Vauxhall Adam: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Vauxhall Adam fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 2.1 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 59,375 individual Vauxhall Adam tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 74.6% first-time pass rate means roughly 25 in every 100 Vauxhall Adams 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 Vauxhall Adam tested had covered 51,059 miles and was built around 2016.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Vauxhall Adam 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 Vauxhall Adam 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 Vauxhall Adams actually sold for at UK salvage auction, from 3 real settled sales.

Most common MOT failures on a Vauxhall Adam

1. Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 5.9% of tests (10.72x the national rate for this defect)
2. A suspension pin, bush, joint or bearing excessively worn, 0.7% of tests (9x the national rate for this defect)
3. A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage, 4.3% of tests (6.19x the national rate for this defect)
4. A suspension component excessively damaged or corroded, 0.9% of tests (3.17x the national rate for this defect)
5. An obligatory rear fog lamp missing, or a front or rear fog lamp inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 0.7% of tests (2.01x the national rate for this defect)
6. A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened, 3.1% of tests (1.86x the national rate for this defect)
7. Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction, 1.1% of tests (1.23x the national rate for this defect)
8. Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn, 0.7% of tests (1.17x the national rate for this defect)
9. Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements, 2.2% of tests
10. A tyre seriously damaged, 1.9% of tests

From 94,260 DVSA-tracked Vauxhall Adam tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 4.2% of these flagged Vauxhall Adam defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Vauxhall Adam 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 Vauxhall Adam year:

• 2013 Vauxhall Adam - 71.1% first-time pass, 7,637 tests
• 2014 Vauxhall Adam - 70.6% first-time pass, 13,283 tests
• 2015 Vauxhall Adam - 73.2% first-time pass, 10,799 tests
• 2016 Vauxhall Adam - 73.9% first-time pass, 9,448 tests
• 2017 Vauxhall Adam - 77.9% first-time pass, 7,571 tests
• 2018 Vauxhall Adam - 82.1% first-time pass, 5,490 tests
• 2019 Vauxhall Adam - 86.3% first-time pass, 4,832 tests

Other Vauxhall models

• Vauxhall Corsa - 70%
• Vauxhall Astra - 71.9%
• Vauxhall Mokka - 75.6%
• Vauxhall Zafira - 68.7%
• Vauxhall Insignia - 73.5%
• Vauxhall Vivaro - 59.7%
• Vauxhall Meriva - 68.9%
• Vauxhall Combo - 66.3%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Peugeot 3008 - 74.7%
• Mercedes-Benz B-Class - 74.7%
• Porsche 924 - 74.7%
• DS Ds3 - 74.6%
• Nissan Patrol - 74.6%
• Austin MINI 1000 City E - 74.5%

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