Ranked #260 car in the UK · City car · 2 units sold last year
The Vauxhall Viva is one of the UK's more popular city car choices, ranked #260 by registrations. The figures below are estimated from segment benchmarks and, where available, real DVSA MOT data — a fully researched profile is still to come.
Estimated profile — the figures on this page are modelled from segment averages and real DVSA MOT data rather than a fully researched, hand-checked profile. Treat them as a guide, not gospel.
Estimates are tuned to the version you choose.
Fuel
Petrol
Quoted MPG
55 mpg
Cheapest to buy and simplest to maintain — best for lower-mileage town and mixed driving.
Tidy and well looked-after for its age — the typical car.
Remembered as you browse other cars.
Optional — fills in the exact year and ULEZ status for your specific car. The registration isn’t stored.
Estimated market value
£9,200
Range £7,400 – £10,950
low confidence
How a 2023-registration Vauxhall Viva loses value over time.
Based on the 2023 car with 15,966 miles you entered above — worth about £9,200 today — here is the cost of owning it for the next 3 years, at roughly 5,322 miles a year.
3-year total
£8,270
Per year
£2,757
Per mile
£0.52
Best age to buy — around 3 years
A 3-year-old example loses roughly £1,450 a year — under half the £3,500 a one-year-old sheds. The steepest drop is behind it.
Assumes roughly £1.45/L fuel (£0.28/kWh for EVs), typical-driver insurance and manufacturer service intervals. A guide for comparison — your own costs will vary.
Where this car ranks against the 330 vehicles in our index — higher is better.
Percentile rank across our full index. A measure is shown only where the data spreads meaningfully across the index.
How the available versions compare on price, running cost, and the headaches each tends to develop.
The default choice: lowest purchase price and easy upkeep, at the cost of higher fuel bills than a hybrid.
Watch for
Makes sense for high motorway mileage; less so for short urban hops, where the DPF struggles.
Watch for
Group 8 · Comprehensive · 3 years NCB
Indicative annual comprehensive premiums for this car, by driver age band and risk profile. Pick the combination closest to your circumstances.
Estimated annual premium · typical, age 33-39
£568/ year
Roughly £47 per month
Typical
Average UK driver — 3 years NCB, average postcode, no recent claims.| Age band | Lower risk | Typical | Higher risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age 17-25 | £1,295 | £1,619 | £2,104 |
| Age 26-32 | £676 | £795 | £970 |
| Age 33-39Selected | £500 | £568 | £670 |
| Age 40-49 | £424 | £471 | £547 |
| Age 50+ | £378 | £420 | £496 |
How we estimate this
Indicative annual comprehensive premium estimates. The 'Typical' figure represents an average UK driver in each age band; Lower and Higher risk show the realistic spread driven by factors UK insurers legitimately price on (postcode, occupation, claims history, NCB, voluntary excess, modifications). Based on 10,000 miles/yr, £250 voluntary excess, and the no-claims bonus selected above. Always get individual quotes before buying.
Adjust the annual mileage to match how you'll actually use the car. Insurance is what you selected above (age 33-39, typical risk, 3 yrs NCB).
Routine service
£185
Annual main-dealer service
Major service
£210
Every 2 years, annualised
Road tax
£195
Standard rate, post year-one
Fuel
£655
55 mpg, £1.49/L
Insurance
£568
Age 33-39, group 8
Excludes depreciation and unscheduled repairs (see next section).
What out-of-warranty repairs typically run, by mileage band. Your selected mileage is highlighted.
0-30k miles
£80
per year · low risk
30-60k miles
£240
per year · low risk
60-100k miles
£520
per year · medium risk
100k+ miles
£900
per year · high risk
Drawn from owner reports and warranty data. Filtered for relevance to 15,966 miles.
Watch now
Failure typically happens around your current mileage.
Upcoming
A known weak point — but you haven't reached its usual mileage yet.
Already due
Past its usual failure mileage. Either already fixed, or about to.
Recorded in 12.1% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 752,019 DVSA MOT tests analysed.
Recorded in 9.5% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 752,019 DVSA MOT tests analysed.
Recorded in 4.7% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 752,019 DVSA MOT tests analysed.
Recorded in 4.7% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 752,019 DVSA MOT tests analysed.
Recorded in 4.2% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 752,019 DVSA MOT tests analysed.
Recorded in 3.9% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 752,019 DVSA MOT tests analysed.
"Parts low/medium/high" indicates how easy the replacement part is to source — discontinued or specialist parts mean longer workshop time and bigger bills.
175/65 R14 · 185/60 R15
What a full set of four will cost you (including fit and balance), and which brand each tier of buyer should pick. A typical set lasts about 24,000 miles.
Budget
£300
set of 4, fitted · £60 per tyre
Mid-range
£440
set of 4, fitted · £95 per tyre
Premium
£620
set of 4, fitted · £140 per tyre
Factory options ranked by how much of their original cost they recover at resale. Anything above 70% return tends to make money back; below 40% is paying for your own enjoyment.
| Option | New cost | Added used value | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
Tow bar (factory-fit) Niche, but the buyers who want one will pay for it. | £650 | £450 | 69% |
Parking sensors & reversing camera Near-expected now — its absence costs more than its presence returns. | £500 | £300 | 60% |
Heated seats / cold-weather pack | £450 | £200 | 44% |
Metallic or premium paint Almost universal — an unusual colour is the bigger resale risk. | £600 | £200 | 33% |
Panoramic / opening roof | £1,100 | £350 | 32% |
Larger alloy wheels | £700 | £200 | 29% |
How this model fares at its MOT as it ages — from 752,019 real DVSA test records.
MOT pass rate by age
A 3-year-old Viva passes its MOT 91.9% of the time; by 11 years that has slipped to 76.8%. The y-axis is zoomed to this model’s range so the trend is readable.
Longevity
From 193 vehicles registered in 1963.
Common MOT failures by mileage
The defect categories this Viva fails on most often, and how the failure rate climbs as the miles add up — from the same DVSA test records.
| Category | 0-30k | 30-60k | 60-100k | 100k+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres & wheels | 3% | 6% | 9% | 12% |
| Suspension | 1% | 3% | 7% | 10% |
| Driver's view | 2% | 3% | 3% | 5% |
| Brakes | 1% | 2% | 4% | 5% |
| Lighting & signalling | — | 1% | 3% | 4% |
| Emissions | — | 1% | 3% | 4% |
Share of MOT tests in each mileage band with at least one defect in that category. The peak band for each is highlighted.
A general indicator from UK 2025 theft data and this car’s characteristics — not a prediction for any one vehicle.
Whole-car theft
Around average
Theft risk is around the UK average. Like most modern cars it has keyless entry, so relay theft is the method to guard against.
Parts theft
Around average
Parts-theft risk is around average — catalytic-converter theft is the main thing to be aware of on any petrol or diesel car.
Worth doing
Whether driving a Vauxhall Viva into a UK clean-air zone will cost you anything. Rules use the same Euro standard across most zones — petrol from 2006 and diesel from 2015 onwards are exempt; pure electric is always exempt.
| City | Area | Daily charge | Likely outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | All of Greater London (within the M25) | £12.50 | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Birmingham | Inside the A4540 Middleway | £8.00 | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Bristol | City centre and part of the Portway | £9.00 | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Glasgow | City centre | — | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Edinburgh | City centre | — | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Aberdeen | City centre | — | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Dundee | City centre | — | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
Model-level guidance only. To check a specific registration, use the official gov.uk clean-air zone checker. Zone charges and boundaries are set by local councils and change over time.
Good
Composite of MOT pass rate, defect prevalence and cohort survival from 752,019 tests — high confidence.
How well-supported Vauxhall is across the UK — a practical read on how easy servicing, parts and warranty work will be to find.
Franchised UK dealers
~195
Large network
Mass-market
Network size relative to the UK's largest (Vauxhall is 4.3% of all franchised outlets)
Servicing, parts and warranty work are easy to find UK-wide, and most independent garages know the brand well — which keeps maintenance competitive.
For context, the UK has roughly 4,500 franchised car-dealer outlets in total, plus about 15,500 independent garages.
Approximate figures, curated from public UK industry sources (NFDA, Car Dealer Magazine). Franchised networks shrink year on year — these indicate network size, not an exact count.
Length
3,700 mm
Width
1,680 mm
Height
1,500 mm
Kerb weight
1,000 kg
Boot
250–900 L
Fuel tank
35 L
Of every Vauxhall Viva ever registered in the UK, this is what's actively on the road, parked off the road on a SORN, or gone for good.
Total ever registered
39,820
Currently taxed & on road
38,015
95% of all registered
SORN (off road)
1,062
3% of all registered
Scrapped or exported
743
Source: DfT VEH0124 vehicle licensing statistics (year-end 2025) · Updated 20 May 2026
