MOT cost .
Hyundai I10
MOT 2023
Wikimedia

Hyundai

I10

282,023 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where I10s pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 1.8 points above the UK fleet average across our 1,988 tracked models — a confident result.

Pass

77.6%

Pass-after-fix

5.6%

Fail

16.5%

Avg miles

46,733

Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%

The picture

City car standout — 77.56% pass rate at 46k miles

At an average presenting mileage of just 46,733 — lowest in its class — the Hyundai i10 manages a 77.56% pass rate across 282,023 tests. Top failure is a rear number plate lamp, which is both cheap to fix and entirely avoidable if owners check it before booking the MOT. Wiper blades and tyre tread depth round out the top three: a list that reads more like a pre-MOT checklist than an engineering problem.

Owner reports do flag more serious faults. A crankshaft pulley shearing at 75,000 miles — two months outside the five-year warranty — cost one owner a dealer quote of £1,000. Dashboard rattles in 2019 models were traced to a loose wiring connector block, easily resolved. On balance, the i10 is one of the more straightforward city cars at MOT time. Fix the lamp, swap the blades, check the tread — and it should pass without incident.

Top ten reasons for rejection.

  1. 01

    A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

    7,567 occurrences · 2.7% of tests

  2. 02

    Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

    6,387 occurrences · 2.3% of tests

  3. 03

    Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

    5,739 occurrences · 2.0% of tests

  4. 04

    A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

    5,646 occurrences · 2.0% of tests

  5. 05

    Wiper blade defective

    5,439 occurrences · 1.9% of tests

  6. 06

    A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated

    5,394 occurrences · 1.9% of tests

  7. 07

    Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded

    4,948 occurrences · 1.8% of tests

  8. 08

    a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

    4,711 occurrences · 1.7% of tests

  9. 09

    A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc

    4,408 occurrences · 1.6% of tests

  10. 10

    Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

    4,241 occurrences · 1.5% of tests

Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.

Worst-case fix budget · top 4 failures

£108–£220

If every one of this I10's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →

Try the calculator

Build your own retest budget.

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.

Item 01 · Amazon UK

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

Bosch Aerotwin wiper blades

Cheap wipers fail the test on smear streaks. Bosch Aerotwins last a winter and clear a screen properly.

Search Amazon UK

Item 03 · Amazon UK

Digital tyre-tread depth gauge

Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.

Search Amazon UK

Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.

What's good

A brilliant executed city car that offers superb value for money, the Hyundai i10 can easily mix it with the Toyota Aygo and Volkswagen Up.

Recent owner-reported faults

  1. 6 Jan 2020

    Another rattle reported behind the dash of a 2019 Hyundai i10, probably for the same reason as the KIA Picanto (above).

  2. 1 Jan 2020

    Rattle in front passenger area of new KIA Picanto 1 spec, found to come from loose unused wiring connection block banging against a body part. Easily fixed by straightening and moving the wiring and block.

  3. 5 Nov 2019

    Report of 2014 Hyundai i10 1.2 shearing off its crankshaft pulley, throwing its alternator belt and losing most of its oil. Always dealer serviced. 75k miles and 2 months out of 5 year warranty. Dealer wants £1,000 to fix. Owener had car towed to his regular Hyundai dealer in Reading. They spoke to Hyundai who gave him 10%, and they added another 10% and replaced the pulley plus crankshaft oil seal, bolt and belt, so the bill was £383. Owner also spoke to the Hyundai dealer it got towed to in Slough who offered him the £90 inspection fee back. The bolt had sheared off the crankshaft sprocket that holds the pulley on and the belt fell off, similar to what used to happen to the previous generation i10.

  4. 8 Oct 2019

    Report of rusted rear brake discs on 2017 Hyundai i10.

  5. 6 Jul 2019

    Report of intermittent "disturbing noises" from engine of 2015 Hyundai i10 1.25 automatic when taking right hand bends. Owner left car with dealer for testing while on holiday and dealer found failed oil riser that meant the engine was not being lubricated correctly. New engine fitted under warranty.

  6. 9 Jun 2019

    Report of parking brake of October 2017 Hyundai i10 Premium SE failing after being parked on a slightly sloping drive. What happened was that the parking brake cable simply snapped under tension.

  7. 18 Mar 2019

    Report of leaking bulkhead seal of March 2018 Hyundai i10 Premium SE Auto. First noticed January 2019. Hyundai dealer took 20 days to repair it. Now leak has returned.

  8. 9 Aug 2018

    Report of 2016/66 Hyundai i10 needing new rear discs and pads at cost of £322 due to pitting with corrosion. Also a/c needs a re-gas.

  9. 17 Jul 2018

    Report of 13,000 mile 2015 Hyundai i10 1.2 Premium automatic slipping out of 4th gear at 2,000rpm. Dealer atttempted to re-set the sensor but problem still occurs. Does not happen at 2,500rpm where it settles into 4th.

  10. 19 Jun 2018

    Report of clutch failure on 2014 Hyundai i10 at 13,000 miles.

  11. 14 May 2018

    Report of surface rust on rear brake discs of 2016 Hyundai i10 found by the dealer during its 2nd service at just 5,000 miles. Dealer offered to clean them up for £287, which implies re-surfacing the discs on a special machine.

  12. 8 May 2018

    Report of a 2 year old Hyundai i10 needing replacement rear pads at 6,628 miles at a cost of £276.10 (pads or discs and pads?) and also needing the front brakes stripping and cleaning.

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 25 reports indexed, top 12 shown

Buying or keeping a I10?

Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.

If you own a I10 and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.