1997 Vauxhall Corsa: MOT pass rate and reliability

66.1% of 1997 Vauxhall Corsas pass the MOT first time, measured across 498 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 70,897 miles.

How the 1997 compares

  • Against all Vauxhall Corsas (70.4%, 825,490 tests): -4.3 points
  • Against all 1997 cars (70.4%): -4.3 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Vauxhall Corsa model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 1997 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Vauxhall Corsa:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
1996 69.5% 256 71,689
1997 66.1% 498 70,897
1998 68% 772 70,980
1999 67.4% 992 65,375
2000 64.6% 1,362 67,449
2001 58.2% 3,195 78,960
2002 57.9% 4,765 81,423
2003 56.7% 7,245 82,406
2004 57.5% 8,598 82,261
2005 56.9% 11,914 83,286
2006 57.8% 17,360 84,637
2007 63.5% 33,442 91,209
2008 64.2% 43,549 90,270
2009 65.1% 47,227 87,944
2010 66.3% 52,386 84,398
2011 68.3% 59,151 82,092
2012 68.7% 73,127 78,502
2013 69.3% 72,999 73,909
2014 67.2% 74,832 68,339
2015 71.8% 87,912 62,651
2016 75.1% 75,861 56,179
2017 78.3% 52,156 48,583
2018 82.8% 52,986 40,569
2019 86.1% 42,273 32,654

What this means if you are buying a 1997 Corsa

The 1997 is a weaker year for this model, passing 4.3 points less often than the Vauxhall Corsa average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 1997 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 29-year-old car fails on

A 1997 car is 29 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 a shade above the middle of the range, still ordinary wear rather than a red flag, but worth checking against the service book for the car's age. On a 1997 Vauxhall Corsa the average at test was 70,897 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 2019 at 86.1%, and the weakest in our data is 2003 at 56.7%. That 29.4 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 1997 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Vauxhall Corsa MOT data · Every model