Skoda Fabia: which years to avoid

Based on 234,815 real MOT tests from DVSA records. Each year is compared against every other car first registered the same year — otherwise the numbers would only tell you that older cars fail more, which you knew.

The short answer

No model year stands out as one to avoid. Every year sits within 15% of the failure rate for cars of the same age. The 2013 is the strongest, failing 20% less often than average.

Found a Skoda Fabia you like?

Averages tell you what to expect. Its registration tells you what actually happened — every MOT, every advisory, and whether the mileage adds up.

Every Fabia model year

Shaded rows are the years that differ most from other cars of the same age — worse, better.

MOT failure rate by registration year for the Skoda Fabia
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2001	1,748	37.9%	about average
2002	2,432	37.5%	about average
2003	3,586	40.4%	about average
2004	5,309	40.0%	about average
2005	7,205	39.6%	about average
2006	8,743	38.3%	about average
2007	10,045	37.2%	about average
2008	11,832	36.8%	about average
2009	14,628	32.7%	about average
2010	11,772	27.0%	16% better
2011	12,606	25.8%	15% better
2012	14,472	23.0%	18% better
2013	19,122	20.5%	20% better
2014	15,011	18.2%	20% better
2015	17,934	17.0%	about average
2016	19,494	17.4%	about average
2017	18,215	15.2%	about average
2018	16,882	12.5%	about average
2019	14,798	8.7%	15% better
2020	8,981	8.5%	about average

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Skoda Fabia, grouped by the year the car was first registered. Retests are excluded, so a car that failed and was fixed still counts as a failure. Each year's rate is then divided by the rate for all cars first registered that year — so 120 means 20% more failures than its contemporaries, not 20% more than a brand new car.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.