Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 183,904 tests

Pass rate climbs 18.1 points across the cohorts — newer I30 examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 165,072

Pass

70.3%

Fail

23.5%

PRS

5.5%

Avg mileage at test

84,516 mi

2018–2020 cohort 18,092

Pass

88.0%

Fail

9.3%

PRS

2.2%

Avg mileage at test

40,206 mi

2021+ cohort 740

Pass

88.4%

Fail

9.5%

PRS

2.2%

Avg mileage at test

25,921 mi

Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.

Generations on file · 3

Hyundai I30 · UK market

Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.

The picture

Hyundai I30: mixed MOT record across 135,046 tests

The Hyundai i30 is a small family car manufactured by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company since 2006.

MOT data from 135,046 tests puts this car on a 72.4% first-time pass rate, below the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 75,345 miles. The most common fail item is steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, followed by parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement.

Buyers weighing up a used I30 should treat the failure breakdown as a pre-purchase checklist. The pass rate is reasonable, but the gap between first attempt and a clean sheet narrows with age and mileage.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 10–24

Below the fleet average — generally reasonable to insure. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.

Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →

10–24

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

Hide wear items to see the model's real defects.

01

Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement

5,660 occurrences · 3.1% of tests
02

A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play

5,485 occurrences · 3.0% of tests
03

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

5,405 occurrences · 2.9% of tests
04

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

4,700 occurrences · 2.6% of tests
05

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

4,039 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
06

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

3,457 occurrences · 1.9% of tests
07

Parking brake inoperative on one side

3,322 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
08

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

3,243 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
09

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

3,183 occurrences · 1.7% of tests
10

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

2,737 occurrences · 1.5% 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

£156–£405

If every one of this I30'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

Best year to buy. Worst to avoid.

First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 18.1-point gap between bands means the year you buy Hyundai I30 has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

88.4%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 88.4% — a 18.1-point improvement. Tests in this band average 25,921 miles — roughly 59K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: blade defective, does not clear the windscreen effectively — 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

70.3%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 70.3% pass rate against a fleet average of 88.4% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: efficiency below requirements, ball joint has excessive play, and inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…. Average mileage on test for this band is 84,516 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: 2021+ (88.4% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (70.3% pass). That's a 18.1-point spread across 165,072 older tests and 740 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.

Year-spread leaderboard →

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

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 02 · 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

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Hycote

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£6.59

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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Hyundai Electric Red 12.5ml

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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Hyundai Creamy White 12.5ml

£6.59

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Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

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.

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Recall history

10 UK recalls on record.

The I30 has 10 official UK vehicle recalls covering defect details, remedies, and affected build dates.

See all recalls

Buying or keeping an I30?

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 an I30 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.