MR2 MOT analysis of all MOT results for MR2s since 2005

** Version 30th May 2025 **

Or "What's likely to fail in an MOT test on my MR2 ?"

As part of a review of MR2s in the UK all the MOT annual condition test data for all cars since 2005 was downloaded and reviewed. The data is not very clean ( see this review) but is quite easy to process. Separating out the results for the three MR2 types, and seeing what causes MOT failures, can be quite insightful for understanding the maintenance challenges of these cars.

The MOT data does not distinguish between the three types of MR2 but a combination of first registration date and Engine capacity can classify all but 1,079 out of 61,677 listed cars.

Last MOT counts

Looking at the date when the last MOT Passed we can see the overall survival curves. In the graph below we see the spike on the right representing the current active population of cars and the number of cars that were parked up never to be tested again in each year.

Last Mot Pass by expiry year and MK type (unknowns in black line)

The following charts show the pass and failures by type. Both the MK1 and Mk2 appear to have similar curves indicating a more setteled rate of pass/failures has been achieved. The MK1 with just under 800 current passes, the MK2 with 2600 current passes and MK3 with 5700 passing cars.  

Pass and Failure rates of the last MOT test showing for a car. The blip at the end represents the active population of cars

Looking across the years the MK1 had a test failure rate of 16%,  the Mk2 has 9% and MK3 6%. Note on all the curves there is a dip in 2020 indicating the "covid testing relaxation" which extended the retest requirements.

Failure tables

In these tables we look over 34,000 MOT failure reasons, not just the last test, for each MR2 type grouped together by descriptions of worst (by number of fails) in a problem areas.

MK1 MOT all test failures

MK2 MOT All test fails

MK3 All MOT test fails

In summary

Across all versions of MR2 the most common reason for getting a FAIL is in the area of the Parking/Service/Hand brake. The second reason for MK1s is rust but for MK2 and MK3 is Exhaust emissions.  In third place for MK1 is Rust in various locations but for MK2 and MK3 we see Lights and Tyres.

There are a lots of failures codes that are completely preventable such as tyre depth and lights not working. A simple Pre-MOT check over of a car can save the time and hassle of getting a retest.

Colour by Registration year

Just for fun here is a recorded colour by year heat map across all the car MKs. Looks like Red wins with Blue second and Black third follow by Silver fourth. White, popular with MK1s, is only fifth overall. 

Acknowledgements to 

     Steve Earle for help with the MOT data retrieval.

    Neil Jones and Harold Betts for general encouragement.