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MOT fail rates

Volkswagen Polo MOT fail rate by age

How often the Volkswagen Polo fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 2,506,053 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 8 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 8 (n=194,370)25.1%
All cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457)23.8%
Median mileage at test52,016
All cars, median mileage60,745

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

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Volkswagen Polo fails 10.6% of MOTs (117,242 tests), 1.5 points below the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 42.5% (4,233 tests), 6.2 points above the 36.3% average.
  • The gap is widest at 20 years: 9.4 points above all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 8 years: Suspension arm bush worn, at 5.1 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 25 years 57.4%

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

Volkswagen Polo: 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 years10.6%117,24212.1%−1.5 pts19,180 miles
4 years12.7%137,07513.4%−0.7 pts25,445 miles
5 years17.1%153,33815.3%+1.8 pts31,959 miles
6 years20.9%179,31417.8%+3.1 pts38,797 miles
7 years22.7%194,15320.6%+2.1 pts45,517 miles
8 years25.1%194,37023.8%+1.3 pts52,016 miles
9 years28.5%187,11727.1%+1.4 pts58,829 miles
10 years32.0%172,71230.3%+1.7 pts65,190 miles
11 years35.8%162,70833.3%+2.6 pts71,136 miles
12 years38.7%157,16936.0%+2.7 pts76,541 miles
13 years40.9%142,07338.3%+2.6 pts80,746 miles
14 years43.4%130,21840.3%+3.1 pts84,673 miles
15 years45.2%114,70641.6%+3.6 pts87,573 miles
16 years47.8%98,52042.6%+5.2 pts89,905 miles
17 years49.5%90,23943.1%+6.4 pts92,756 miles
18 years50.6%77,71843.3%+7.3 pts94,483 miles
19 years51.4%64,38243.2%+8.2 pts94,741 miles
20 years52.2%48,86542.8%+9.4 pts93,591 miles
21 years50.8%35,05542.1%+8.7 pts90,907 miles
22 years49.1%23,59641.0%+8.1 pts88,430 miles
23 years46.1%13,52839.6%+6.5 pts84,218 miles
24 years43.3%7,72237.8%+5.5 pts78,914 miles
25 years42.5%4,23336.3%+6.2 pts76,103 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
Suspension arm bush worn Major5.1
Service brake performance: excessively binding Major1.5
Handbrake too weak Major1.4

Out of 194,370 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous2.9
Wipers not clearing screen Major2.6
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous1.9
Washers: not working Major1.5
Headlamp aim: too low Major1.4
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous1.4
Dipped headlight not working Major1.4

Out of 194,370 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 Tiguan16.6%80,76823.8%
Volkswagen up!19.5%63,87223.8%

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
199924 years in 202339.0%1,20237.8%
200025 years in 202545.4%2,02236.3%
200124 years in 202544.5%3,14237.8%
200223 years in 202550.6%4,96339.6%
200322 years in 202551.5%8,62941.0%
200421 years in 202551.6%10,86442.1%
200520 years in 202552.2%13,23142.8%
200619 years in 202551.1%17,52843.2%
200718 years in 202548.1%21,09943.3%
200817 years in 202548.3%23,30243.1%
200916 years in 202546.5%22,13742.6%
201015 years in 202543.5%36,28441.6%
201114 years in 202542.1%38,82240.3%
201213 years in 202539.0%37,27538.3%
201312 years in 202537.3%38,52136.0%
201411 years in 202533.2%44,44433.3%
201510 years in 202528.1%51,48530.3%
20169 years in 202525.4%51,97627.1%
20178 years in 202523.5%46,01823.8%
20187 years in 202525.0%43,88720.6%
20196 years in 202521.2%36,75417.8%
20205 years in 202513.5%26,34415.3%
20214 years in 202511.9%30,00713.4%
20223 years in 20258.3%22,79612.1%

More on the Volkswagen Polo

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 Polo?

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