Photo: Ritzel, CC BY 4.0
Honda
3,905 MOT tests analysed. sits above the UK fleet average — here's where Civic Sport Vtecs pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.
That's 15.2 points above the UK fleet average across our 1,984 tracked models — a confident result.
Pass
92.8%
Pass-after-fix
2.6%
Fail
4.5%
Avg miles
24,307
Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%
Petrol cars first registered from January 2006 meet Euro 4 — compliant in London ULEZ, Birmingham CAZ, Bristol CAZ, and Glasgow LEZ.
Performance by cohort
2 year bands · 3,905 tests
Pass rate climbs 2.4 points across the cohorts — newer Civic Sport Vtec examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.
Pass
90.5%
Fail
4.2%
PRS
5.3%
Avg mileage at test
30,746 mi
Pass
92.9%
Fail
4.5%
PRS
2.5%
Avg mileage at test
23,980 mi
Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.
The picture
Across 3,905 MOT tests, the Civic Sport Vtec returns 92.8% first-time pass — comfortably ahead of the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is tyre tread under the limit. A defective wiper blade and wipers that don't clear the screen round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 24,307, which is the lens to read those failure rankings through. If you own one and the next test is close, the ranked list below is a sensible pre-test checklist.
Filter failures:
Hide categories
Tick a category to hide it from rankings sitewide. Saved in this browser only.
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
56 occurrences · 1.4% of tests
Wiper blade defective
39 occurrences · 1.0% of tests
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
37 occurrences · 0.9% of tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
32 occurrences · 0.8% of tests
A tyre seriously damaged
23 occurrences · 0.6% of tests
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
22 occurrences · 0.6% of tests
Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen
12 occurrences · 0.3% of tests
A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage
8 occurrences · 0.2% of tests
Tyres on the same axle or on twin wheels are different sizes
5 occurrences · 0.1% of tests
Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen
4 occurrences · 0.1% of tests
Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.
Worst-case fix budget · top 4 failures
£180–£345
If every one of this Civic Sport Vtec's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →
Try the calculator
Build your own retest budget.
Year-band analysis
First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 2.4-point gap between bands is modest — the year you buy Honda Civic Sport Vtec makes a small but real difference to MOT outcomes.
Best band to buy
92.9%
2021+ registration
the 2021-on band climbs to 92.9% — a 2.4-point improvement. Tests in this band average 23,980 miles — roughly 7K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, blade defective — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. Post-2020 examples are early in their MOT life and generally show the cleanest records.
Band to be cautious about
90.5%
2018–2020 registration
On the 2018–2020 band, the data shows a 90.5% pass rate against a fleet average of 92.9% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, and blade defective. Average mileage on test for this band is 30,746 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.
Best band to buy: 2021+ (92.9% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: 2018-2020 (90.5% pass). That's a 2.4-point spread across 189 older tests and 3,716 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.
Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.
Item 01 · Amazon UK
Digital tyre-tread depth gauge
Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.
Search Amazon UK
Item 02 · Amazon UK
Bosch Aerotwin wiper blades
Cheap wipers fail the test on smear streaks. Bosch Aerotwins last a winter and clear a screen properly.
Search Amazon UK
Item 03 · Amazon UK
Brake pad measurement gauge
Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.
Search Amazon UK
My Motor World · affiliate
Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.
Draper
Draper Drain Plug Key, 3/8 Square x 3/8 Sq. Dr.
£15.39
View at My Motor World →
Hycote
Hycote Honda Nighthawk Black Pearlescent Double Acrylic Spray Paint 150ml
£6.59
View at My Motor World →
Hycote
Hycote Honda Milano Red Double Acrylic Spray Paint 150ml
£6.59
View at My Motor World →
Hycote
Hycote Honda Satin Silver Metallic Double Acrylic Spray Paint 150ml
£6.59
View at My Motor World →
Click Mechanic · affiliate
Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.
Mobile mechanic · UK-wide
Book a mechanic at your door.
Fixed-price quotes upfront. No garage needed. Click Mechanic sends a vetted local mechanic to you — home, work, or roadside.
Owner reports · Honest John
Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.
What's good
The Honda Civic is a really solid choice in the family hatchback class. It drives really well, the engines are perky yet efficient, it’s pretty affordable and full with clever safety kit
Alternator failure on 2017 Honda Civic 1.0 petrol. Car has covered 33,000 miles and the owner has been quoted £1100 for the repair. The dealer has contacted Honda but no offer of financial assistance. Sigma-Aldrich Allylmagnesium Bromide Solution, CAS 1730-25-2, 1.0 m In Diethyl Ether 100 Ml(Prop-2-en-1-yl)magnesium bromide; 2-Propenylmagnesium bromide; Allyl magnesium bromide; Allylbromomagnesium; Allylmagnesiumbromide; Brom...Sigma-Aldrich
Report of oil dilution on 2019 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC. Car recently showed a service indicator for an oil change. The dealer inspected the vehicle and stated that the cause was 'oil dilution' probably resulting from short, local journeys during the Covid period and charged £80 for an oil/filter change.
Report of a timing belt snapping on 2017 1.0 petrol Civic. Car had previously had two turbo failures. Engine replacement/repair covered by Honda warranty.
Report of sunroof rattle, which dealer is unable to fix. Vehicle also suffers from faulty adaptive cruise control and auto windscreen wiper system, with the dealer fitting a new c amera module under warranty.
Report of repeated problems with a/c of 2017 Honda Civic. Discharged itself. Owner took it into a Honda garage who said it was not under warranty for such issues. They said it had to be serviced regularly and charged £120 to re-gas the system. This failed again some days later. Since then they took it in for a week and did various other tests on it, saying they replaced something and to let them know if it had worked. Yet again it has failed. (Possibly due to R1234YF refrigerant.)
Report of poor paint on two successive Honda Civics, both silver: The first had so many problems that a local bodyshop could not rectify it satisfactorily so it went back to Swindon; the second, an April 2019 1.5 182 VTEC Turbo, has thin paint on the rear quarter, plus a problem spark plug, plus a failed instrument head.
Report of "continual whistle" from the air conditioning system of a June 2018 Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC Turbo. (This is a known fault and is fixed by replacing a pipe on the system - service bulletin number ST.09-001-00. See: 7-3-2019, 21-4-2017.) At 10 months old and 7500 miles the car has also developed a clutch judder when taking off in first gear and changing down from third gear into second gear. The dealer will investigate this at the same time as the aircon rectification.
Report of 2018 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC having to go back to the dealer for faults to be fixed 5 times in its first year.
Report of two successive turbo failures on 2017 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC. Honda Germany claims its related to the turbocharger only, but they are also on back order.
Squealing front brakes of 2017 Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC 180 (21-1-18) now acknowledged by Honda as an issue on some Civics and a fix is being worked on.
Complaint of numerous defects and irritations on new Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC Sport bought in July 2017: Alarm going off randomly; blisters and imperfections in paint; parking sensors and anti collision control issues; door seals coming off; seal around the spoiler coming out; scratched paintwork from dealership valet; noises from steering rack when on full lock.
Report of problem with intruder alarm of October 2017 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC SR CVT. "The Intruder alarm siren goes off randomly and when it does there is no way of switching it off. This is being investigated at the dealership for the third time. The dealership is currently working with Honda UK Technical Department on the intruder alarm system but as yet they have not been able to find and fix the exact problem that is causing the siren to go off. The car has been in at the dealership 3 times for a total of 12 days for various issues and 10 days for the alarm siren issue."
Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 13 reports indexed, top 12 shown
Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.
If you own a Civic Sport Vtec and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.