MOT cost .
Honda Insight
MOT 2023
Wikimedia

Honda

Insight

10,898 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where Insights pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 1.3 points below the UK fleet average across our 1,988 tracked models — buyers should expect more first-time fails than the typical UK car.

Pass

74.4%

Pass-after-fix

7.7%

Fail

17.1%

Avg miles

116,042

Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%

The picture

Insight: middle-of-the-pack on first-time pass

Across 10,898 MOT tests, the Insight returns 74.4% first-time pass — below the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is a torn steering gaiter. A defective headlamp lens and a number-plate lamp out round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 116,042, 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.

Top ten reasons for rejection.

  1. 01

    Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated

    619 occurrences · 5.7% of tests

  2. 02

    Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

    541 occurrences · 5.0% of tests

  3. 03

    A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

    490 occurrences · 4.5% of tests

  4. 04

    A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

    300 occurrences · 2.8% of tests

  5. 05

    a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

    273 occurrences · 2.5% of tests

  6. 06

    Wiper blade defective

    219 occurrences · 2.0% of tests

  7. 07

    Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

    206 occurrences · 1.9% of tests

  8. 08

    The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements

    200 occurrences · 1.8% of tests

  9. 09

    Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

    191 occurrences · 1.8% of tests

  10. 10

    Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

    188 occurrences · 1.7% 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

£178–£515

If every one of this Insight'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.

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

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

Headlight restoration kit

Yellowed lenses fail the light-output test. A restoration kit lifts the haze in an afternoon for £20.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

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

Buying or keeping a Insight?

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 Insight 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.