Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 373,040 tests

Pass rate climbs 6.0 points across the cohorts — newer Insignia examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 342,764

Pass

74.1%

Fail

20.5%

PRS

4.8%

Avg mileage at test

105,204 mi

2018–2020 cohort 29,433

Pass

84.7%

Fail

11.5%

PRS

3.5%

Avg mileage at test

59,805 mi

2021+ cohort 843

Pass

80.1%

Fail

13.8%

PRS

3.7%

Avg mileage at test

44,924 mi

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

Generations on file · 2

Vauxhall Insignia · UK market

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

The picture

Vauxhall Insignia: mixed MOT record across 271,489 tests

The Vauxhall Insignia is a diesel-powered car sold in the UK market across multiple generations, covering a broad date range in the test population.

MOT data from 271,489 tests puts this car on a 73.9% first-time pass rate, below the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 95,898 miles. The most common fail item is fractured or weakened suspension spring, followed by failed number plate light.

New more efficient engines and the lightest of restyles aren’t enough to stop the Vauxhall Insignia feeling like a dinosaur on the edge of extinction, but at least you can make huge savings on brand new cars.

Buyers weighing up a used Insignia 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 19–30

Around the UK fleet average for insurance cost. 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 →

19–30

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

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

01

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

17,499 occurrences · 4.7% of tests
02

A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

14,771 occurrences · 4.0% of tests
03

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

11,918 occurrences · 3.2% of tests
04

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

9,372 occurrences · 2.5% of tests
05

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

9,295 occurrences · 2.5% of tests
06

Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

5,775 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
07

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

5,518 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
08

Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

4,988 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
09

A tyre cords visible or damaged

4,849 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
10

Wiper blade defective

4,198 occurrences · 1.1% 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

£228–£530

If every one of this Insignia'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 10.6-point gap between bands means the year you buy Vauxhall Insignia has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

84.7%

2018–2020 registration

the 2018–2020 band climbs to 84.7% — a 10.6-point improvement. Tests in this band average 59,805 miles — roughly 45K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: less than 1.5 mm thick, tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. The stricter post-2018 MOT test rules meant manufacturers had to tighten up emissions and electrical checks, but this band still shows far fewer major failures on suspension and bodywork than the older fleet.

Band to be cautious about

74.1%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 74.1% pass rate against a fleet average of 84.7% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, fractured or broken, and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. Average mileage on test for this band is 105,204 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: 2018-2020 (84.7% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (74.1% pass). That's a 10.6-point spread across 342,764 older tests and 29,433 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

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

Parts & supplies for this fix

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

Summit

Summit ADRG-13 Vauxhall Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass RHS

£9.89

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ADRG-25 Vauxhall Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass LHS

£10.99

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ADRG-32 Vauxhall Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass LHS

£12.09

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ADRG-43 Vauxhall Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass RHS

£12.09

View at My Motor World →

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.

Get a quote →

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

Represents good value for money. Big boot and generous amount of rear legroom. Diesels are very economical.

Recall history

6 UK recalls on record.

The Insignia has 6 official UK vehicle recalls covering defect details, remedies, and affected build dates.

See all recalls

Buying or keeping an Insignia?

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 Insignia 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.