All generations and engines together · 7,671 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 35k
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. 7,662 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.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Facelift Colts offered a clutch-actuator automated manual (badged as an automatic but really a robotised manual, no torque converter). Owners report snatchy takeup pulling away from cold, a jolt on the overrun when decelerating, and occasional slow or reluctant engagement of reverse after the car has sat for a few days. It shows up from fairly low mileage rather than building up over time, and there is no dealer campaign that Honest John readers have found, so a diagnosis and clutch actuator or software work is an out-of-warranty cost, plausibly £300-700 depending on what is at fault.
The Pininfarina-built CZC folding hardtop had a factory recall covering the driver's window failing to go up properly after the roof cycled, which points to a wiring or micro-switch fault in the roof/window interlock. Separately, owners have reported water leaks past the roof seals needing more than one trip back to the dealer to sort. Roof mechanisms are electrically and hydraulically complex, so a used CZC needs the roof cycled a few times on a test drive, not just glanced at while parked.
Owners describe an occasional knock from underneath over bumps and potholes, intermittent rather than constant, which points to worn anti-roll bar links or top mount wear rather than a sheared component. The measured MOT data for this model shows suspension as the standout fail category for the class, so the pattern of owners hearing knocks lines up with what the test station is finding when the car is up on a ramp. It is a check-at-viewing item rather than a big-money one, typically a link or bush replacement in the £60-150 range per side.
A handful of owners report a droning or booming noise building between roughly 30 and 50mph, with opinion split between a wheel bearing on the way out, an unbalanced or worn tyre, and driveshaft/CV wear. Because the symptom overlaps three or four different parts, it is hard to pin down without the car on a ramp, and owners in the same threads disagree on the cause. Worth a test drive at a steady speed to see if it is present before assuming which part is to blame; bearing replacement runs to roughly £150-300 a side if that turns out to be the cause.
At least one owner has reported the wiper motor squealing and the wipers stopping partway through a sweep, appearing after a routine service rather than from new. It has not turned up widely enough in the sources checked to call it a pattern rather than one car's bad luck, so treat it as a minor watch-item rather than a reason to walk away. A motor or linkage replacement, if it is needed, is a modest bill, typically under £150 with parts and labour.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Superminis), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.