MOT cost .
Vauxhall Astra
MOT 2023
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Vauxhall

Astra

879,968 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where Astras pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 3.9 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

71.8%

Pass-after-fix

5.4%

Fail

22.3%

Avg miles

86,061

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

The picture

Solid numbers with a soft underbelly

Across 879,968 tests, the Astra posts a 71.81% first-time pass — workmanlike rather than impressive for a car averaging 86,061 miles per test. Fractured springs are the headline failure, appearing more often than you'd expect on a family hatchback; the rear number-plate lamp is the classic cheap fail that still catches out a surprising number. Owner records add a rougher edge: a cracked piston on a 2016 1.4 Turbo with a clean service history, and a gearbox crunching first-to-second on a barely-used 2020 1.2. The navigation screen on the 2019 model has failed more than once and been replaced under warranty, which at least shows the faults do get fixed. Check the springs before you buy at this mileage.

Top ten reasons for rejection.

  1. 01

    A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

    53,364 occurrences · 6.1% of tests

  2. 02

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

    27,467 occurrences · 3.1% of tests

  3. 03

    Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

    26,352 occurrences · 3.0% of tests

  4. 04

    a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

    24,337 occurrences · 2.8% of tests

  5. 05

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

    19,057 occurrences · 2.2% of tests

  6. 06

    Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

    15,792 occurrences · 1.8% of tests

  7. 07

    Exhaust system leaking or insecure

    15,304 occurrences · 1.7% of tests

  8. 08

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

    14,765 occurrences · 1.7% of tests

  9. 09

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

    14,516 occurrences · 1.6% of tests

  10. 10

    A tyre cords visible or damaged

    13,416 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

£228–£530

If every one of this Astra'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 →

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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

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

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

Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

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

Solid all-rounder that’s good in all areas, cheap to run, excellent value as a used car and loads around, five star Euro NCAP rating.

Recent owner-reported faults

  1. 3 Mar 2021

    Report of navigation screen failing for the second time on a 2019 Astra. Replaced under warranty.

  2. 5 Feb 2021

    Report of gearbox failure on 2020 Astra 1.2 petrol. Gear changes are perfectly smooth except when changing up from first to second. This particular change can result in a crunch being heard (as the driver moves the gear stick into second). Vauxhall dealership was able to replicate the symptom and agreed there is definitely a fault. But having found no quick fix adjustment, the vehicle remains stuck at the dealership pending authorisation from Vauxhall to undertake more extensive warranty work.

  3. 3 Jun 2020

    Report of piston failure on 2016 Vauxhall Astra 1.4T. Car has a full dealer service history and developed an engine misfire, which the dealer thinks is due to a cracked piston.

  4. 20 Nov 2019

    Report of 2016 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 CDTi 136 Start/Stop Elite Nav 5dr Estate Manual going in to the dealer for a brake recall in August 2019. While there the deraler carried out a software undate which, after 3 miles of driving, puts up the message low oil level, service.

  5. 2 Oct 2019

    Report of 2016 Vauxhall Astra 1.6CDTi 136 going in for emissions update and on the way home the low level oil warning message came up on the small info screen. Driver stopped the car and dipped the engine oil, it was full. The message still comes up approx twice a journey despite the engine oil being on the top mark of the dip stick. Perhaps it's really indicatiing a malfunction of the diesel post injection system that is supposed to fire off active regenerations but is instead sinking to the sump and this is a high oil warning rather than a low oil warning.

  6. 22 Aug 2019

    Report of 2016 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 CDTi 136 Start/Stop Elite Nav manual Estate at 13k miles going to Vauxhall dealer for clutch and brake recall. Owner objected to the emissions recall but dealer said if he didn't have the emissions software update they would not do the recall repairs. No recall repair no MoT. Whilst it was in they MoTd the car (first MoT) and it had a major fail: the steering column. They repaired this under warranty.

  7. 12 Aug 2019

    Report of engine overheating on longer journeys in 2015 Vauxhall Astra GTC 1.4 turbo petrol, engine type B14NET. Vauxhall dealer diagnosed an 'Engine flow error' and fitted a new water pump and thermostat.

  8. 30 Jul 2019

    Report of failure of turbo on 2016 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 turbodiesel at 47,000 miles.

  9. 4 Jul 2019

    Report of 'long block' of Vauxhall Astra 1.4T being replaced under warranty.

  10. 3 Jul 2019

    Another report of engine failure in an Astra 1.4T. " My Vauxhall astra 1.4t 66 plate suffered engine faliure (pistons) under warranty. After 5 weeks my car I've been told is finally ready to collect from the dealership." Owner then questioned the future reliability of his engine.

  11. 25 Jun 2019

    Report of failure of engine of 2016/66 Vauxhall Astra 1.4T automatic. Has now been with the dealer for more than a month and dealer cannot give a date when warranty replacement of engine can be carried out. Dealer says has 3 more Astras with the same issue.

  12. 3 Jun 2019

    Report of piston failure in engine of 2016/66 Vauxhall Astra 1.4T automatic at 29k miles. Driving school car but fully serviced on time and Vauxhall is repairing under warranty, but taking a long time depriving the owner of income.

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 23 reports indexed, top 12 shown

Buying or keeping a Astra?

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 Astra 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.