Audi A6, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls
128,227 Audi A6s are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 79.7% of initial MOT tests, 7.4 points above the 72.3% UK average.
Looking at a specific A6? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Audi A6 at the MOT
79.7% of 122,793 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the A6 202nd of 575 models. Audi A6s aged 3 to 5 years passed 89.7% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 72.3%.
First-time pass rate, 2025
Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.
Pass rate by age at test
Audi A6 tests in 2025.
Where A6s fail
Share of all failure items recorded on Audi A6 tests in 2025.
The items testers recorded most often were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (8.2%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (6%) and malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (5.2%).
The MOT page lists every common A6 MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.
What to look at on a viewing
The A6's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks in each.
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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.21.8% of A6 failure items
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Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.20.8% of A6 failure items
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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.20.3% of A6 failure items
Audi A6s in the UK
128,227 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has fallen 6.2% since the end of 2014, and 16% from its peak of 153,372 at the end of 2017.
- Change since 2014
- −6.2%from 136,728 licensed
- Typical year of first use
- 2015half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2015 or earlier
- First registered in 2025
- 4,367against 17,369 in 2016
- Declared off the road
- 20,43414% of those registered, under SORN
Licensed Audi A6s since 2014
Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.
Show the figures
| Date | Licensed |
|---|---|
| End of 2014 | 136,728 |
| End of 2015 | 144,096 |
| End of 2016 | 152,461 |
| End of 2017 | 153,372 |
| End of 2018 | 152,152 |
| End of 2019 | 152,017 |
| End of 2020 | 145,925 |
| End of 2021 | 143,767 |
| End of 2022 | 141,792 |
| End of 2023 | 138,097 |
| End of 2024 | 133,474 |
| End of 2025 | 129,635 |
| End of June 2026 | 128,227 |
How old they are
Licensed Audi A6s by year of first use.
- Licensed at the end of 2025
- First registered that year
A further 2,891 were first used before 2006.
Show the figures
| First used | Licensed, end 2025 | First registered that year |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4,050 | 4,367 |
| 2024 | 3,612 | 3,883 |
| 2023 | 4,111 | 4,473 |
| 2022 | 3,739 | 4,324 |
| 2021 | 4,328 | 5,224 |
| 2020 | 3,469 | 4,257 |
| 2019 | 8,847 | 10,918 |
| 2018 | 7,752 | 9,768 |
| 2017 | 8,798 | 11,920 |
| 2016 | 12,816 | 17,369 |
| 2015 | 10,686 | 14,991 |
| 2014 | 10,487 | |
| 2013 | 10,212 | |
| 2012 | 7,727 | |
| 2011 | 6,346 | |
| 2010 | 5,794 | |
| 2009 | 3,390 | |
| 2008 | 3,930 | |
| 2007 | 3,685 | |
| 2006 | 1,954 |
10,686 A6s first used in 2015 were still licensed at the end of 2025, roughly 71% of the 14,991 first registered that year.
A6 engines and fuel
2.0 litre engines made up 72% of Audi A6 MOT tests in 2025, followed by 3.0 litre at 17%. Diesel accounts for 83% of licensed A6s and petrol for 11%.
Engine size at MOT, 2025
Share of 122,782 initial MOT tests in 2025.
Fuel type, licensed A6s
DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.
| Fuel | Licensed | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 13,923 | 11% |
| Diesel | 106,828 | 83% |
| Battery electric | 4,178 | 3% |
| Plug-in hybrid | 3,264 | 3% |
| Hybrid electric | 23 | <0.1% |
| Gas | 11 | <0.1% |
Audi A6 recalls
34 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Audi A6. The 8 most recent are below. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every A6 is affected.
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Nov 2025 R/2025/508
Belt buckle rivet missing
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- On affected vehicles an important connection in the seat belt buckle may not have been produced correctly during the assembly process.
- Remedy
- The belt buckles on both front seats (left and right) must be replaced.
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Oct 2025 R/2025/463
Software update for battery control unit
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- On affected vehicles there may be defective battery modules which may result in a fire hazard when charging the high-voltage battery.
- Remedy
- Update the software of the high-voltage battery to improve the self-diagnosis capabilities. Vehicle owners are advised to not charge the high-voltage battery using external charging sources and also not use the e-tron modes "Battery charge" and "Battery hold" until the update is applied.
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Aug 2025 R/2025/387
Stop-drive TAKATA PSAN
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- Urgent Safety Warning - Do Not Drive Your Vehicle Affected vehicles were originally allocated to or used for an extended period of time in a region with a climate zone considered to as HIGH RISK. Certain front airbags contain an ageing inflator propellant that may explode when deployed due to long-term exposure to heat and humidity. If the airbag inflator explodes metal fragments may be ejected causing life-threatening or fatal injuries to anyone in the vehicle.
- Remedy
- Affected airbags will be replaced. You can contact Audi's dedicated Takata Stop Drive helpline at 0113 526 9646 (MONDAY to FRIDAY 9:00AM to 5:00PM.
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Dec 2024 R/2024/495
Servicing high-voltage battery
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- On affected vehicles battery modules may become defective over the course of the vehicle's service life. This may result in a fire hazard when charging the high-voltage battery with the associated risk of severe or fatal injuries to people inside and/or outside the vehicle as well as significant material damage. To minimise this risk do not charge the high-voltage battery using an external charging source. In addition do not use the e-tron modes "Battery charge" and "Battery hold" (refer to Owner's Manual) until further notice.
- Remedy
- Replace the defective modules. Further software fix being developed to improve monitoring.
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Apr 2024 R/2024/158
Replacing Takata passenger airbag
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- On affected vehicles the passenger airbag may in extremely rare cases be overloaded and even burst when the passenger airbag is triggered. If this were to happen small metal parts could become dislodged from the housing and potentially cause life-threatening injury to a vehicle occupant.
- Remedy
- For safety reasons it is necessary to check the passenger airbag and if required to replace the airbag module.
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Oct 2023 R/2023/317
On certain vehicles an incorrect bracket for the side airbag was fitted in the left front seat
Defect and remedy
- Remedy
- Replace the side airbag and bracket.
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Feb 2023 R/2023/053
If a front airbag is deployed it is possible that the gas generator housing in which the propellant is generated may burst on vehicles manufactured within a limited period
Defect and remedy
- Remedy
- As a precautionary safety measure it is necessary to replace the airbag unit on the passenger side.
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Jan 2023 R/2023/027
The fuel gauge may not show the drop in fuel level correctly during vehicle operation
Defect and remedy
- Remedy
- The tank level sender must be replaced on the affected vehicles.
A6 vs similar cars
Head-to-head comparisons on the same 2025 DVSA data.
Audi A6 FAQs
How many Audi A6s are there in the UK?
128,227 Audi A6s were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 20,434 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.
Is the Audi A6 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 79.7% first-time pass rate for the Audi A6 across 122,793 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.
Has the Audi A6 had any recalls?
34 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Audi A6. The most recent was published in November 2025. A recall applies to vehicles built in a set period, so check a specific car on the GOV.UK vehicle recall checker.
What should I check before buying a used Audi A6?
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 own records. Outstanding finance, insurance write-offs and police stolen markers are not part of the MOT record, so they take a history check.
How do I check an Audi A6'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.
Already found an A6?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Across the 1,548 vehicles of every make Carpeep has checked since November 2025, 19% had outstanding finance recorded and 13% an insurance write-off. More on the Audi history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Audi VIN check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), which also gives the engine sizes. Licensed, SORN, fuel and registration figures are from the Department for Transport vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0120, VEH0124, VEH0160). Recalls are from the DVSA vehicle recalls data, with recalls launched up to October 2026. Government data is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability. History-check findings are anonymous counts from reports bought on Carpeep, each vehicle counted once, and are published only where at least 100 vehicles returned an answer.