2003 Skoda Octavia: MOT pass rate and reliability

65.1% of 2003 Skoda Octavias pass the MOT first time, measured across 1,378 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 150,113 miles.

How the 2003 compares

  • Against all Skoda Octavias (79.3%, 191,067 tests): -14.2 points
  • Against all 2003 cars (64.7%): +0.4 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Skoda Octavia 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 Skoda Octavia:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2001 63.1% 586 143,056
2002 66.8% 925 144,978
2003 65.1% 1,378 150,113
2004 66.4% 1,788 147,224
2005 62.4% 2,873 143,147
2006 62.3% 4,769 140,858
2007 63% 5,694 143,021
2008 63.3% 5,450 140,621
2009 66.8% 6,570 130,948
2010 68% 9,022 129,626
2011 69.4% 11,036 119,639
2012 71.7% 10,686 124,069
2013 77.5% 10,786 119,064
2014 81.7% 16,769 113,112
2015 83.4% 18,913 107,436
2016 85.5% 20,319 96,705
2017 86.2% 18,384 82,914
2018 88.1% 16,561 70,683
2019 88.2% 19,693 61,017
2020 89.6% 8,424 50,519

What this means if you are buying a 2003 Octavia

The 2003 is a weaker year for this model, passing 14.2 points less often than the Skoda Octavia 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 very high mileage. Clutches, dual-mass flywheels and head gaskets have usually been through at least one repair by this point, so ask for evidence rather than assume the car is original everywhere. On a 2003 Skoda Octavia the average at test was 150,113 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 89.6%, and the weakest in our data is 2006 at 62.3%. That 27.3 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 Skoda Octavia MOT data · Every model