Toyota Starlet: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Toyota Starlet fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 5.1 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 3,241 individual Toyota Starlet tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 71.6% first-time pass rate means roughly 28 in every 100 Toyota Starlets 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 Toyota Starlet tested had covered 92,735 miles and was built around 1998.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Toyota Starlet 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 Toyota Starlet 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 Toyota Starlets actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Toyota Starlet

1. A wheel bearing with excessive play, 1.9% of tests (13.97x the national rate for this defect)
2. Emissions levels exceed the manufacturer's specified limits, 1.9% of tests (8.59x the national rate for this defect)
3. 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., 3.4% of tests (8.5x the national rate for this defect)
4. Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer, 2.9% of tests (7.3x the national rate for this defect)
5. A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage, 3.4% of tests (4.9x the national rate for this defect)
6. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 3.4% of tests (4.06x the national rate for this defect)
7. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 4.5% of tests (4.03x the national rate for this defect)
8. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 2.8% of tests (3.62x the national rate for this defect)
9. Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 2.3% of tests (2.39x the national rate for this defect)
10. Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake, 1.8% of tests (2.38x the national rate for this defect)

From 8,106 DVSA-tracked Toyota Starlet tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 2.66% of these flagged Toyota Starlet defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Toyota Starlet 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 Toyota Starlet year:

• 1996 Toyota Starlet - 75.2% first-time pass, 367 tests
• 1997 Toyota Starlet - 70.4% first-time pass, 787 tests
• 1998 Toyota Starlet - 69.6% first-time pass, 1,166 tests
• 1999 Toyota Starlet - 70.3% first-time pass, 528 tests

Other Toyota models

• Toyota Yaris - 78.6%
• Toyota Aygo - 80.9%
• Toyota Prius - 86%
• Toyota Auris - 80.5%
• Toyota Rav4 - 84.3%
• Toyota C-Hr - 90.6%
• Toyota Corolla - 75.3%
• Toyota Hilux - 73%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Volvo 700 Series - 71.7%
• Fiat 500 - 71.6%
• Kia Ceed - 71.6%
• Nissan Nv400 - 71.6%
• Peugeot Partner - 71.5%
• Mitsubishi Lancer - 71.5%

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