1,329 cars · 2,512 MOT tests · 2024 and 2025
Daihatsu Copen MOT statistics
What every MOT test on a Daihatsu Copen in Great Britain in 2024 and 2025 found: how often they fail, what testers flag, which faults owners leave, and how many never came back after failing.
The first-generation Copen was also sold new in the UK.
31%
failed their first MOT test
26% lower than the UK average for their age
17.8 yrs
median age at the MOT
All cars: 9.7 years
54%
of tests had at least one advisory
All cars: 52%
36%
of tests mention corrosion
All cars: 12%
Failure rate by age
Share of initial tests that failed, by the car’s age at the test, against all UK cars of the same age.
- 10–14 years82 tests21%vs 35%
- 15–19 years1,833 tests30%vs 43%
- 20–24 years583 tests38%vs 42%
Most common advisories on a Daihatsu Copen
Things the tester noticed that weren’t bad enough to fail. Share of initial tests, against all UK cars.
- Condition: slightly damaged or cracking or perishing15%vs 8.8%
- Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material13%vs 3.8%
- Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened11%vs 8.9%
- Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive6.4%
- Tread depth: worn close to legal limit or worn on edge6.0%vs 16%
- Flexible brake hoses: has slight corrosion to ferrule5.9%
- Wheel bearings: has slight play4.0%
- Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive3.9%vs 4.9%
- Integral vehicle structure condition: is corroded but structural rigidity is not significantly reduced3.5%
- Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases3.5%vs 2.0%
Most common MOT failures on a Daihatsu Copen
Share of initial tests that failed on each item, including faults fixed during the test.
- Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength8.6%
- Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively3.2%vs 2.0%
- Headlamp: not working on dipped beam2.3%vs 1.4%
- Position lamp: not working2.3%vs 2.5%
- Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded2.1%
- Exhaust system: has a major leak of exhaust gases2.1%
- Prescribed areas (seat belts): prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced1.9%
- Integral vehicle structure condition: corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced1.8%
- Malfunction indicator lamp (spark ignition): inoperative or indicates a malfunction1.8%
- Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits1.7%
By part of the car
- Suspension12%vs 8.8%
- Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment11%vs 11%
- Body, chassis, structure6.8%vs 3.4%
- Brakes6.4%vs 6.5%
- Noise, emissions and leaks5.1%vs 3.1%
- Visibility4.9%vs 4.5%
- Tyres4.3%vs 6.3%
- Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems2.9%vs 1.0%
Advisories left unfixed
Of 1,077 advisories on a Daihatsu Copen that we could follow to the next annual MOT, 32% were flagged again and 7.2% had turned into a failure (all cars: 29% and 5.1%). The items most often still there:
- Component mounting prescribed areas57 advisories54%
- Rigid brake pipes132 advisories50%
- Flexible brake hoses67 advisories45%
- Exhaust system48 advisories44%
- Brake discs110 advisories43%
- Coil spring29 advisories41%
- Condition161 advisories41%
- Integral vehicle structure condition27 advisories37%
Cars that disappeared from the MOT record
Of the 1,095 cars tested before October 2024, 13.4% had no MOT for over a year after their last one (imports overall: 10.4%; all cars: 7.2%). 20 of them (1.8%) had failed that last test. MOT records don’t say why: most of these cars were scrapped, but some were exported, laid up or declared off the road.
What they failed on last
- Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength35%
- Prescribed areas (seat belts): prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced25%
Most popular colours
Share of cars, against all UK cars.
- Silver48%vs 14%
- Grey17%vs 17%
- Red11%vs 10%
- Gold5.0%
- Yellow4.7%
- Green4.4%vs 1.7%
Checking a Daihatsu Copen?
Our free check reads its full MOT history and flags mileage that doesn’t add up, advisories that keep coming back, and recalls filed in Japan.
Buying guide: Daihatsu Copen (L880K)
Questions
- How often does a Daihatsu Copen fail its MOT?
- 31% of first MOT tests on a Daihatsu Copen failed in 2024 and 2025, from 2,512 tests. That’s 26% lower than the UK average for cars of the same age.
- What is the most common MOT advisory on a Daihatsu Copen?
- Condition: slightly damaged or cracking or perishing, on 15% of tests.
- What does a Daihatsu Copen most often fail its MOT on?
- Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength, on 8.6% of tests.
More MOT statistics
How we worked these out
- Every car MOT in Great Britain in 2024 and 2025, from DVSA’s anonymised MOT tests and results. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The analysis and any errors are ours, not DVSA’s.
- MOT records give the make, model name and engine size, not the chassis code, so models are grouped by name. A model page says when that grouping is looser than its title.
- Failure rates count initial tests only, and include faults fixed during the test (DVSA’s definition). Advisories are counted once per test.
- Ages run from the first-use date on the MOT record. For many imports that’s the date the car was first registered in the UK, not in Japan, so imports can look younger than they are, and the age comparison flatters them less than it should.
- An advisory counts as unfixed if the same part of the car is flagged again, or fails, at the next annual MOT (300 to 500 days later).
- A car “disappeared” if it had no MOT between 31 October 2024 and 30 December 2025, over a year after its last test. It’s an estimate of cars scrapped or taken off the road: some were exported, laid up, or made exempt at 40 years old.
- The figures for all cars and all Japanese-brand cars come from a random one-in-20 sample of vehicles; the model figures use every car.