Common Volkswagen MOT failures
Based on 37 Volkswagen tests on MOTindex carrying an official DVSA defect code, so every category below is counted from real failures rather than estimated.
Real DVSA defect codes
Every category comes from the official MOT Inspection Manual section code DVSA attaches to each defect, not guessed from keywords.
Choose a make or model
Filter the chart below to one make or one specific model, and it updates without leaving the page.
Grows more accurate over time
Built from tests recorded on MOTindex, so the picture firms up as more vehicles are checked here.
See the breakdown for one make or model
Defaults to every make checked on MOTindex.
Where MOT tests find problems: Volkswagen
A test can find problems in more than one category, so the figures above do not sum to 100%. Each percentage is the share of classifiable tests that found at least one defect in that category. Based on 37 classifiable tests for Volkswagen.
What Volkswagen failures look like
37 Volkswagen tests recorded on MOTindex carry the manual reference DVSA attaches to each defect. The most frequent problems were with axles, wheels, tyres and suspension on 15 tests (40.5%), with brakes on 11 tests (29.7%) and with registration plates and vehicle identification on 4 tests (10.8%). A test can fail on more than one thing, and an MOT can be failed on one defect while another is only advised, so these counts do not add up to the number of tests.
Narrowed down from the categories to the individual defects themselves, three come up on more than one test:
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Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated
MOT inspection manual reference 5.3.4, in axles, wheels, tyres and suspension
Recorded on 8 of the 37 tests: one failure and 7 advisories or minors.
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Road wheel slightly distorted inner rim
MOT inspection manual reference 5.2.2, in axles, wheels, tyres and suspension
Recorded on 5 of the 37 tests: all of them advisories or minors, so none of them failed a test on its own.
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Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge
MOT inspection manual reference 5.2.3, in axles, wheels, tyres and suspension
Recorded on 5 of the 37 tests: all of them advisories or minors, so none of them failed a test on its own.
The same breakdown for individual Volkswagen models: Volkswagen Passat (10 tests), Volkswagen Sharan (9 tests), Volkswagen Tiguan Aspace SE Nav TDI 4M SA (8 tests), Volkswagen Tiguan (5 tests).
Clauses are read from the manual reference at the end of every defect on the cached test records, and a defect shown here has to appear on at least two of them before it is named. The site-wide breakdown explains how that works and compares every make.