All generations and engines together · 58,762 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 45k
One of the worst superminis, by age and by mileage. Watch suspension and steering. A risky used buy. Check the MOT history for repeating suspension 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.
Cars built between June 2012 and October 2016 with the panoramic sunroof were the subject of an official recall (R/2017/169) after a supplier printing fault left the glass-to-frame adhesive prone to losing grip over time, which could let the roof panel detach. Vauxhall's initial fix was a mechanical fixation kit to secure the glass while a permanent repair was sorted, and some owners reported long waits for parts. It's a free fix at a dealer, so just confirm it's actually been done.
Owners report knocking or clonking from the front end, usually traced to strut top mounts, anti-roll bar drop links or worn bushes, and it sometimes takes a couple of garage visits to pin down. It tends to show up from around 40,000 to 60,000 miles; the parts themselves aren't dear, £100-£300 fitted for a mount or drop link, but the diagnosis time adds to the bill. Suspension is the standout MOT failure category for superminis generally, so a knock a seller brushes off as "just the road" is worth taking seriously rather than a coincidence.
The touchscreen infotainment unit can freeze on the Vauxhall logo, lag when switching menus, or start skipping tracks and changing radio stations by itself, sometimes needing a battery disconnect or fuse pull to clear. It's mostly an annoyance rather than a safety problem, and a software update sometimes calms it down, but it isn't the subject of any acknowledged fix and can come back. Reports turn up at all ages and mileages with no obvious trigger.
Owners of the 1.0 SIDI Turbo and the 1.4 Turbo (including the Adam S) report a rattle from the timing chain, worse on a cold start, pointing to a stretched chain or worn tensioner. Left unchecked it can jump timing and wreck the engine; caught early, a chain and tensioner replacement runs into four figures. There's no recall or TSB behind this, it's a pattern repeated across owner write-ups and independent repair guides rather than something Vauxhall has put its name to, so treat a cold-start rattle as a reason to walk away or negotiate hard. The naturally aspirated 1.2 and non-turbo 1.4 aren't reported to suffer the same way.
The Adam's only "automatic" was the 1.4-litre 5-speed Easytronic, an automated manual with an electric clutch actuator rather than a torque converter. A failing actuator throws an "F" on the dash, refuses to select a gear, or leaves the car stuck in one gear until it's reset, and it's a known weak point across Vauxhall's wider Easytronic range, not unique to the Adam. A replacement actuator or valve body is a four-figure job. Manual cars aren't affected, since it's the only auto-type gearbox the Adam was offered with.
A minority of owners describe multi-system electrical faults, dead Bluetooth and radio, wipers running with the ignition off, dash warnings that don't match reality, the kind of thing that looks like water has got into a connector or the body control module. It's not widespread enough to call a genuine pattern, and the Adam's overall reliability record in industry surveys is average to good, so opinion is split on whether this is a real weak spot or a handful of unlucky cars. Door and boot seals are the suspected entry point if it is water-related, so it's worth knowing about on a car that's spent time somewhere prone to standing water.
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. 30,240 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 (Superminis), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.