Buying Report · £14.99
Tools

MOT fail rates

Volkswagen Passat MOT fail rate by age

How often the Volkswagen Passat fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 792,205 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 8 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 8 (n=61,657)21.2%
All cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457)23.8%
Median mileage at test94,479
All cars, median mileage60,745

152 of 315 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 8 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Volkswagen Passat fails 13.1% of MOTs (20,292 tests), 1.1 points above the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 42.0% (1,263 tests), 5.7 points above the 36.3% average.
  • The gap is widest at 25 years: 5.7 points above all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 8 years: Shock absorber leaking, at 4.4 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 25 years 47.6%

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Volkswagen Passat: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
AgeMOT fail rateTests (n)All carsDifferenceMedian mileage
3 years13.1%20,29212.1%+1.1 pts36,881 miles
4 years13.3%29,29613.4%0.0 pts48,140 miles
5 years13.8%39,07115.3%−1.5 pts59,397 miles
6 years15.8%48,62017.8%−2.0 pts72,152 miles
7 years18.4%57,48220.6%−2.2 pts84,666 miles
8 years21.2%61,65723.8%−2.5 pts94,479 miles
9 years24.3%59,78927.1%−2.9 pts103,859 miles
10 years27.8%59,09330.3%−2.5 pts113,466 miles
11 years31.9%61,02533.3%−1.3 pts122,427 miles
12 years34.3%57,34836.0%−1.7 pts130,179 miles
13 years35.7%57,01338.3%−2.6 pts135,239 miles
14 years36.8%53,17540.3%−3.4 pts139,785 miles
15 years38.1%46,18341.6%−3.5 pts142,525 miles
16 years39.7%39,26042.6%−2.8 pts145,530 miles
17 years41.2%29,62343.1%−1.9 pts148,852 miles
18 years42.2%21,98543.3%−1.1 pts151,614 miles
19 years42.0%16,55643.2%−1.2 pts154,270 miles
20 years41.7%12,61442.8%−1.1 pts156,545 miles
21 years41.6%9,05242.1%−0.4 pts157,008 miles
22 years42.1%5,94741.0%+1.1 pts156,722 miles
23 years41.9%3,61839.6%+2.3 pts154,958 miles
24 years42.4%2,24337.8%+4.6 pts155,081 miles
25 years42.0%1,26336.3%+5.7 pts151,738 miles

Most common fail items at 8 years

Split into structural or mechanical items and wear items. Wear items (tyres, brake pads, wipers, bulbs) say more about upkeep than about the design.

Structural and mechanical

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Shock absorber leaking Major4.4
Suspension arm bush worn Major2.2
Coil spring broken Major1.9
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction Major1.5

Out of 61,657 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous4
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous2.4
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous1.9
Tyre condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Major1.6
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major1.5
Headlamp aim: too low Major1.1

Out of 61,657 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 8 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Volkswagen Golf16.2%269,75123.8%
Volkswagen Polo25.1%194,37023.8%
Volkswagen Tiguan16.6%80,76823.8%

MOT fail rate by first-use year

Each year has its own page: the fail rate for cars first used that year at each MOT from 2022 to 2025 with at least 1,000 tests, the most common faults at that age, and the car tax and ULEZ rules for that year.

First-use year data updated .

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First usedAge at testMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
200123 years in 202442.9%1,01839.6%
200223 years in 202538.4%1,32739.6%
200322 years in 202540.3%2,11141.0%
200421 years in 202539.4%2,40742.1%
200520 years in 202538.9%2,93942.8%
200619 years in 202542.4%3,92843.2%
200718 years in 202540.6%6,03043.3%
200817 years in 202538.9%7,48243.1%
200916 years in 202537.1%9,58942.6%
201015 years in 202536.9%9,97241.6%
201114 years in 202535.4%15,12440.3%
201213 years in 202535.1%13,19838.3%
201312 years in 202532.7%11,71236.0%
201411 years in 202530.4%14,59433.3%
201510 years in 202522.9%15,28830.3%
20169 years in 202520.5%15,02427.1%
20178 years in 202518.9%13,94923.8%
20187 years in 202515.8%10,83020.6%
20196 years in 202513.8%7,35917.8%
20205 years in 202511.5%5,85515.3%
20214 years in 202512.0%3,69313.4%

More on the Volkswagen Passat

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

Looking at one Volkswagen Passat?

These are figures for the model, not for one car. The VetTheCar Buying Report looks at a single car: its MOT tests, defects, advisories and mileage readings.

See an example report Browse the car tools

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources