77.5%
Audi A5 pass rate
Used Audi A5 buying guide
In 2025, Audi A5 cars passed 77.5% of 126,381 initial MOT tests, 5.2 points above the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific A5? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Audi A5 MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
+5.2
percentage points above average
Ranked on pass rate the A5 sits 233rd of 575 models in the data. Audi as a brand averaged 78.5%, so this model runs 1 points behind its own brand. Audi A5 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 86.7% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 71.6%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Audi A5 MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the A5 compares with similar cars.
A5 fuel types
Diesel made up 57% of Audi A5 MOT tests in 2025, against 39.3% across all models in this data. The rest ran on other fuels, so tested examples were a genuine mix.
Where the A5 fails its MOT
Where Audi A5 cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (9%), coil spring fractured or broken (7.8%) and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (6%). See every common A5 MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Audi A5 that failed, not a claim that every A5 has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used A5?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Tyres
Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear. 25.9% of A5 failure items.
2
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 23.6% of A5 failure items.
3
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting. 16.6% of A5 failure items.
4
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 9.4% of A5 failure items.
5
Visibility
Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 7.4% of A5 failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Audi A5 failures cluster around tyres and suspension tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact A5 you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Audi history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Audi models
The most-tested Audi models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the A5.
Used Audi A5 FAQs
Is the Audi A5 reliable?
MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 77.5% first-time pass rate for the Audi A5 across 126,381 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Audi A5 cars fail their MOT more often?
Audi A5 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 86.7% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 71.6%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Audi A5?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: tyres, suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check an Audi A5's history?
Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.