1996 Toyota Celica: MOT pass rate and reliability
65% of 1996 Toyota Celicas pass the MOT first time, measured across 297 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 129,073 miles.
How the 1996 compares
- Against all Toyota Celicas (67.5%, 9,473 tests): -2.5 points
- Against all 1996 cars (70.7%): -5.7 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every Toyota Celica model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 1996 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Toyota Celica:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 65% | 297 | 129,073 |
| 1997 | 65.5% | 293 | 130,882 |
| 1998 | 67% | 437 | 123,424 |
| 1999 | 68% | 319 | 124,050 |
| 2000 | 65.7% | 411 | 117,728 |
| 2001 | 67.9% | 866 | 121,049 |
| 2002 | 68.2% | 1,006 | 119,002 |
| 2003 | 65.5% | 1,284 | 118,542 |
| 2004 | 66.5% | 1,464 | 116,099 |
| 2005 | 66.9% | 1,302 | 113,541 |
| 2006 | 67.7% | 928 | 105,618 |
What this means if you are buying a 1996 Celica
The 1996 is a weaker year for this model, passing 2.5 points less often than the Toyota Celica average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 1996 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 30-year-old car fails on
A 1996 car is 30 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 high mileage, so timing belts, clutches, suspension bushes and corrosion are the items worth budgeting for rather than the MOT itself. On a 1996 Toyota Celica the average at test was 129,073 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 2002 at 68.2%, and the weakest in our data is 1996 at 65%. That 3.2 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 1996 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 1997 Toyota Celica - 65.5%
- 1998 Toyota Celica - 67%
- 1999 Toyota Celica - 68%