defect)

From 2,378 DVSA-tracked Renault Espace tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 4.15% of these flagged Renault Espace defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Renault Espace 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 Renault Espace year:

• 2007 Renault Espace - 50.3% first-time pass, 312 tests
• 2008 Renault Espace - 52.3% first-time pass, 220 tests

Renault Espace by fuel type

Diesel and petrol versions of the same car fail on different things, so the fuel type moves the number:

• Diesel Renault Espace - 55.8% first-time pass, 1,147 tests
• Petrol Renault Espace - 61.8% first-time pass, 309 tests

Other Renault models

• Renault Clio - 61.6%
• Renault Captur - 79.7%
• Renault Megane - 61.1%
• Renault Trafic - 61.6%
• Renault Kadjar - 81.7%
• Renault Kangoo - 61.1%
• Renault Scenic - 62.3%
• Renault Twingo - 66.3%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Nissan Kubistar - 56.8%
• Chevrolet Aveo - 56.6%
• Chevrolet Lacetti - 56.2%
• Kia Cerato - 55.8%
• Ford Freda - 55.5%
• Proton Savvy - 55.5%

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

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate