2012 Suzuki Alto: MOT pass rate and reliability

74.3% of 2012 Suzuki Altos pass the MOT first time, measured across 4,592 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 63,353 miles.

How the 2012 compares

  • Against all Suzuki Altos (74.4%, 48,067 tests): -0.1 points
  • Against all 2012 cars (70.8%): +3.5 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Suzuki Alto 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 Suzuki Alto:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2003 48.8% 391 57,065
2004 55.5% 885 58,026
2005 58.1% 1,007 58,620
2006 56.8% 629 57,998
2009 69.9% 5,202 71,003
2010 70.6% 4,408 70,486
2011 74.3% 4,508 67,857
2012 74.3% 4,592 63,353
2013 76.4% 11,742 58,808
2014 79.4% 12,751 52,551
2015 80.4% 1,826 49,694

What this means if you are buying a 2012 Alto

The 2012 sits close to the Suzuki Alto average, so there is no strong model-year signal either way. Judge the individual car on its own history. 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 around average, so condition and service history will tell you more than the odometer does. On a 2012 Suzuki Alto the average at test was 63,353 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 2015 at 80.4%, and the weakest in our data is 2003 at 48.8%. That 31.6 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 Suzuki Alto MOT data · Every model