Triumph Thunderbird Sport: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which Thunderbird Sport years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 85.7% average, from 607 DVSA tests.

2003

highest-passing year · 90.6%

1999

lowest-passing year · 81.4%

9.2pp

spread across 5 years

Pass rate by registration year

first-time pass rate · cohorts with 50 or more tests · registration year from first use date

Highest pass rate: 2003 (90.6% of 96 tests). Lowest: 1999 (81.4% of 97). Years more than two points below the model average: 1999.

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (85.7%)
1997	136	83.8%	-1.9 pp
1998	123	84.6%	-1.1 pp
1999	97	81.4%	-4.3 pp
2003	96	90.6%	+4.9 pp
2004	72	87.5%	+1.8 pp

Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years. A first-time MOT pass is a roadworthiness check, not a full mechanical inspection.

Pass rate over time

first-time pass rate by test year · 2006–2013

Questions

Which Thunderbird Sport years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: 1999 registered examples pass first time less often than the Triumph Thunderbird Sport overall (85.7%); the 1999 cohort is lowest at 81.4% from 97 tests.
Which Thunderbird Sport year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 2003, at 90.6% of 96 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the Thunderbird Sport pass rate vary by year?: 9.2 percentage points between the highest (2003, 90.6%) and lowest (1999, 81.4%) cohorts with at least 50 tests. Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years.

Full report: Triumph Thunderbird Sport reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #2308 of 5428 models· other Triumph models: Bonneville, Tiger, Sprint, Daytona, Speed Triple, Thunderbird