Used car guide · 1983–1993

Vauxhall Nova common problems and MOT failures

What goes wrong on a used Vauxhall Nova, year by year: known faults from UK buying guides, the parts flagged at MOT more than on other cars (from 1,359 MOTs done during 2023–2025), and what to check before you buy one.

1,359MOTs done in 2023–2025, all years of this model
5,876on the UK register

Pick the year

Most years have their own guide. The year is when the car was first registered (it’s on the logbook, or check the reg below).

19931992199119901989198819871986198519841983

What usually goes wrong with a Vauxhall Nova?

We haven’t found widely reported faults for the Vauxhall Nova in the UK buying guides we use yet. That doesn’t mean it has none, so check the car carefully and look at the MOT weak spots below.

Vauxhall Nova MOT pass rate by year

Older cars fail more, so compare each year with all cars registered the same year.

YearPass first timeAll cars that yearMOT tests
199374%68% +6172 (small sample)
199284%69% +15547
199182%71% +11398 (small sample)
199078%72% +6242 (small sample)

Looking at a Vauxhall Nova?

Check the actual car: its own MOT history and what to ask the seller. Free, no sign-up.

Where this comes from: MOT figures are the DVSA’s anonymised results for every MOT test done in Great Britain during 2023–2025, grouped by the year each car was first registered. How many are on the road is from the Department for Transport’s vehicle licensing statistics. Known faults are from UK buying guides, in our own words, with links. How we score