All generations and engines together · 2,376 MOT tests in the 2025 data
One of the worst city cars per mile driven. Watch brakes and suspension. A risky used buy. Check the MOT history for repeating brakes advisories before you go.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
A factory recall on 2008-2009 Matiz models covers a valve inside the ABS module that can stick, reducing brake performance rather than causing outright failure. Owners describe a harder pedal or longer stopping distances rather than a warning that something is badly wrong. It should have been fixed for free at the time, but plenty of used examples are still on the road from before the fix caught up with them, so it is worth checking service history for the work. The measured MOT data for this model flags brakes as the standout failure category, and this recall is the closest verified thing folklore has to an explanation for it.
Some cars develop an engine management light with intermittent misfiring that a new ignition coil does not cure, sometimes not even a second one. A Honest John forum thread has an owner who fitted two replacement coils before being told to check injector wiring and air intake leaks instead. Autoinsider's Matiz problem board separately lists check-engine lights with cylinder misfires under its engine category, so this is not a one-off. The lesson is not to assume a coil swap has fixed it just because the light goes out for a while.
Chevrolet issued a run of official recalls covering front seat belt buckles that could fail to latch properly, plus a separate airbag inflator detachment risk on some cars. These are manufacturer safety recalls with free repairs, tracked by third-party recall databases as well as the ABS brake recall above. A used Matiz should show all of its recalls cleared; if it does not, the parts and labour cost nothing, but it is a sign nobody has bothered to get the car looked at properly.
Owners of automatic Matiz models report slipping under load, delayed engagement, or the transmission warning light coming on, most often traced back to old or low fluid rather than the box being on its way out. Separate owner reports describe the same erratic shifting pattern, and Autoinsider's gearbox category for the Matiz lists it as a recurring complaint. This does not touch the manual cars, which make up most of the UK market for this model, and a fluid service sometimes buys real time before anything more serious needs diagnosing.
MOT failure data shows a good share of failures coming from worn suspension bushes, corroded springs and tired track rod ends, and recall/problem trackers separately note the Matiz's budget build leading to faster than average wear in the running gear. A leaking steering rack turns up often enough in repair-cost estimates to be worth budgeting for past 70k miles. None of it is dramatic on its own, it just adds up on a car this cheap to buy in the first place.
A steady trickle of owners report flickering dash instruments, dead power windows or switches that stop responding, but there is no single wiring loom or connector that gets blamed consistently. Some owners put it down to age and damp getting into connectors, others to cheap switchgear from new. None of this has ever been the subject of a recall or manufacturer statement, so treat it as a nuisance to check for rather than a reason to walk away.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 2,375 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (City cars), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.