The picture
Agila: middle-of-the-pack on first-time pass
Across 48,850 MOT tests, the Agila returns 70.4% first-time pass — below the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is a broken or weak spring. Worn suspension bushes and a corroded brake pipe round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 63,112, 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.
- 01
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
2,401 occurrences · 4.9% of tests
- 02
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
2,277 occurrences · 4.7% of tests
- 03
Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded
2,121 occurrences · 4.3% of tests
- 04
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
1,360 occurrences · 2.8% of tests
- 05
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
1,244 occurrences · 2.5% of tests
- 06
Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake
1,168 occurrences · 2.4% of tests
- 07
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
1,124 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
- 08
A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated
1,018 occurrences · 2.1% of tests
- 09
Wiper blade defective
995 occurrences · 2.0% of tests
- 10
A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources
950 occurrences · 1.9% 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
£220–£615
If every one of this Agila'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.
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
The interior would have to be spacious with lots of oddments to store safely, personal effects. To be quite honest, I am not a huge fan on complicated in-car gadgetry. A decent CD player and air conditioning will suffice. I need space for the children in the back without stumping their growth. With my precious cargo on board, the car has to be full of safety features.
Buying or keeping a Agila?
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 Agila 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.