76.3%
Audi A1
Audi A1 MOT pass rate and common problems
The Audi A1 passed 76.3% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 4 percentage points above the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the A1 compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
78.5%
Audi average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The A1 runs 2.2 points behind the Audi average. It is 21st of the 24 Audi models in the data. The average A1 arrived at its test 8.8 years old with 61,697 miles recorded.
A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.
A1 MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Audi A1 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 88% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 66.7%, a drop of 21.3 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 44,001 | 88% | 15.7 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 111,158 | 76% | 3.7 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 68,198 | 66.7% | 5.6 pts below |
That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where A1 failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Audi A1 cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Suspension and tyres together account for 47.1% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common A1 MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Audi A1 cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 47.9% of everything testers recorded against failed Audi A1 cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a A1
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, coil spring fractured or broken and linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 20.6% of failure items.
2
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords and condition has ply or cords exposed. 14.7% of failure items.
3
Brakes
Recorded most often: brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick and brake discs significantly and obviously worn. 7.3% of failure items.
4
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively. 2.8% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific A1 has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Audi A1 buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Audi A1 MOT FAQs
What is the Audi A1 MOT pass rate?
76.3% of Audi A1 cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 235,805 tests. That is 4 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 245th of 575 models.
What does an Audi A1 most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Audi A1 cars failing their 2025 MOT was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, on 9.9% of failure items. Next were coil spring fractured or broken (7.7%) and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (7.2%).
Which area causes the most Audi A1 MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 26.5%, followed by tyres at 20.6%.
Do older Audi A1 cars fail their MOT more often?
Audi A1 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 88% of MOT tests in 2025, against 66.7% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Audi A1 has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Audi A1 that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.
How do I see a specific Audi A1's MOT history?
Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.