Audi A4 MOT pass rate and common problems

The Audi A4 passed 73% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 0.7 percentage points above the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was coil spring fractured or broken.

Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.

How the A4 compares

Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.

73%

Audi A4

78.5%

Audi average

72.3%

UK average, all cars

The A4 runs 5.5 points behind the Audi average. It is 23rd of the 24 Audi models in the data. The average A4 arrived at its test 11.9 years old with 105,790 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.

A4 MOT pass rate by age

The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.

Audi A4 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 86.6% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 66.5%, a drop of 20.1 percentage points.

Age at testTestsPass ratevs UK average
3 to 5 years 25,458 86.6% 14.3 pts above
6 to 10 years 85,934 77.6% 5.3 pts above
11 years and over 126,708 66.5% 5.8 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 A4 failures cluster

Every failure item recorded on Audi A4 cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.

  • Suspension24.7%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment19.8%
  • Tyres17.2%
  • Brakes11.8%
  • Body, chassis, structure8.6%
  • Visibility5.9%

Suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment together account for 44.5% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.

The 10 most common A4 MOT failures

Specific items recorded on Audi A4 cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.

  1. 1Coil spring fractured or brokenSuspension 7.8%
  2. 2Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mmTyres 6.7%
  3. 3Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively wornSuspension 5.8%
  4. 4Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirtBody, chassis, structure 5.8%
  5. 5Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunctionNoise, emissions and leaks 3.7%
  6. 6Condition has ply or cords exposedTyres 3.4%
  7. 7Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrectLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.2%
  8. 8Condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cordsTyres 3.1%
  9. 9Headlamp aim too lowLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 2.9%
  10. 10Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectivelyVisibility 2.7%

Together these 10 items make up 45% of everything testers recorded against failed Audi A4 cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.

What to look at on a A4

The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.

1

Suspension

Recorded most often: coil spring fractured or broken and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn. 13.6% of failure items.

2

Tyres

Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, condition has ply or cords exposed and condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords. 13.2% of failure items.

3

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

Recorded most often: headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect and headlamp aim too low. 6% of failure items.

4

Body, chassis, structure

Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 5.8% of failure items.

The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific A4 has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Audi A4 buying guide.

Already found one?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

Audi A4 MOT FAQs

What is the Audi A4 MOT pass rate?

73% of Audi A4 cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 243,352 tests. That is 0.7 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 292nd of 575 models.

What does an Audi A4 most commonly fail its MOT on?

The item testers recorded most often on Audi A4 cars failing their 2025 MOT was coil spring fractured or broken, on 7.8% of failure items. Next were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (6.7%) and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (5.8%).

Which area causes the most Audi A4 MOT failures?

Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 24.7%, followed by lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 19.8%.

Do older Audi A4 cars fail their MOT more often?

Audi A4 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 86.6% of MOT tests in 2025, against 66.5% for cars aged 11 years and over.

Does this mean every Audi A4 has these problems?

No. These are the items testers recorded across every Audi A4 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 A4'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.